Boehner Tees Off On Obama Over Oil Spill, Spending

By Miles Wolf Tamboli
Talk Radio News

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) today blasted President Barack Obama's address to the nation Tuesday night and his administration's handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

"The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now," said the President during his prime-time address from the Oval Office.

Boehner harshly criticized the President's motives; "I don't think President Obama should exploit this crisis by imposing a national energy tax."

"Using this tragedy in the Gulf Coast as an excuse to have a national energy tax...is not the right thing for the country and we should put a stop to it," he added.

The top House Republican continued, showing his strong opposition to the administration's recent health care reform and economic stimulus legislation.

"Under the President's watch, Democrats have become 'spend-aholics' who can't restrain themselves...Democrats have lost every shred of credibility when it comes to managing taxpayer dollars."

According to Boehner, the President has "so far overreached, and so fast, that he's lost the confidence of the American people."

Boehner Says The Government Should Share Responsibility For The BP Spill

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) suggested Thursday morning that the federal government should share responsibility for the oil spill off the Gulf Coast.

"I think the people responsible in the oil spill, BP and the federal government, should take full responsibility for [the oil spill]," Boehner said during a press briefing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) office claimed that Boehner's remarks signaled his support for using public funds BP to help pay for the damage caused by the environmental disaster.

"House Republican Leader John Boehner ... declared that American taxpayers should bailout the Big Oil giant," a press release from the Speaker's office stated. "House Democrats are siding with American taxpayers. BP should be held accountable."

Boehner's staff told several media outlets that the comments were only meant to reflect that the government should be responsible for oversight, and not the costs accrued by the clean up.

During the briefing Boehner also criticized the amount hearings being held on Capitol Hill to investigate the spill.

"Well, this is congress at it's best," Boehner joked, eliciting laughter from the journalists in attendance. "Why the hell don't we get the oil stopped ... figure out what the hell went wrong, and then have the hearing and get the damn law fixed?"

GOP Underminding Health Reform At All Costs, Says Hoyer

By Laurel Brishel Prichard
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday that Americans are more concerned with whether or not health reform passes than the means by which it is passed.

“We talk a lot about process in this town,” said Hoyer. “'So what?' says the American public. What they are interested in is what resulted. 'What did you do for me and my family to make my life more secure and greater quality?'”

Despite bipartisan efforts to prevent the legislation from passing, Hoyer said he's hopeful the bill will persevere. The Majority Leader disputed a popular claim that reform will deal a large blow to seniors on Medicare.

“The Republicans have been doing everything in their power to undermine the health care legislation,” he said.

According to Hoyer, Republicans are obstructing reform regardless of what is in the bill. “They continue to scare the public, some of which has worked, by saying this is a government takeover of health care. That is absolutely untrue.”

While a vote on the bill has not yet been announced, Hoyer assured that one will take place very soon.

Democrats Writing Healthcare Bill Behind Closed Doors, Gregg Accuses

By Laurel Brishel Prichard
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Sens. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Thursday that the health reform bill must first become a law before reconciliation can be used to amend it.

“So much of this bill may be subject to the Byrd Rule and may go in one way and come out another way, assuming it comes out at all,” Gregg told reporters during a brief session.

Senate Republicans have secured 41 signatures on a letter demanding that reconciliation only be used on legislation involving budget adjustments, and not major policy changes, said Alexander.

“If any sentence is deemed that the policy is more significant then the budget adjustments that it applies to...it will be knocked out, the paragraph will be knocked out, and the section will be knocked out,” said Gregg.

Alexander reiterated a GOP desire to deal with reforming the nation's healthcare system in a "step-by-step" manner. Gregg agreed, and argued that a more piecemeal approach would yield a more transparent process.

“The simple fact is [Democrats] are hiding the bill. This is another one of those processes where it's being written in a hidden room, behind a hidden room, behind a hidden door,” said Gregg.

Cantor, Kyl Rail Against Reconciliation

A pair of leading Republican lawmakers said Wednesday that Democrats are attempting to bend the rules by using reconciliation to try and pass health care reform.

“If the Senate bill was acceptable to most Americans...we wouldn’t even be having a discussion about reconciliation,” said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who added that Democrats are making a “deliberate attempt...to circumvent the rules.”

Cantor suggested that Democrats favor using the quickest means possible to pass healthcare in order to have it finished before the Easter break. Failure to do so, he said, would produce a repeat of what occurred last August, when members who held town-hall meetings were confronted tempestuously by constituents who peppered them with questions over the bill.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding reconciliation,” said Cantor. “If [the Democrats] ram this bill through the House...they’ll lose their majority.”

Senate Minority Whip John Kyl (R-Ariz.) said the debate over how to pass healthcare has created an even larger wedge between the two parties, and has shoved several other important issues, such as energy, non-proliferation and immigration reform to the back-burner. According to Kyl, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is to blame for imposing a “take-it-or-leave-it” approach on the GOP.

Turning to face Cantor, the number two Republican in the Senate said he understands why House members might be leery of the Senate passing a healthcare bill that meets their wishes. “I can see why House members don’t trust the Senate to go along with this charade.”

In fact, Kyl might have been right. In late January, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told Talk Radio News Service that "The House, as you know, has some problems trusting the Senate."

While Kyl admitted that his party’s objective moving forward is to defeat the bill, he refuted the notion that the GOP is simply the ‘party of no’

“We are actually willing to work with [the President],” Kyl said. “We’re in conversations with [Democrats] all the time,” added Cantor.