Boehner makes no apologies for tumultuous Congress

House Speaker John Boehner has big ambitions. He wants to overhaul the tax code to exclude loopholes for special interests, pass a budget authored by Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, greenlight an oil pipeline that spans from Canada to Texas and repeal President Obama's signature healthcare law.

This, he acknowledged Thursday, could be a difficult dream to fulfill.

"Even as we recognize the realities of today, we have to be ambitious as hell about what has to be done in the future," Boehner said at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Case in point: he questioned the future of a massive spending bill to fund transportation projects scheduled for a vote in the House next week but will be void of earmarks, the term of art for congressional spending on pet projects.

"Will it pass?" he asked. "I sure hope so, but that's not up to me," he said, noting that the ban on earmarks made it more difficult to curry votes.

"We sacrificed a tool of power that's been around for decades," he said.

Boehner also pledged that his legislative agenda will be transparent, promising "wide-open" processes to repeal the healthcare law and last month's decision by the Obama administration to require all employers to provide birth control as part of their health plans. There is an exemption for churches and other houses of worship, but the rule includes hospitals and schools affiliated with religious organizations.

Despite his difficulties wrangling a legislature filled with competing interests from long-time members and new faces loyal to the Tea Party and resistant to compromise, Boehner did not apologize for the body's frequent failure to take action.

"I'd much rather lead a tumultuous majority that listens to the people that's one that's controlled that substitutes its ill for the will of the American people," he said.

But he did caution his members that working together as a party will be necessary.

"It starts with a willingness to serve others, to serve with others that may not have the exact same outlook," he said of how they will bring about the change they want to see.