Boehner: Extortion Is My Game

What happens now? Boehner's position is untenable. He is holding a
hostage—the economy—that he dare not shoot. He is demanding trillions in
cuts from programs that he dare not name. He is looking for a back room
negotiation in which he can get the president to give him cover in
enacting cuts that are unpopular to the American people and likely to be
ruinous to the economy. If the president falls for it, Republicans make
progress in dismantling the Medicare program that they have always
opposed, and the president takes the rap for the bad economy.

What's to be done? Jonathan Chait gets it right.
The president—and the country—would benefit from an open discussion,
not a backroom negotiation. The president needs to call Boehner out.
What are the trillions in cuts that he wants as the price for letting
the economy go free? If he lays them out, as in passage of the House
budget plan that ends Medicare as we know it, the President can show
Americans why they are unacceptable, and use the bully pulpit to take
the case to the country. If Boehner isn't prepared to lay out his cuts,
call his bluff. Surely he can't long threaten to cripple the economy if
he doesn't get cuts that he isn't prepared to define.

One thing Boehner says rings true. Americans are sick of the
arrogance in Washington. But it is hard to imagine a more arrogant
politician than one threatening to blow up the economy if he doesn't get
his way.

Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the Church’s most ancient moral teachings. From the apostles to the present, the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor. Your
record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.

Representing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishops Hubbard and Blaire have now endorsed with other American Christian leaders a call to legislators for a “Circle of Protection” around programs for the poor that you, Mr. Speaker, have imperiled. The statement of these Christian leaders recognizes the need for fiscal responsibility, “but not at the expense of hungry and poor people.” Indeed, it continues, “These choices are economic, political—and moral. As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare.

DesperateInRI wrote:Good! His ideology is immoral!

He will need the fires of hell to keep his tan!

DesperateInRI wrote:Just curious, is he Catholic? If he is, he must have run into some pretty mean nuns to make him the way he is today.

The Boehners, like many big Catholic families, were what Bob Boehner calls conservative “Kennedy Democrats,” but not politically active.

Abbie wrote:

DesperateInRI wrote:Just curious, is he Catholic? If he is, he must have run into some pretty mean nuns to make him the way he is today.

Yes he is Catholic. I wonder if he keeps up could he be excommunicated? I thought maybe the letter could be a warning or something.

The Boehners, like many big Catholic families, were what Bob Boehner calls conservative “Kennedy Democrats,” but not politically active.

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/deaconsbench/2010/11/boehner-washingtons-most-powerful-catholic.html#ixzz1M5hUQUYB