Unfortunately, working class people have been suckered into these concerns to their own detriment. They see the high cost of living, the global economy and job downsizing affecting them but they believe what Republicans tell them: high taxes are the culprit.
There is no doubt in my mind that Boehner is sincere in his tears but he's completely misguided in his analysis.
For example, he says he can't bring himself to visit a school anymore because it's "too emotional" for him. He's not sure the kids will "have a shot at the American Dream." If John Boehner has his way, they won't.
Over the past 30 years the the GOP has been doing everything it can to get rid of public schools, including the imposition of high stakes testing that ties the schools' funding and teachers' jobs to students' performance.
Boehner's biggest cry is government spending.
"Your government is out of control," he yelled in his campaign for re-election. "Do you have to accept it? Do you have to take it? Hell, no, you don't."
Lesley Stahl characterized Boehner's campaign as a "strategy of defiance" against Obama and the Democrats. What this really turned out to be was obstruction against working class Americans who are unemployed, underemployed and uninsured for health care.
Boehner, who co-authored the Contract with America in 1994, has now allied himself with the Tea Party, that ruse of a group that appeals to working class Americans' fears and insecurities in this disastrous economic climate.
He also helped promote the extension of the Bush tax cut s.
Truth be told: Boehner is a traitor to his class, the working class, and he should be ashamed of himself.
The Republican Party has consistently shown itself to be the party of the rich and it has been reducing taxes on the wealthiest Americans for decades. Last week they forced passage of an extension of the Bush tax cuts that helps millionaires!
The Republicans have also been chipping away at government services in the name of tightening the belt of Big Government. However, after eight years of Bush and now two years of Obama, the deficit has reached $900 billion anyway.
"Washington has spending problem," said Boehner.
This is the typical businessman's complaint and quite frankly it's a little old. Spending is what you do with tax money.
Boehner says he will attempt to cut spending by addressing some spending measure every week. He'll start by cutting the expenses of Congress by 5 percent. He admits that will amount to only $25-30 million but he says it's necessary to start somewhere.
Fine sentiments. We'll see where such symbolism goes with the institution that oversees its own raises.
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