Saturday, March 31, 2012

Speaking With the Speaker

John Boehner talks about the need for Republican unity and why the House is in ill repute. - Peggy Noonan/Wall St. Journal

Congress needs "to show . . . that in spite of our differences we can find common ground to do the work of the American people. But I'll just say this. There's nobody who tried harder last year with the president to do the right thing. There's nobody who walked further out on a limb than I did to try to get him to do the right thing. And one of my greatest disappointments was not getting an agreement."

The drama was a trauma. "Oh, it really was. And we were pretty close to doing something nobody would have ever believed—real changes, real cuts. I put revenues on the table." He says he put forward $800 billion in spending cuts and tax reforms—closing loopholes while lowering corporate and personal rates. "A lot of my guys would have choked to death on it." But the deal, he says, was doable.

What happened? The White House "spun this thing that I walked away from this." Actually, he says, the president did: "He lost his courage. . . . He just couldn't bring himself to do what he had to do."