Yesterday John Boehner said there would be no debt ceiling increase without cutting trillions in spending:

“Without significant spending cuts and changes to the way we spend the American people’s money, there will be no debt limit increase,” Mr. Boehner told members of New York’s business and finance community. “And cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority the president is given.” Mr. Boehner said those cuts should be in the trillions of dollars, not billions.

So what should be cut? Well short of trying another push on the Ryan Medicare plan, something that Republicans are even souring on, Boehner gave no details.

Boehner did say everything “except tax hikes” is on the table. Would that include defense? Somehow I doubt it.

This really opens up a chance for President Obama to take lead on the issue. The President should do a speech and ask the Speaker exactly what he wants cut. Start pushing this, force John Boehner to lay out an actual plan instead of a talking point.

Of course talking points is all that John Boehner has. Remember back during the healthcare battle, when Boehner and company had this “much better plan”. They held a big press conference and released the “plan”, which turned out to be nothing but a glossy 8 1/2×11 talking point. When Boehner was pushed on the lack of details his response was “well we aren’t in charge, so we won’t do that”. Well Mr. Boehner, you are in charge now – where’s the details?

Despite all this, I think there is a much more interesting thing to consider here. Republicans just voted for a budget that forces the need to increase the debt limit. Why?  They knew what the budget would do, but they voted for it anyways. I think this is a question a lot of Americans are going to ask as this debate heats up. It’s also going to be a tough one for the GOP to wiggle their way out of.