Boehner Folds On Obamacare

House Speaker John Boehner now says he’ll offer a debt ceiling extension if President Obama will negotiate on reopening the government. Defunding Obamacare doesn’t seem to be part of the equation.

Boehner said the measure would advance if President Barack Obama agrees to negotiate over reopening the government and to “start to deal with America’s pressing problems.”

Obama has said consistently that Republicans must reopen the government and prevent the threat of a first-ever government default before he’ll negotiate over the budget and other conditions Republicans have sought.

Boehner also said he would appoint House negotiators to try to sort out differences between vastly different House- and Senate-passed budget blueprints.

Boehner said: “It’s time for leadership. It’s time for these negotiations and this conversation to begin.”

Many people are weighing in on this development:

• Markos Moulitsas points out that Boehner’s move is the GOP’s admission that this is their shutdown.
• Boehner’s abrupt strategy change follows a day of implausible denials by the Koch Brothers and their pals at the Heritage Foundation that they helped engineer the government shutdown to destroy the Affordable Care Act
• Jed Lewison calls Boehner’s latest proposal the new ransom note
• Paul Ryan has been a major player in the shutdown; the LA Times‘ Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli report that the former Veep nominee didn’t have the juice to unite the GOP’s House factions
• Howie Klein asks “Ryan Pivots Away From Cruz For Boehner– Will It Work?”
• Jon Perr at Crooks & Liars gets provocative: “Will John Boehner Succeed Where Osama Bin Laden Failed?”

By: Cheston Catalano

Cheston Catalano is a Kentucky-based journalist whose work has been featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle. He is a long-time contributor to Liberaland.