John Boehner (Larry Downing/Reuters)
Once upon a time, Boehner promised to "educate" his new House members on the dangers of playing with the debt ceiling. Via
Political Correction:
In December, the New Yorker interviewed Boehner about the potential default crisis that everyone knew was coming, and how the incoming Speaker would deal with members of his caucus who were opposed to raising the debt ceiling. At the time, Boehner predicted that it would be an "adult moment" for House Republicans, saying that he would "educate members" about the dangers of default:
"This is going to be probably the first really big adult moment" for the new Republican majority, Boehner told me. "You can underline 'adult.' And for people who've never been in politics it's going to be one of those growing moments. It's going to be difficult, I'm certainly well aware of that. But we'll have to find a way to help educate members and help people understand the serious problem that would exist if we didn't do it."
Oops.
Yeah, given that all the "adults" in the room are currently drunk and smashing up the furniture, I don't think his efforts to "educate" paid off. Oh, and it turns out we're going to be stuck with the furniture bill, too.