Boehner, White House trade political barbs

WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday President Barack Obama makes the "biggest job in the world" look small.

Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Boehner said there are "clear difference in the focus of the two parties right now: Republicans focused on jobs and the economy, passing nearly 30 bills blocked by the Senate. The president's party has a different focus, and it's about politics, not about the American people. …

"This week the president traveled across the country on taxpayers' dime -- at a cost of $179,000 an hour -- insisting that Congress fix a problem that we were already working on," Boehner said, referring to the congressional action needed to prevent the interest rate on Stafford student loans from doubling.

"These are the types of political stunts -- and, frankly, they aren't … worthy of his office," Boehner said, adding Obama's actions are "beneath the dignity of the White House."

"This is the biggest job in the world, and I've never seen a president make it smaller. … It's as simple as this: The emperor has no clothes," he said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney responded to Boehner's allegations, telling reporters: "I understand that Speaker Boehner and Republicans on Capitol Hill are busy backing and filling, trying to explain how they can support -- how they now support fixing the student loan interest rate problem, when they all voted in favor of a Republican budget, the Ryan budget -- their governing document -- which explicitly took another course of action and would have allowed interest rate loans on -- Stafford loans to double. So they can't have it both ways."