Boehner Gives Obama Poor Grade For First 100 Days

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service
Summing up President Obama’s first 100 days in office as “spending, taxing, borrowing, and ducking the hard choices,” Republican Minority Leader John Boehner (OH) said that in his eyes “the grade would not be very good.”

Boehner gave a news conference before his meeting later today President Obama and House and Senate leaders from both parties.

“The American people want us to work together, Democrats and Republicans, to deal with the issues that their confronting everyday,” he said, adding that Democrats are working strictly on their own agenda, and that “behind closed doors, they’re continuing to put their finishing touches on their budget.”

Boehner said that this Sunday marks “Debt Day,” in which the federal government revenue for this fiscal year will be gone. Boehner said that any money spent by the government after Sunday April 26th through Sep. 30th, has not been budgeted and will increase the national debt.

The money “is going to have to be borrowed from our kids and grandkids,” Boehner said.“This is the earliest debt day in history. It’s some four and a half months earlier than it was last year when it was August the 5th.”

Considering Democrats took control of both houses of Congress in the midst of the economic crisis “they clearly had a lot on their plate,” said Boehner.

“You’ll continue to see us (Republicans) try to be the party of better solutions,” said Boehner. “The stimulus bill was supposed to be about jobs, and it turned into “spending, spending, and more spending.”

After Democrats released memos last week outlining torture techniques used by the Bush administration, Boehner said “I’m hopeful that Americans will begin to understand there is a bigger story here about what happened, what was done to keep America safe.”

Boehner said that both parties were briefed on the interrogation methods, “and not a word was raised at the time.”

Although he supports the President’s plan for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Boehner questions the bigger picture of what the administration is doing to keep America safe.

The world “didn’t suddenly become safer in January of 2009,” Boehner said Democrats have “decided to close the detainee base down in Cuba without having any plan for what they’re going to do with those terrorists who are hell bent on killing Americans.”