House Speaker Boehner Refuses to Raise Debt Ceiling

On Monday night May 16 in a speech at the Economic Club in New York City, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, attempted to reassure Wall Street that Republicans were serious about confronting the country's deficit problems responsibly.   This “political speech” venue was unique in that the Economic Club considers itself the foremost non-partisan forum in the country.  However, Wall Street is very concerned about what the government is doing right now, especially after Standard & Poor's warned last month that they could downgrade the United States’ credit rating if the government fails to come up with a plan to address mounting deficits. The gist of Speaker Boehner’s speech was that "[w]ithout significant spending cuts and reforms to reduce our debt, there will be no debt-limit increase.”   He outlined the House Republican’s position on the debt limit, which calls for spending cuts equal to the amount by which Congress will have to raise the debt, that will reach the $14.3 trillion current statutory limit by early August at the latest according to the Treasury Department.  Addressing concerns about raising taxes, Boehner said that except for raising taxes, everything is on the table including Medicare.  He made this claim despite recent statements by Republican leaders which have raised doubts that the Republican Medicare reform proposal would be part of their demands.

Democrats have stated that Boehner would be irresponsible if he allowed the United States to default on its obligations.  While conceding that such a move would be irresponsible, Boehner did not rule it out.

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