John Boehner's debt ceiling line in the sand stops short at the Paul Ryan budget

Speaker John Boehner (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) House Speaker John Boehner's debt ceiling hostage-taking threats include the requirement that any increase to the debt limit has be matched "dollar-for-dollar" by other cuts and "reforms."

Tough stance he's taking there, and a selective one, too, since the House-approved Paul Ryan budget would actually increase the deficit by $5 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Boehner's debt ceiling demand doesn't extend to that $5 trillion increase, and he's unbothered by the inconsistency.

CNN's Erin Burnett, interviewing Boehner Tuesday after his speech, confronted him about the contradiction.
'Yeah, the big bad House Republican budget that would just gut everything under the sun, according to my friends across the aisle, would still require a $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling over the next 10 years,' Boehner said. 'Why? Because of the great big demographic bubble'baby boomers like me, that are going to retire and continue to retire for the next 20-25 years. It's a big challenge.'

In fact, the Ryan budget includes large tax cuts that would bring about a $4.6 trillion reduction in federal revenues, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Do the Republicans care about the deficit? Of course not. They care about keeping tax cuts for rich people, exploding the defense budget, and undoing every good thing government does for the American people. It's not about the deficit. It's never been about the deficit.