Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) has been having a hard time playing both sides of the debate over whether or not to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. On the one hand, he admits that failure to do so would be a “disaster” and that Republicans need to to “deal with it as adults.” But on the other, he’s trying to placate Tea Partiers within the GOP caucus by claiming that Republicans won’t raise the debt ceiling unless Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration accept spending cuts and budget reforms.

Boehner is traveling to Manhattan tonight to deliver a speech to the Economic Club of New York, in an attempt “to lay out a strategy for raising the debt ceiling to a crowd heavy on Wall Street players who are anxiously watching the fierce debate over the debt ceiling unfold.” And according to excerpts released this afternoon, Boehner is still trying to walk the fine line between placating the fringe elements in his party and acknowledging that allowing the U.S. to hit its debt limit is not an option:

It’s true that allowing America to default would be irresponsible. But it would be more irresponsible to raise the debt ceiling without simultaneously taking dramatic steps to reduce spending and reform the budget process. To increase the debt limit without simultaneously addressing the drivers of our debt — in defiance of the will of our people — would be monumentally arrogant and massively irresponsible. It would send a signal to investors and entrepreneurs everywhere that America still is not serious about dealing with our spending addiction…Without significant spending cuts and reforms to reduce our debt, there will be no debt limit increase. And the cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority the president is given. We should be talking about cuts of trillions, not just billions.

This is similar to remarks made by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), who said at a National Press club event that failing to raise the debt ceiling is “unworkable,” then proceeded to take it hostage anyway. But as the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Gigot pointed out to Ryan, “you have to pass a debt ceiling increase, so that’s a hostage you’re not prepared to shoot, ’cause you can’t.” Indeed, failing to raise the debt ceiling would have several severe consequences for the U.S. and world economy, and would increase America’s budget costs significantly.

But at the same time that Boehner’s taking the creditworthiness of the country hostage for huge cuts that would severely impact the middling economic recovery, he’s ruled tax increases entirely “off the table,” proving that he doesn’t actually care all that much about reducing the deficit. He’s simply trying to win concessions for something that even he acknowledges his party has to vote to do anyway.

Americans know who’s to blame for spiking gas prices: Big Oil and Wall Street.

As oil prices have skyrocketed, sending gas prices surging to $4 a gallon or more around the nation, American families have suffered. Although the surging prices threaten the national economic recovery as Americans cut back their household spending and driving, oil companies and commodity speculators have reaped billion-dollar payouts. Fossil-funded conservatives blame environmental regulations and President Obama, but a new poll by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN shows that the American public, no matter what party, know that they can just follow the money to find who’s to blame. Nine out of ten Americans believe that oil companies and speculators are to blame for the recent increase in gas prices:

– 89 percent of Americans believe oil companies deserve a great deal of (61 percent) or some (27 percent) blame for the recent increase in gas prices.

– 90 percent of Americans believe Wall Street speculators deserve a great deal of (59 percent) or some (31 percent) blame for the recent increase in gas prices.

Remarkably, the poll found that a majority of Americans of every ideological stripe — Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative — believe that oil companies and speculators deserve a great deal of blame for gas prices. Only self-identified Tea Party supporters break with the rest of the American public, with about 4 in 10 putting the onus on Big Oil and Wall Street.

By comparison, only a quarter of Americans believe that Obama, Republicans, or environmental policies deserve a great deal of blame. (About half of Tea Partiers put most of the blame on Obama and environmental regulations.)

Goldman Sachs, a top commodity speculator, smashed investor estimates with its first-quarter profits, just after admitting a speculative bubble was driving up oil prices and hurting the US economy. Exxon made $5 million an hour the first three months of this year, while complaining that Congress is considering taking away the tax subsidies that have allowed it to pay zero income taxes. Koch Industries, as a top oil distributor, refiner, and trader, is funneling a fraction of its billion-dollar profits to conservative politicians and lobbyists who fight oil market regulation. Glencore, the world’s largest diversified commodities trader, is planning one of the largest IPOs in history, creating four new billionaires and several hundred millionaires.

Republicans in Congress are now fighting attempts to rein in speculators and end subsidies for oil companies.

Cross-posted on the Wonk Room.

Americans know who’s to blame for spiking gas prices: Big Oil and Wall Street.

As oil prices have skyrocketed, sending gas prices surging to $4 a gallon or more around the nation, American families have suffered. Although the surging prices threaten the national economic recovery as Americans cut back their household spending and driving, oil companies and commodity speculators have reaped billion-dollar payouts. Fossil-funded conservatives blame environmental regulations and President Obama, but a new poll by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN shows that the American public, no matter what party, know that they can just follow the money to find who’s to blame. Nine out of ten Americans believe that oil companies and speculators are to blame for the recent increase in gas prices:

– 89 percent of Americans believe oil companies deserve a great deal of (61 percent) or some (27 percent) blame for the recent increase in gas prices.

– 90 percent of Americans believe Wall Street speculators deserve a great deal of (59 percent) or some (31 percent) blame for the recent increase in gas prices.

Remarkably, the poll found that a majority of Americans of every ideological stripe — Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative — believe that oil companies and speculators deserve a great deal of blame for gas prices. Only self-identified Tea Party supporters break with the rest of the American public, with about 4 in 10 putting the onus on Big Oil and Wall Street.

By comparison, only a quarter of Americans believe that Obama, Republicans, or environmental policies deserve a great deal of blame. (About half of Tea Partiers put most of the blame on Obama and environmental regulations.)

Goldman Sachs, a top commodity speculator, smashed investor estimates with its first-quarter profits, just after admitting a speculative bubble was driving up oil prices and hurting the US economy. Exxon made $5 million an hour the first three months of this year, while complaining that Congress is considering taking away the tax subsidies that have allowed it to pay zero income taxes. Koch Industries, as a top oil distributor, refiner, and trader, is funneling a fraction of its billion-dollar profits to conservative politicians and lobbyists who fight oil market regulation. Glencore, the world’s largest diversified commodities trader, is planning one of the largest IPOs in history, creating four new billionaires and several hundred millionaires.

Republicans in Congress are now fighting attempts to rein in speculators and end subsidies for oil companies.

House Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) explained in December that, in his view, Washington’s role is “to serve the banks.” The rest of the Republicans on his committee have embraced that mantra wholeheartedly, trying to roll back key parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law while collecting big donations from the financial services industry.

To that end, Republicans are riding to the aid of the country’s biggest mortgage servicers, which are currently negotiating a settlement with a bi-partisan group of attorneys general over abuses that came to light during the foreclosure fraud scandal (including the widespread use of “robo-signers“).

The AGs have suggested having the banks pay a penalty by reducing loan principal for troubled homeowners by a certain amount (potentially $20 billion). But Republicans in both the House and the Senate, as well as eight Republican attorneys general, have sided with the banks against homeowners, saying that the banks should not be forced to pay for their past misdeeds.

Previously, Republicans just derided the proposed settlement as a “shakedown,” but now they have a new reason for supporting the interests of banks over homeowners. According to a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder by four Republicans on the Financial Services Committee, reducing loans for troubled homeowners could impede the economic recovery:

“The settlement approach being pursued — which ignores Congressional prerogatives and bypasses the legislative process — is unwise policy and potentially unlawful,” the lawmakers said in the letter…“We have concerns about the potential terms of the servicing settlement because, among other things, we believe that a $20 billion principal reduction fund will create incentives to default that could worsen the housing crisis and impede economic recovery.“

However, as Center for American Progress housing policy consultant Alon Cohen noted, a foreclosure costs a servicer roughly $59,000 in filing fees, legal services, and maintenance of the foreclosed-upon property. Each foreclosure, in addition to the obvious damage to the former homeowner, also causes surrounding homes to lose one to 1.5 percent of their value and lowers tax revenue for the community. Keeping homeowners in their homes prevents all of those negative consequences, and a recent report from the International Monetary Fund showed that the effect of more aggressive loan reductions on bank balance sheets “is likely to be limited.”

At the moment, nearly 30 percent of homeowners are underwater on the mortgages — meaning they owe more than their home is currently worth — and housing prices last quarter showed their largest drop since 2008. Clearly, foreclosure relief is desperately needed, but House Republicans are siding with the banks, potentially leaving homeowners with one less avenue for aid.