Posted on March 17, 2013

Boehner Agrees With Obama: "We Do Not Have An Immediate Debt Crisis"

MARTHA RADDATZ: Is he right that we don't have an immediate crisis?



SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: We do not have an immediate debt crisis. But we all know that we have one looming. And we have-- one looming-- because we have entitlement programs that are not sustainable in their current form. They're gonna go bankrupt. Washington has responsibility-- to our seniors and our near seniors-- that we firm up these programs so that they're there for the long term. Because if we don't do it, not only will they not get benefits, we will have a debt crisis right around the corner. We have time to solve our problems. But we need to do it now.



MARTHA RADDATZ: H-- how long do we have to solve our problems?



SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: Nobody knows where this is. It could be a year or two years, three years, four years. The-- it's not an immediate problem. But we can all--



MARTHA RADDATZ: So, you agree with the president on that?



SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: The Amer-- yes. But his point, as he went on to say in that interview, is that we don't-- we don't really need to do anything at this point. And I would argue that we do need to do something.