With great delight did I receive the news this morning that the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, would be retiring. Two years ago, the great patriots of Virginia’s 7th District retired House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, but since then, John Boehner has stood steadfast and resolute against the freedom movement in America.
However, Boehner’s departure was not without its’ costs.
The shocking move, first reported by The New York Times, means there’s unlikely to be a government shutdown next week.  Following Boehner’s announcement, House Republicans said there was agreement to pass a clean spending bill to keep the government open. Several members of the Freedom Caucus, the conservative group which led the revolt against Boehner’s leadership, said they will now support the spending bill without demands that it include language to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. – Washington Post
Our friends in the Freedom Caucus have taken a great risk on our behalf, trading a budget showdown with Democrats over Planned Parenthood for Boehner’s seat atop the House of Representatives. If this were an establishment writer speaking to you now, I would make the argument that this is a great deal, because Obama would have vetoed a budget without abortion funding for Planned Parenthood anyway. So instead of fighting a losing battle, we win by getting rid of Boehner.
However, we aren’t merely facing future budgets. We’re facing a debt ceiling increase. It’s in the bag. The House and the Senate are going to increase the debt limit and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it. That’s what John Boehner’s resignation cost us.
What have we gained? Hope. Kevin McCarthy may well be the next Speaker of the House, in which case we’ll find ourselves in an equally precarious position. However, McCarthy does not have the power John Boehner wielded. We could get a Congressional Session out of him during the elections where he allows Republicans to fight the battles near and dear to the hearts of Conservatives, in order to put Democrats on the defensive during a Presidential Election. Even show votes, if vetoed by Obama or prevented from coming to a vote by Democrats in the Senate, or even if killed by Mitch McConnell could get more Republicans to the polls next November.
That said, my hope is that our next Speaker of the House is not McCarthy. My impression is that he is less informed than Speaker Boehner and less honest. The Establishment, which still controls the majority in the House, should consider a more middle of the road candidate. Someone like Paul Ryan would be distasteful to conservatives, but it would not have the deleterious effect McCarthy would have – in fact, if its’ McCarthy, things could get much worse, much more quickly.
Furthermore, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz were hell bent on making Planned Parenthood a big time battle in the Senate. By 10am this morning, that ambitious effort became futile. Instead, we’re going to face more spending, more debt, less fiscal security, less debate, and the edge of the cliff becomes increasingly palpable.
I’m delighted to see John Boehner go – it was necessary. The future, however, remains uncertain; our resolve must remain resolute, our ambitions broadened, and our voices raised loud enough for leadership to hear and understand that our complaint rests, not with one man, but with a government bereft of affection for American Liberty. We did not rise seeking heads, but rather, freedom, smaller government, and a more constitutional society.
Originally posted at VAright.comÂ
14 comments
An old saying comes to mind: “Be careful what you ask for; you may just get it.” With a potential vote on a new Speaker coming this week, and no plan in place, it looks like we will be left with the “default setting.”
Bob, Boehner may have been a terrible Speaker on behalf of the Republican Base, but he’s as crafty as they come. He will ensure that another member of leadership takes his place and that the entire Obama Agenda will be funded through the end of his Presidency, which will take a great deal of wind out of the sails of the more conservative base. However, this could backfire terribly for candidates like Jeb Bush and John Kasich. With no one in Congress to punish in upcoming elections, the Republican Base may turn its frustrations against candidates who appear too establishment.
Well said.
Maybe Boner and these other rats are bailing because they think it’s all over.
I remember the shocked look on Boner and Pelosi’s faces the day the grand recession was released to the public. As time went by the Fed was printing money for wall street to the point there were no trees left. Now they advocate charging people interest for keeping their cash in a bank. A negative interest rate if you will. Meanwhile Yellen is looking more like someone who is seriously ill from stress.
And they want to change all the paper bills to a new version. That’s what banana republics do just before they devalue their currency and issue decrees to eliminate keeping physical cash beyond a certain amount.
Then there is the Congressional Budget Office who for years now have been saying the debt will climb to 22 Trillion by 2020.
http://www.ici.org/deployedfiles/ICI/Site%20Properties/images/view_11_pss_deficit.jpg
From the looks of things we are ahead of schedule, even while the official word is things are great. Well if things are so peachy, why were there more people buying at thrift stores than at this weekend’s Macy sale?
Boehner, Cantor and Trump’s rise — the bigger question is how party leaders will process those events.
Or, how long can the leaders ignore these events? They’ve done a pretty good job so far, hence the rise of Trump.
I also believe we all need to consider: 1. Just how conservative, constitutional, and fiscally responsible does a Speaker have to be to satisfy the Republican Grassroots. 2. Are any members of the GOP Leadership willing to compromise even a little bit with their base?
If we will avoid the attendant bad publicity over a Planned Parenthood shutdown, then good. We must pick our battles wisely.
It’s unwise for a political party that owes its birth to opposing slavery to now acquiesce to murder; a party, and a man, willing to make that compromise forever loses its moral authority to speak on anything else.
The one thing that is paramount is winning the presidency in 2016. EVERYTHING else must be put aside until that goal is achieved. The last government shutdown was blamed on Republicans, and would be again. What did we gain? Winning a battle, and losing the war would be catastrophic. Then there is the matter of several appointments to the Supreme Court !!!
Winning the presidency means little if it’s done by abandoning core principles. The compromises of principle since Reagan have slowly moved the party leftward to the point that we have a Congressional majority that works to enable Democrat programs because Republicans are afraid to do otherwise. That has been, in your word, “catastrophic.”
The recent government slowdowns have been flea bites on the GOP popularity. That’s why we won more and more seats in 2010 and 2014. The recent betrayals by our GOP Congress, however, have done far more damage to the party than any shutdown — ergo, Donald Trump.
As the GOP has shown a timidity to defend its founding principles, SCOTUS has taken the hint — “we are with you on the social engineering and disrespect for the Constitution,” whether it’s Republican appointee John Roberts rewriting ObamaCare, Republican appointee Anthony Kennedy deciding the men who wrote the 14th Amendment in 1868 covered a “right to gay marriage,” or Republican appointee David Souter supporting the state’s right to steal private property.
At some point, we have to take a stand on our party’s founding principles or die as a party. Forget about being popular to win; Abraham Lincoln got less than 40% of the popular vote. That’s how great change starts.
Wow. Great comment. You are so right.
We keep saying that winning is everything and that we have to run as cowardly moderates in order to win; but that’s not what’s actually happening. We keep trying to elect these squishy political moderates and only one of two things ever happens: 1. They lose to a Democrat. 2. They get elected and fail to advance a Republican Agenda. So I’m quite certain that we’d all fair better backing Republicans who are willing to take principled positions.
I keep hearing that Republicans are losing support during these showdowns over strongly held and principled positions of the Republican Base, but I’m not seeing an evidence of this. In fact, it appears the opposite is true. Now, there was polling down after the government shut down orchestrated by Cruz that showed that Republicans were held in increasing contempt, but, while I supported the shutdown, had I been asked how I felt, I’d have been furious with the Republicans for giving up so quickly and refusing to stand with their base. So, I think a lot of people that supported the shutdown walked away less happy with the GOP than before we the battle started. I’m not sure what can be taken away from those polls.