Speaker John Boehner, making no friends with his latest posturing. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
In a meeting with President Obama and other congressional leaders on Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner continued his tough debt ceiling talk.
In the meeting—a day after a high-profile speech by Boehner in which he called for spending cuts paired with any future debt-ceiling hikes—the speaker told the president that “I’m not going to allow a debt ceiling increase without doing something serious about the debt,” according to the Ohio Republican’s aides.
But how's it playing in his own caucus in the House?
Not so great, meaning that if this is primarily an effort to look tough as a leader to woo disgruntled tea party types, it's not working.
If Boehner hopes to pass a debt limit increase without having to rely on Democrats this year, GOP leaders must adjust their strategy and convince at least some of those naysayers that real cuts will come.
As one of those “no” votes, Rep. Tim Scott said he will repeat his vote if he doesn’t see something different.
“Increasing the debt ceiling without any major reforms to how we’re spending money really didn’t make a lot of sense to me,” the South Carolina Republican said. “We’ll see what happens, but if it is what it was last year, then I’ll be doing what I did last year.”
Boehner's posturing has been greeted with a flat-out rejection from the White House and from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Boehner's chief rival, hasn't said anything, leaving Boeher hanging. Now the crazies in his own caucus, feeling burned from how the Budget Control Act played out, are (as always) disgruntled. In other words, business as usual for the bumbling speaker.
In fact, Boehner seems so surprised at not being heralded as the conquering hero by his fellow Republicans, that he's now trying to downplay his threat, saying "the only ones who are talking about drama or brinkmanship are my Democrat colleagues across the aisle."
Hmmm.... Let's look at what he told the President one more time. "I'm not going to allow a debt ceiling increase without doing something serious about the debt." No, no promise of drama and brinksmanship in that statement. Good luck walking this one back, Boehner.