Speaker Boehner: ‘I Take The Same Oath Of Office As The President. I Have The Same Responsibilities’

Minutes after President Obama delivered a (comparatively) blistering press conference about the breakdown of debt ceiling, House Speaker John Boehner held a brief presser of his own. Much of Boehner’s speech was either familiar rhetoric, or he said/she said sniping about the negotiations, but his sudden self-ascension to the presidency was worth a chuckle. Channeling Al Haig, Boehner said “I take the same oath of office as the President of the United States. I’ve got the same responsibilities as the President.”

Boehner’s main mission seemed to be to try and re-cast President Obama as the obstacle to a deal, a difficult task given the fact that it was Boehner who walked out of the talks, and who, according to the President, wasn’t returning phone calls. Boehner claims that the White House agreed to $800 billion in revenues, only to later demand $1.2 trillion (the White House denies this). Asked how he could allow the talks to break down over such a relatively small difference, Boehner replied, “The extra $400 billion would have had to come from increasing taxes on the very people who we expect to invest in our economy and create jobs.”

This represents significant progress from the GOP, who until now have described these increases as taxes on “job creators,” despite the fact that they’re not creating jobs. Boehner’s qualification, “expect to create jobs,” reflects the leap of faith that has been involved all along. Lower taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations have failed, spectacularly, to create jobs, but have been very successful at exploding the national debt.

Boehner also tried some sleight of hand, accusing President Obama of “walking away” from that $800 billion deal he claims the White House agreed to. If there are negative consequences from a default, or a near-default, this will be a flimsy fig leaf to cover the fact that it was Boehner who walked away from a deal that was significantly more generous to his side than the bipartisan “Gang of Six” plan.

Here’s video of Boehner’s presser, from Fox News:

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.