Obama vs. Boehner

With the financial reform bill in jeopardy, the president and the House minority leader are accusing each other of being "out of touch"

Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner have been squaring off over financial reform
(Image credit: Getty)

President Obama dueled with House Minority Leader John Boehner this week over who's really looking out for ordinary Americans. It started when Boehner (R-OH) told a newspaper that the pending financial reform legislation being pushed by Democrats is the equivalent of "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon." Obama shot back, saying that "if the Republican leader is that out of touch with the struggles facing the American people" he should spend more time in the heartland. Boehner then chided Obama for playing "childish" partisan games, and said Democrats are "the ones who are out of touch." Was there any substance to this spat? (Watch Obama's response to Boehner)

Boehner's remark merited a call out: Boehner's spokesman insists his boss isn't minimizing the crisis, says Kevin Drum in Mother Jones, but "it's obvious to a fourth grader what Boehner meant: He thinks there were only minor problems with the financial system before the crash, and we just don't need anything more than a few tweaks here and there to fix things up." It's pointless to deny he's "minimizing the problems on Wall Street."

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