Boehner To Square Off Against Entitlements

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, House Speaker John Boehner vowed to tackle entitlement programs in a spring budget proposal from the Republican majority, despite the known political risk involved.

Before Congress’ top Republican can make steps toward curbing Social Security and Medicare he must first inform the American people on the severe costs of these programs and convince them that sacrifices will be necessary.

“People in Washington assume that Americans understand how big the problem is, but most Americans don’t have a clue,” Boehner said. “Once they understand how big the problem is, i think people will be more receptive to what the possible solutions may be.”

In addition to squaring off against entitlement programs, Boehner strongly advocated raising the debt limit, a move most conservative Republicans would cringe at.

“I think raising the debt limit is the responsible thing to do for our country, the responsible thing to do for our economy,” he said. “If we were to fail to increase the debt limit, we would send the economy into a tailspin.”