March 8, 2009 12:34 PM

Boehner: Government Needs To Tighten Its Belt

By
Michelle Levi
Topics
In The News
(CBS)
House Minority Leader John Boehner said that struggling American families "don't see government tightening its belt," and argued for a spending freeze because government, he said, should "lead by example."

On CBS News' Face the Nation Sunday the House Minority Leader was asked by host Bob Schieffer to respond to White House Budget Director Peter Orszag's assertion earlier in the program that Republicans have not come up with a viable alternative to the spending bill being prepared by President Obama and Congressional Democrats.

Boehner said the Republican plan "costs half as much as the president's proposal and would have created twice as many jobs.

"Their budget spends too much, it taxes too much and it borrows too much from our kids and grandkids," he said.

Boehner said Americans want government to practice the same financial restraint they have been forced to exercise: "It's time for government to tighten their belts and show the American people that we 'get' it."

Schieffer asked if it wouldn't be easier if the Republican Party, whose approval ratings continue to drop, cooperated with the increasingly popular president?

Boehner said he wants to work with the president and that he "likes the president as much as the American people do," but there are "serious differences" between the approaches of the Republican Party and the administration.

He called Mr. Obama's mortgage bailout plan a policy which helps irresponsible homeowners.

"What the president's plan does is ask the ninety percent of mortgage holders who are struggling to make their payments and make them on time … to help the other eight or nine percent who have acted irresponsibly," Boehner said. "That is not what the American people want."

Boehner admitted that dissenting Republicans have a responsibility to offer alternative plans. He said he thinks the $15,000 tax credit to prospective homebuyers is a good part of the stimulus bill.

Boehner toed the GOP line when reacting to a question about recent arguments over whether conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party. He avoided answering, instead saying there were many inside and outside of the Party who wish to speak for Republicans, said the topic was a distraction created by the White House "to divert people's attention from the spending binge they have been on the last six weeks."

He said that the Limbaugh "distraction" will not stimulate the economy or create jobs, as other GOP leaders said last week.

The Republican leader said there are many in his party who will take a more active leadership role in years to come.

"The reason the market continues to go down is because many people on Wall Street do not think that the policies the president is proposing will work," Boehner said.

He admitted that he thought America needed a stimulus bill but that he fears the version passed last month will only expand government and increase debt. "I think Wall Street is thinking the same thing."

Schieffer asked the Ohio congressman if he thought General Motors could survive bankruptcy. Boehner thought so, but he believed that stakeholders need to come to an agreement.

"They are going to have to do the serious work that they have avoided doing over the last thirty years if they are going to survive," he said.

Boehner said the federal government should not give General Motors any more money until the company proves long-term viability. "Anything short of that is just throwing good money after bad," he said.


More from Face The Nation (3.08.09):
  • Orszag: "We're A Relief Pitcher In The 9th Inning"
  • Reporters Discuss Rush Limbaugh Controversy (video)
  • Read the full transcript> (pdf file)

    To watch video of Peter Orszag and John Boehner on Face The Nation click below.


    • Add a Comment See all 54 Comments
    by sjc_1 March 15, 2009 3:09 PM EDT
    When Boehner says these things, he acts like history began yesterday. Where was he when Bush ran up $5 trillion in debt on tax breaks, war and no bid contracts? You did not hear a work out of him about balanced budgets then.

    We are trying to get out of a mess that ignorance, incompetence and neglect brought us over 8 years. You do not argue about the towing bill when you are stranded out in the country stuck in a ditch. You should have watched where you were driving and stay out of ditches in the first place!
    Reply to this comment
    by kansas1946 March 9, 2009 6:20 PM EDT
    House Minority Leader John Boehner said that struggling American families "don't see government tightening its belt," and argued for a spending freeze because government, he said, should "lead by example." ***
    ****************************************

    Oh, really. Is this a NEW Boehner, or a flip-flopper??? Republicans have absolutely ZERO credibility on belt-tightening. They spent as fast as they could while they were in power. The only thing that is frosting them is that it is the other guys spending the money on stuff they want. Republicans are the biggest hypocrites on earth.
    Reply to this comment
    by mattcat25 March 9, 2009 1:12 PM EDT
    Republicans want to pilfer our Federal Treasury as evident from the last 8-10 years of Conservative Rule. Republicans always yearn for ?TAX-CUTS! TAX-CUTS! TAX-CUTS!? so vehemently because they feel that they shouldn?t have to pay back into a system that they?ve been stealing from.
    Reply to this comment
    by mjvwsr March 9, 2009 1:03 PM EDT
    Obama is proposing spending $11,883 per person in FY2010. What are you getting?
    Reply to this comment
    by mattcat25 March 9, 2009 11:47 AM EDT
    Republicans on our economy is like having the fox mind the hen house.
    Reply to this comment
    by iam4honesty March 9, 2009 11:35 AM EDT
    Boehner is advocating a 'Spending Freeze'. This is yet another shining example of the reasons we MUST remove republicans from positions of power. This guy is a total nut-case!
    Reply to this comment
    by tomanyt March 9, 2009 11:29 AM EDT
    Irresponsible homeowners???? You mean the ones that banks allowed to get homeloans because they wanted to make a fast bucks. Those irresponsible homeowner??
    Reply to this comment
    by jab232 March 9, 2009 9:30 AM EDT
    Listening to the Republicans is like letting the arsonists tell you how to rebuild your burned out house.
    Reply to this comment
    by afmcalax March 9, 2009 8:29 AM EDT
    Republican blah, blah, blah, blah, blah ... The Republican plan 1. Cut government spending 2. Let all banks and the auto-industry go bankrupt 3. raise unemployment to 25 percent 4. give tax breaks to people that no longer have jobs. 70 percent of the U.S. economy is based on consumer spending. Those without jobs or are afraid for their jobs do not spend money. This furthers the recession. or maybe the Republicans are praying for a depression!

    40 percent of the pork in the spending bill is Republican pork. This is approximately the percentage of Republican to Democratic members in Congress. Yesterday on Meet the Press Senator Grahm - Republican from South Carolina - defended his pork to force the American tax payer to build a convention center in Myrtle Beach. Why cannot Myrtle Beach or South Carolina actually spend the money to build it? Members of both parties are hypocrits. Boehner is just a jerk!
    Reply to this comment
    by jtdev1 March 9, 2009 8:18 AM EDT
    This guy is a moron...

    It was Okay when his party was in power. In fact he never spoke a word about the staggering amount of debt he was voting for, but now he can't keep his mouth shut.

    Where was he before? Is he up for re-election?
    Reply to this comment
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