House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that when Congress raises the nation's borrowing cap he will again insist on spending cuts and budget reforms to offset the increase. 
 
 House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's 2012 Fiscal Summit, Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) 
 
 House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, speaks at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's 2012 Fiscal Summit, Tuesday, May 15, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) 
 
 In remarks Tuesday afternoon at a budget conference in Washington, the Ohio Republican said he welcomes another wrenching debate on increasing the so-called debt limit because it forces a Congress and White House plagued by gridlock to make difficult decisions. 
 
 Boehner also said that the GOP-controlled House will vote to extend Bush-era tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year and that the House will act next year on "broad-based tax reform that lowers rates for individuals and businesses while closing deductions, credits and special carveouts." 
 
 According to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the government will hit its borrowing cap later this year, but Treasury can use accounting maneuvers to buy time for the newly elected Congress to deal with the issue early next year. 
 
 About a year ago, Boehner made a similar promise demanding spending cuts spread over a decade exceed the amount of increase in the debt limit, which at the time was discounted by some in official Washington. 
 
 "When the time comes, I will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase," Boehner said at a "budget summit" sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan group that advocates tackling the nation's debt problem. "This is the only avenue I see right now to force the elected leadership of this country to solve our structural fiscal imbalance." 
 
 Asked whether President Barack Obama agreed that any increase in the debt ceiling should be offset by spending cuts, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that scenario would present an ugly repeat of last year when Republicans held the U.S. government credit "hostage," as Carney put it. 
 
 "It can't possibly be the case that the right prescription for what we need to do right now is to engage in the kind of political brinksmanship that, unfortunately, congressional Republicans engaged in last year," Carney said. "So we're not going to do that." 
 
 Yet it was unclear how the White House could prevent it if the Republican-led Congress again insists on commensurate cuts. Carney said Obama would again demand balancing spending cuts with an increase in tax revenue, which Republicans have rejected. 
 
 Boehner said it may take one or more stopgap debt increases to buy time for a larger bargain. 
 
 Last year, Congress and Obama _ with Boehner playing a lead role _ agreed on a 10-year, $2 trillion-plus package of spending cuts the coming decade. The measure paired caps on domestic agency operating budgets with the promise of $1.2 trillion in further deficit cuts though a so-called deficit supercommittee. 
 
 But the supercommittee's failure to reach a deal has forced a scheduled painful round of automatic spending cuts at the Pentagon and other Cabinet agencies next year, along with a 2 percent cut to Medicare providers. Lawmakers are already trying to unwind those cuts, which take effect in January. 
 
 Boehner seemed to warn that he won't permit such a scheme this time around. 
 
 "Just so we're clear, I'm talking about real cuts and reforms _ not these tricks and gimmicks that have given Washington a pass on grappling with its spending," he said. 
 
 Geithner warned against a replay of last summer's debt crisis, which led to a downgrade in the U.S. government's credit rating. 
 
 "This commitment to meet the obligations of the nation, this commitment to protect the creditworthiness of the country is a fundamental commitment you can never call into question or violate because it's the foundation for any market economy," Geithner said Tuesday morning at the same event. "This allows us to govern, to fight wars, to deal with crises, recessions, to adjust to a changing world." ||||| Article Excerpt 
 
 WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that any increase in the government's borrowing limit must be accompanied by spending cuts and other budget savings of greater value, and he rejected tax increases as part of any deal to reduce the federal deficit. 
 
 Those positions signaled to the White House that congressional Republicans are prepared for fiscal brinkmanship at the end of the year, when Bush-era tax cuts are scheduled to expire, large automatic spending cuts are set to begin and the government reaches its $16.394 trillion borrowing limit. 
 
 "It is a line in the sand because Washington has ... ||||| John Boehner lays out fiscal plan, knocks Obama for lack of courage 
 
 By Molly K. Hooper - 
 
 Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday vowed to only raise the debt ceiling if President Obama and Democrats agree to an greater amount of spending cuts and entitlement reforms. 
 
 Boehner also promised that no tax hikes would be a part of the package, and laid out plans for a fast-track process to guarantee tax reform would take place in 2013. 
 
 “This will give Congress time to work on broad-based tax reform that lowers rates for individuals and businesses while closing deductions, credits, and special carve-outs,” Boehner said. 
 
 Boehner made the remarks in a politically charged address at the Peterson Institute in Washington on a day where the debate over the nation’s fiscal health dominated D.C. 
 
 The speech included several shots at Obama, whom Boehner said lacked the “courage” to lead on fiscal issues. 
 
 Democrats and officials in the Obama administration fired back, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warning that Boehner should not play games with the debt ceiling. 
 
 “We hope they do it without the drama and the pain and the damage they caused the country last July,” he said of Congress's role in the upcoming negotiations on raising the debt ceiling. 
 
 Treasury has said the ceiling will likely be hit this year, but that the department has the tools to buy time so that a hike to the ceiling could be put off until next year. The Bush tax rates are set to expire at the end of 2012, and automatic spending cuts from last year’s debt-ceiling deal are scheduled to be implemented in January 2013. This has been described by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as a “fiscal cliff” that threatens the economy. 
 
 Boehner previously has promised that the House would vote to stop all of the Bush tax rates from expiring at the end of the year. On Tuesday, he said this legislation would also “establish an expedited process by which Congress would enact real tax reform in 2013.” 
 
 He said the Ways and Means Committee is busy working out the details of the plan. 
 
 "The bottom line is, if we do this right, this will be the last time we ever have to confront the uncertainty of expiring tax rates. We’ll have replaced the broken status quo with a tax code that maintains progressivity, taxes income once and creates a fairer, simpler code," Boehner said. 
 
 The Speaker said Washington had no choice but to act, and highlighted his own business background to make the argument. 
 
 “Having run a business, I know that failing to plan is planning to fail,” Boehner said. “The real pain comes from doing nothing … ‘austerity’ is what will become necessary if we do nothing now. We’ll wake up one day without a choice in the matter.” 
 
 
 
 Boehner and Obama held personal talks last year on a grand bargain deficit-cutting plan that unnerved members of both parties. Boehner on Tuesday put the blame on their failure solely on Obama. 
 
 “I believe President Obama cares about this country and knows what the right thing to do is. But knowing what’s right and doing what’s right are different things,” Boehner said. 
 
 “The difference between knowing what’s right and doing what’s right is courage, and the president, I’m sorry to say, lost his.” 
 
 Boehner said the two were on the verge of a deal that would have reduced deficits by trillions last summer by “strengthening entitlement programs and reforming the tax code with permanently lower rates for all.” 
 
 But he said Obama lost his nerve because of Senate Democrats, whom Boehner said wanted to push for tax hikes. 
 
 “When the president saw his former colleagues in the Senate getting ready to press for tax hikes, he lost his nerve,” Boehner said. “The political temptation was too great. He moved the goalposts, changed his stance, and demanded tax hikes.” 
 
 Boehner promised that Republicans in Congress would act on the debt ceiling and expiring Bush-era tax cuts before the election in November. 
 
 “Sometime after the election, the federal government will near the statutory debt limit. This end-of-the-year pileup, commonly called the ‘fiscal cliff,’ is a chance for us to bid farewell — permanently — to the era of so-called ‘timely, temporary and targeted’ short-term government intervention,” Boehner said. 
 
 “Previous Congresses have encountered lesser precipices with lower stakes, and made a beeline for the closest lame-duck escape hatch. Let me put your mind at ease. This Congress will not follow that path — not if I have anything to do with it,” he continued. 
 
 Boehner insisted he’s ready to take up the challenge of dealing with difficult issues, even in the midst of a highly charged election year. 
 
 ‘If we have leaders with the courage to make tough choices and the vision to pursue a future paved with growth, then we can heal our economy and again be the example for all to follow. 
 
 “I’m ready, and I’ve been ready. I’m not angling for higher office. This is the last position in government I will hold. I haven’t come this far to walk away,” Boehner said. 
 
 
 
 
 
 —This story was updated at 4:30 p.m.
– Remember the nasty fight in DC last summer over the national debt ceiling? Get ready for round two this fall. John Boehner launched the first volley today, demanding at a fiscal summit that any increase in the ceiling be offset by spending cuts, reports the Hill. "When the time comes, I will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase," said Boehner. "This is the only avenue I see right now to force the elected leadership of this country to solve our structural fiscal imbalance." The White House had a different take, notes AP: "It can't possibly be the case that the right prescription for what we need to do right now is to engage in the kind of political brinksmanship that, unfortunately, congressional Republicans engaged in last year," said spokesman Jay Carney. "So we're not going to do that." In his speech, Boehner also laid out his plans to keep the Bush tax cuts from expiring, reports the Wall Street Journal. He said the House, "in order to stop the largest tax increase in American history," would vote to extend them before the end of the year, then enact "broad-based tax reform" in 2013.