Boehner: Obama Has Given Up Governing

Speaker of the House John Boehner accused President Obama of having “thrown in the towel” on governing to turn his focus to campaigning for reelection at a Washington Ideas Forum Thursday.

“Mr. President, why have you given up on the country and decided to campaign full-time?” Boehner asked.

Disappointed with the summer’s negotiations on the debt ceiling limit, the Speaker said he continues to be willing to “sit down with the President any day, any time to seek common ground” and even put revenues on the table as long as the President agrees to address entitlement reform.

“It takes two to tango, and the President never said ‘yes,’” Boehner said.

A couple topics where Boehner and Obama can agree on, however, are Afghanistan and the Chinese currency manipulation bill.

Boehner reinforced his argument against passing the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Bill that would punish countries like China for manipulating their currency, something he says the President agrees with.

“For the Congress to pass legislation to force the Chinese to do what is arguably very difficult to do I think is wrong, is dangerous and could start a trade war,” he said.

The Speaker is also supportive of Obama’s decisions in Iraq and Afghanistan saying Obama “has done just fine” in continuing to take on the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

As for the super committee he helped create to find $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, Boehner said he is “firmly committed to ensuring that the [committee] come to an outcome,” emphasizing that no one wants automatic spending cuts to happen.

Boehner also commented on the Republican presidential campaign supporting Sarah Palin’s decision not to run for president in 2012. 

“She made the right decision for herself,” he said, but added that he hopes Palin will campaign for other Republican candidates.

Ohio Democrat Promotes China Currency Measure

By Andrea Salazar

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), described his Chinese currency manipulation bill as the most important jobs bill in Congress this year.

“China manipulates its currency so Chinese companies can make and sell Chinese products cheaper, much cheaper than U.S. companies can,” Brown said during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.

To change that, Brown introduced the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Bill with co-sponsors from both parties. Pointing out that U.S. workers are losing their jobs to China, Brown said that “Uncle Sam’s turned into Uncle Sap, and it’s time we fight back.” 

A vote is expected in the Senate within the next week.  

“This bill doesn’t cost tax payer dollars, it actually will help reduce the budget deficit. So other than those who want to stand with companies that outsource jobs to China, I don’t see where any real opposition to this bill should come from,” Brown said. 

However, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) dismissed the need for the bill.

“I think its pretty dangerous to be moving legislation through the United States Congress forcing someone to deal with the value of their currency,” he said earlier this week.

China, Russia Block UN Resolution on Syria

After months of negotiations, UN Security Council members tonight failed to agree on a resolution condemning the Syrian government’s violent response to protests, with permanent members China and Russia using their veto to scrap the Western backed text. 

US Ambassador Susan Rice told Security Council members the Obama administration was outraged by the Council’s failure to address an “urgent moral challenge” and “a growing threat to regional peace and security”.

Nine Council members, including the US, France, UK, Portugal and Germany, voted in favor of the draft, while Lebanon, India, South Africa and Brazil chose to abstain.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told Council members his country’s decision to veto the proposed resolution wasn’t based on Russia’s strategic ties to the Syrian government or support of the crackdown against civilian protesters, but was instead a rejection of the West’s “philosophy of confrontation”.

 “We can’t agree with this unilateral accusatory bent against Damascus. We believe it unacceptable the threat of an ultimatum of sanctions against the Syrian authorities.” he said

Churkin also said Western countries had failed to take into account Moscow’s demand that foreign military intervention be clearly ruled out of the resolution.

Russia and several other Council members have criticized the NATO backed mission to Libya for exceeding its mandate of civilian protection by targeting non-military infrastructure and trying to overthrow the Gaddafi regime. 

“The situation in Syria cannot be considered in the Council apart from the Libyan experience. The international community is alarmed by statements that compliance with Security Council resolutions in Libya, in the NATO interpretation, is a model for future actions for NATO in implementing responsibility to protect.”  Churkin told Council members.

US Ambassador Rice said the Syrian people could now see which countries were ignoring their calls for democracy and siding with dictators.

“Those who oppose this resolution and give cover to a brutal regime will have to answer to the Syrian people and indeed to people across the region who are pursuing the same universal aspirations.” 

Rice also dismissed Russia’s claims about NATO’s  interpretation of the Libyan resolution and that the vetoed resolution could have been a pretext for military intervention in Syria.

“This is not about military intervention. This is not about Libya. That is a cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people.”

House Intelligence Chair Assesses Threats Abroad

By Adrianna McGinley

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) pushed the importance of American leadership abroad in combating national security threats.  

During an event Friday held by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Rogers addressed questions regarding U.S. involvement in the Middle East and the military rise of China.

“We must be prepared for the potential threat that a rising China poses,” Rogers said. “We must keep a strong American presence in the region. We must understand the Chinese ambitions and tensions and capabilities and how they see their future. China will only surpass us if we let them.”

Questions were also posed concerning Iran and its potential threat to Israel.

“Iran’s leaders have clearly expressed their desires to annihilate Israel. We should take their leaders’ public sentiments and statements and intentions seriously,” Rogers said. “They speak volumes about their desires and how they maintain power and position, even in their own country. We must therefore recognize the strategic threat and position that Iran poses.”

Rogers expressed concern for political differences interfering with decision making on international involvement, and the effect it can have on America’s credibility abroad.

“If every decision on international engagement is made through your own domestic political troubles, we are never going to come to the right conclusion ever again on international engagement,” Rogers said. “In Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Libya, and in the rest of the world, our allies and our enemies must know that when America intervenes, we will not cut and run. Our enemies must know without a doubt that when America commits itself, we do not commit ourselves to artificial timelines of withdrawals or limits on troop levels. America commits itself to one thing, achieving a lasting victory.” 

Cornyn: Growing Debt Giving Rise To China

By Philip Bunnell

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) made the case for passing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution today by highlighting the link between the growing U.S. debt and China’s military rise.

Cornyn highlighted the potential danger of China’s holdings of American debt, currently estimated to be around $1.1 trillion. “Some folks say there’s no cause for alarm,” Cornyn said. Yet he then noted how a former Chinese general said that “dumping U.S. bonds,” would be an appropriate response to antagonizing U.S. policy.

China, aside from its holdings of U.S. debt, has also become a belligerent security force in the Asian region  and is “unsettling its neighbors,” through the conducting of military excercises, Cornyn said. China has claimed the South China Sea, is increasing tensions on its disputed border with India, and is “an enabler of North Korea,” Cornyn warned.

Cornyn criticized President Obama for not accepting Taiwan’s letter of request to buy F16 fighter jets from the U.S. This reflects, Cornyn said, the fact that “China has intimidated US foreign policy.”

A number of Senate Republicans are launching a push this week to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said that he would like a vote to occur by the middle of July. With all 47 Republicans on board, the effort carries some weight, though actually amending the Constitution would require subsequent ratification by two-thirds of the states.

Cornyn pounced on a quote from then-Senator Barack Obama, who warned in 2006 of the consequences of a growing national debt. The quote, Cornyn explained, was meant to “point out the hypocrisy… and lack of leadership,” coming from Obama on the debate to raise the debt limit again later this summer.