From left: John Boehner, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid are pictured. | AP Photos
Oh my…
Politico
House Speaker John Boehner couldn’t hold back when he spotted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the White House lobby last Friday.
It was only a few days before the nation would go over the fiscal cliff, no bipartisan agreement was in sight, and Reid had just publicly accused Boehner of running a “dictatorship” in the House and caring more about holding onto his gavel than striking a deal.
“Go f— yourself,” Boehner sniped as he pointed his finger at Reid, according to multiple sources present.
Reid, a bit startled, replied: “What are you talking about?”
Boehner repeated: “Go f— yourself.”
The harsh exchange just a few steps from the Oval Office — which Boehner later bragged about to fellow Republicans — was only one episode in nearly two months of high-stakes negotiations laced with distrust, miscommunication, false starts and yelling matches as Washington struggled to ward off $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts.
The White House and Congress knew of the self-imposed deadline for more than 17 months and they still blew past it, as a president fresh off a strong reelection victory tested — and ultimately broke — the Republican Party’s fidelity to its tax-cuts-only governing philosophy.
It took a late intervention of two Senate veterans — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Joe Biden — to rescue the negotiations. Their relationship, forged over two decades on Capitol Hill, helped move Congress to a resolution because it wasn’t burdened by the raw political conflicts of the past and the legislative fights still to come.
Related articles
- Report: Boehner told Sen. Harry Reid to ‘Go F**K Yourself!’ (radio.woai.com)
- Fiscal Cliff Negotiations Between John Boehner And Harry Reid Reportedly Got Heated (huffingtonpost.com)
- Boehner to Reid: ‘Go f – yourself’ (dailykos.com)
- Fiscal Cliff Fight: John Boehner Reportedly Told Harry Reid ‘Go F**k Yourself’ (mediaite.com)
- Boehner To Reid “Go F – Yourself” (news.firedoglake.com)
- John Boehner Told Harry Reid ‘Go F— Yourself’ Outside the Oval Office (theatlanticwire.com)
