Boehner is No Conservative, No Matter Which Party is in Power

In a press conference today, Speaker John Boehner tried to sell himself as a true conservative, touting his supposed reforms and lamenting that there was only so much he could do with a Democratic president in the White House. Oh, cool. So if we get a Republican in, Boehner will suddenly turn around and be super-conservative, right? Too bad history tells a different story.

From 2001 to 2009, it will be remembered that George W. Bush – a Republican! – was president. If we take Boehner at his word, we should expect to see a principled stand on matters of spending. Let’s go to the tape.

In 2002, Boehner voted to increase the debt by $450 billion. Ouch, that isn’t good. But everyone has a bad day now and then. Maybe it was just a fluke.

In 2003, he voted to increase the debt limit by $900 billion. Uh oh.

In 2004, he voted to increase the debt by another $800 billion. Um…..

In 2005, he was complicit in a scheme to raise the debt limit by $781 billion by voice vote, to allow Republicans to avoid going on record on the matter. Oh dear…

In 2008, he voted to raise the debt limit by $700 billion. Okay, I think you get the point.

So, in total, John Boehner voted to increase America’s debt by 3.631 trillion-with-a-t dollars under a Republican president. So, don’t believe him when he blames Barack Obama for his inability to lead a conservative agenda. The truth is, he has never been a conservative. It’s time we had a Speaker who actually believes in fiscal responsibility instead of just saying it.