Following a Thursday speech unveiling his plan to "liberate" the economy, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) was asked if he enjoyed his job.
"Hell, no!" he exclaimed. "I'm not having any fun."
"But I am glad I'm there... I wanted to be Speaker because I wanted to lead an effort on behalf of our country. And it's that mission that drives me every day... But I like to accomplish my mission and get the hell out of there."
Boehner later added that he never aspired to be a politician.
"I always wanted to be a salesman. And eventually that's what I did. I was in the sales and marketing business in the packaging and plastic industry. And I thought I was going to do that the rest of my life but along the way, I got involved in my neighborhood homeowners association and I ended up in the United States Congress."
UPDATE: John Amato:
John Boehner threw down the tea party gauntlet this morning and said it's his way or the highway in response to Obama's jobs bill and what the Super Committee will be allowed to do. He dismissed tax breaks for corporations (which is a long standing ideal of conservative policy) and labeled them as gimmicks and then said only federal spending cuts (not the military of course) and attacks on our social safety nets will be permitted to move forward in his vision to help our struggling economy.
It's a destructive philosophy as the facts have born out and the president must not buckle again to the GOP or the Villagers' bipartisan shared sacrifice fetish. If he does offer up social safety net reforms that include benefit cuts, the 2012 elections will be a complete disaster .
