In remarks today, John Boehner worked to drive a wedge between President Obama and Senate Democrats.
“The president likes to attack Congress, but if he is serious about enacting this agenda, it must start in the part of Congress controlled by his own political party,” Boehner said in a press conference. “What can he get passed in the United States Senate?
“If the president wants to impose a cap-and-trade National Energy Tax, I encourage Senate Democrats to take it up,” he continued. “If the president wants more stimulus spending that we know doesn’t create jobs, I encourage Senate Democrats to pass it. If the president wants more tax hikes that will destroy jobs, then his Democratic allies in the Senate should pass them. This isn’t the agenda that Americans are looking for – and many in the president’s own party won’t support it.”
House Republicans, Boehner added, would focus on “creating jobs and cutting spending.”
Mitch McConnell also spoke out today about the Senate Democrats’ refusal to push ostensible White House priorities, such as preventing the sequester.
“For nearly two months, I’ve been coming to the floor to ask Senate Democrats to work with us on a bill that could pass both houses of Congress,” McConnell said in a floor speech today. “If they were the least bit serious about a solution, they’ve had more than a year to write a bill in committee, bring it to the floor, vote on amendments, get it to the House, and fix this. Instead, they waited right up until the moment of crisis, just like they always do, and then got together – not with a goal of finding a solution, but to hatch an escape plan aimed at making Republicans look like the bad guys.”