As House votes on financial reform, Boehner defends his criticism
The biggest financial regulatory overhaul since the 1930s is slated for discussion in the House of Representatives Wednesday, and a member of the House is defending the critical comments he made about the reform bill.
John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, likened reform efforts to "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon" – implying that the bill goes too far in regulating the trading activity of big banks and establishing an office of consumer protection in the Federal Reserve.
President Barack Obama issued a harsh rebuke of Boehner Wednesday. He said in Racine, Wisconsin that Boehner, in making the ant remark, was talking about "the same financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly 8 million jobs."
"He can’t be that out of touch with the struggles of American families," the president added.
The Republican defended his position in an interview with the Washington Post, saying that Democratic lawmakers had "gone overboard" with the reform bill at a time when the American public was concerned with job creation.
His remarks were unintentionally well-timed: Payroll services firm ADP released its monthly jobs report Wednesday, and the numbers were grim. Only 13,000 private-sector jobs were created in June, tens of thousands fewer than economists had expected.
Ironically, though, it was the GOP that killed a Senate measure to extend unemployment benefits and provide funding to cash-strapped state governments. Thanks to Republican opposition, the bill failed to pass the Senate before its July 4 recess. States are now crafting their budgets without the federal money – but that means they expect to shrink payrolls and cut back on services.
Boehner remained unconvinced of the virtues of deficit spending. "I just think that all the spending that [the Democrats have] pumped out there has done virtually nothing," he said to the Post.
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