Politics / John Boehner Boehner: Why I Threw F-Bomb at Harry Reid More WSJ goodies: 'I need this job like I need a hole in head' By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Jan 7, 2013 7:46 AM CST Copied In this Jan. 1, 2013, file photo, Speaker of the House John Boehner walks past reporters after a closed-door meeting meeting of House Republicans at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) John Boehner didn't seem to hold much back during his hour-long interview with Stephen Moore for the Wall Street Journal, which took place just after Boehner was re-elected House speaker. "I need this job like I need a hole in the head," the chain-smoking congressman says at one point. He explains his now-infamous "go f--- yourself" to Harry Reid: "Those days after Christmas, I was in Ohio, and Harry's on the Senate floor calling me a dictator and all kinds of nasty things. You know, I don't lose my temper. I never do. But I was shocked at what Harry was saying about me. I came back to town. Saw Harry at the White House. And that was when that was said." Boehner also reveals what was, for him, the most shocking moment of fiscal cliff negotiations with President Obama: "At one point several weeks ago, the president said to me, 'We don't have a spending problem.'" Obama believes the federal deficit is the result of problems with the health-care system, Boehner explains. Boehner repeatedly tried to convince him that the country does, in fact, "have a very serious spending problem," but Obama dismissed him and noted, "I'm getting tired of hearing you say that." (And yes, Boehner confirms the president also made this headline-grabbing comment.) In the end, Boehner was not satisfied with the fiscal cliff deal, but he notes: "Who would have ever guessed that we could make 99% of the Bush tax cuts permanent? When we had a Republican House and Senate and a Republican in the White House, we couldn't get that. And so, not bad." Boehner also talks about the future: Republicans absolutely won't consider any more tax increases in the next two years, and Boehner won't bother engaging in any more "futile" closed-door talks with Obama. Click for the full interview. (More John Boehner stories.) Report an error