In laying out a congressional reform agenda if he becomes Speaker of the House, Republican Rep. John Boehner suggested today that Congress should do away with comprehensive spending packages to make cutting spending easier.
“Let’s do away with the concept of ‘comprehensive’ spending bills,” Boehner said in a speech here at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “Let’s break them up. It would encourage scrutiny, and make spending cuts easier. Instead of pairing agencies and departments together, let them come to the House floor individually, to be judged on their own merit.”
This is necessary, Boehner said, because House rules are “rigged” to make it easier to increase, rather than decrease, spending.
Boehner opened his speech on congressional reform by saying “the integrity of the House has been compromised.” He spoke on a variety of proposals that he says will “fix the institution that we love.”
Meanwhile, the DNC on Thursday released a video called “now, that’s funny,” dismissing Boehner’s speech on reform by seeking to portray him as a Washington insider.
“He’s been in Washington for decades. He knows how the game works. He created the game and he’s taken millions from special interests. And now John Boehner wants to talk about reforming Congress? Now that’s funny,” the video says.