Obama Drills Boehner For "Ant" Comment

House Minority Leader John Boehner.

/ AP

As Hotsheet reported yesterday, Democrats quickly seized on comments by House Republican Leader John Boehner in an interview this week suggesting that that the financial reform compromise reached last Friday creates a bill that amounts to "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon."

Now President Obama is getting in on the action.

According to excerpts released by the White House in advance of the president's speech on the economy this afternoon in Wisconsin, Mr. Obama will criticize Republicans for opposing the Wall Street reform effort and Boehner specifically for his "ant" comparison.

"Just yesterday, I was stunned to hear the leader of the Republicans in the House say that financial reform was like using a nuclear weapon to target an ant," the president plans to say. "That's right. He compared the financial crisis to an ant. The same financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly eight million jobs. The same crisis that cost people their homes and their lives savings."

Continues Mr. Obama, according to the prepared remarks:

Well if the Republican leader is that out of touch with the struggles facing the American people, he should come here to Racine and ask people if they think the financial crisis was an ant. He should ask the men and women who've been out of work for months at a time. He should ask the Americans who send me letters every night that talk about how they're barely hanging on.

These Americans don't believe the financial crisis was an ant. They know that it's what led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. And they expect their leaders in Washington to do whatever it takes to make sure a crisis like this never happens again. The Republican leader might want to maintain a status quo on Wall Street. But we want to move America forward.

Boehner released a response to Mr. Obama's comments in which he said "The President should be focused on solving the problems of the American people...instead of my choice of metaphors."

"I wasn't minimizing the crisis America faced - I was pointing out that Washington Democrats have produced a bill that will actually kill more jobs and make the situation worse," he said. "It does nothing to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government mortgage companies that caused the housing and financial crisis by giving risky loans to people who couldn't possibly pay them back."

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[govmess]

Can someone tell me where I can buy an "ant swatter"? I think our Prez doesn't know the difference between an ant and a fly.

[nuttyworld]

And I thought people lost their houses because of the underhandedness by the nice guys who chair Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and insisted that they needed no oversight. California's Maxine Waters even insisted at a hearing that no oversight was needed and that they were doing nothing wrong. I just keep thinking about the May 25, 2006 floor speech by John McCain in support of passing the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190 (which called for regulating Fannie and Freddie). Look it up, I know you won't believe it unless you read it for yourselves.

[bjt654]

by IndepTex22 June 30, 2010 1:39 PM EDT
It's a shame Boehner did finish his statement with:

"Now, shut the F*** up Mr. President and get to work on something............anything!"
----------------------------------
Actually Tex, he would have to add to the end of your statement: "I'm in a hurry to get back to the tanning salon!"
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To which Obamination invites Boehner to sun with him on the golf course, again.

[MurdochSucks]

This is kind of stupid. I think what he meant was that the solution is not the correct one for the problem. Whether or not you agree with him, I don't think he was trying to diminish the ferocity of this recession or the financial meltdown. That being said, I still don't like Boehner and his policy of obstructing the country's progress so he can blame the Democrats for not getting anything done. That is really annoying and counter-productive, but it has been the Republican's plan since Obama was inaugurated. We elected Obama on the platform of solving the Republican mess, but I'm not sure we've gotten far enough left to really get true progress. Maybe Obama's biggest mistake was thinking he could work with the Republicans, and compromising on legislation to get them on board, just to have them obstruct in the end anyway. Brilliant strategy by the Reps, though, to basically get the bill written the way they would want and then obstructing and using the bill as their political cornerstone. Bravo on your completely unethical political grandeur.

[Former_Marine_Sgt]

"I still don't like Boehner and his policy of obstructing the country's progress so he can blame the Democrats for not getting anything done. That is really annoying and counter-productive, but it has been the Republican's plan since Obama was inaugurated."

The Republicans have been doing this since the beginning of the Clinton presidency, not just Obama's. They took a break (and did nothing at all) when Thier guy was in office.

[Perish1]

I am absolutely disgusted that a former Marine sgt puts up with such lame excuses and apologies. What is the U.S. coming to?

[RatPackSixGun]

When the national debt was 3 trillion, Obama snickered, and then called his amusement "gallows humor".

In just two years on his watch, he and his majority Democrat cronies have MORE than quadrupled the national debt. Taken to the gallows, indeed.

Obama is correct, this is no ant. He should know, it's his baby. He inherited 3 trillion debt from previous administration. What's the next administration going to inherit? There's no end in sight.

[MurdochSucks]

Are you delusional or just uninformed? The national debt was at 11T when he was inaugurated. There was more debt scheduled on the books that hadn't even matured yet. It is at 13T now, so you are vastly misguided in your accounting. Sure, 2T is a lot in a year-and a half, but that puts him almost on par with Bush.

[facelessdrone2005]

MurdockSucks is right. RatPack does not understand the difference between a yearly deficit and the national debt. And these are the kind of people who think they know how to run the country better? We are in a world of hurt.

[stormerF3]

If there is no reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,then we are wasting our time and the Tax Dollars for it.The Banks have paid back the money with interest,but AIG,GM,and Chrysler have not yet the Obama Administration wants to tax the Banks?..That will only cost jobs and punish those who have paid back their loans.This Reform is smoke and mirrors,because it does nothing to address the problem.

[nottellin1]

But it does plenty to give the fed ultimate control over "storefront thrifts and Wall Street". Yikes.

[IndepTex22]

It's a shame Boehner did finish his statement with:

"Now, shut the F*** up Mr. President and get to work on something............anything!"