Boehner "not confident at all" on budget deal.

[dkf]

Washington (CNN) – House Speaker John Boehner said he’s “not confident at all” that Congress can reach a budget deal to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” at the end of this year.

On Tuesday morning Moody’s, a credit rating agency, released a report threatening to lower the U.S. government’s AAA credit rating if Congress didn’t agree to a major deficit reduction package. Asked by CNN how confident he was that congressional negotiators could avoid that action Boehner replied, “I’m not confident at all.”

The speaker maintained that House Republicans already passed legislation to replace those spending cuts and extend all the current tax rates.

“Listen the House has done its job on both the sequester and the looming tax hikes that will cost our economy some 700,000 jobs,” Boehner said, and shifted the blame to Democrats, adding, “The Senate at some point has to act. And on both of these – where is the President? Where’s the leadership? Absent without leading.”

Although Moody’s report specified it would consider cutting the government’s rating if an agreement didn’t emerge in the next year, an aide to Boehner told CNN that the speaker’s comments reflected his confidence level about reaching a deal by the end of 2012. Without any serious bipartisan negotiations taking place, both parties are expected to return to the issue in the lame duck session of Congress in mid-November.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/11/boehner-not-confident-at-all-on-budget-deal/

[Angry Dragon]

1. Hey Weeping Boner, the majority of American people want taxes raised on the wealthy

it is time for you to do the work of the people and not your party


I predict that the weeping boner will not be the speaker no matter who wins the House

[pampango]

2. WaPo: Reid-once the elections are over, the tea party’s strength will be significantly weakened...

Boehner expresses no confidence on budget deal as downgrade looms

House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that he’s not confident Congress can reach a budget deal and avoid a downgrading of the U.S. debt rating. His Democratic counterpart in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, was far more hopeful that “some kind of agreement” would be reached after the elections.

Boehner was asked at a Capitol Hill news conference how confident he was that negotiations would prevent the government from hitting the so-called fiscal cliff — an economy rattling set of across-the-board spending cuts and higher taxes caused by the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts that are set to hit in January.

“I’m hopeful we will reach some kind of agreement,” countered Reid, D-Nev., suggesting that the results of the election will weaken the GOP’s resolve to block tax increases on wealthier earners and that Republicans will be more willing to compromise.

“I believe that once the elections are over, the tea party’s strength will be significantly weakened,” Reid added.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/boehner-expresses-no-confidence-on-budget-deal-as-downgrade-looms/2012/09/11/f77366b0-fc20-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html

[julian09]

3. In lame duck session, repugs defeated in Nov election, have nothing to lose.

They can still obstruct without fear of consequences, they already lost.