House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday took a swipe at the conservative groups that have made clear they oppose the new budget deal co-authored by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan that blows through mandated spending caps.
Asked during a press conference on Wednesday about conservative groups that oppose the deal, Boehner shot back: “You mean the groups that came out and opposed it before they ever saw it?”
“They’re using our members, and they’re using the American people for their own goals,” Boehner continued. “This is ridiculous. Listen, if you’re for more deficit reduction, you’re for this agreement.”
Ryan on Tuesday evening announced a budget deal with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray that stops the government from shutting down. While sequestration — the across-the-board spending cuts to government agencies — capped 2014 spending levels at $967 billion, the Ryan-Murray deal raises that spending level to $1.012 trillion.
Details of that proposal had leaked out before the formal unveiling of the deal. On Monday and Tuesday before the announcement, conservative groups including Heritage Action, FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity all made clear they opposed any deal where discretionary spending exceeded the $967 billion number.
On Wednesday — after the deal had been formally announced — the Club for Growth also came out against the plan.
“We stand with Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Tom Coburn, Rand Paul, members of the Republican Study Committee and every other fiscal conservative who opposes the Ryan-Murray deal,” said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. “After carefully reviewing the budget deal, on which we never commented until it was complete, we determined that it would increase the size of government. We support pro-growth proposals when they are considered by Congress. In our evaluation, this isn’t one of those.”
During the Capitol press conference on Wednesday, Boehner, the GOP leadership and Ryan all praised the plan as a small step to reduce the debt over time with out raising taxes. (RELATED: Tom Coburn ‘real disappointed’ with Ryan-Murray budget deal)
But conservatives point out that the plan includes revenue raisers — such as increasing fees when purchasing airline tickets — and the plan does away with billions in mandated budget cuts for next year.