About Us
Mission Statement
Rules of Conduct
 
Name:
Pswd:
Remember Me
Register
 

Cleaning out the barn
Author: Raine    Date: 09/28/2015 13:06:33

With the unexpected resignation announcement of Speaker Boehner on Friday come a lot of questions. This weekend gave a few answers to what we will see in the short term, meaning the next five weeks. . He was asked about the extreme conservatives who were clamoring to oust him as speaker.
"Absolutely, they're unrealistic!" he said. "But, you know, the Bible says beware of false prophets, and there are people out there spreading noise about how much can get done."
Regarding the last government shutdown led by Senator (and Presidential candidate) Ted Cruz:
"This plan never had a chance," he said, but he blamed outside forces for leading Republicans down an ill-advised path: "We got groups here in town, members of the House and Senate here in town, who whip people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things that they know — they know! — are never going to happen."

Dickerson followed up by asking whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), the leading proponent of the 2013 shutdown, was a "false prophet."
"Listen, you can pick a lot of names out; I'll let you choose 'em," Boehner said as he sipped from a coffee mug. He added: "I refer you to my remark at a fundraiser I made in August in Steamboat Springs, Colo." — a reference to a report, published in the Daily Caller, that he had called Cruz a "jackass" behind closed doors.


"I don't want to leave my successor a dirty barn," Boehner said. "So I want to clean the barn up a little bit before the next person gets here."


This was a a big indicator of what we are going to see happening. Boehner will not become a liberal hero, but one thing we can be assured: the Hastert rule will no longer apply.

He will need to use Democratic representatives to prevent another government shutdown and it appears that -- for now -- Planned Parenthood is safe. There are also these possibilities:
(S)ome Republicans and many Democrats are hoping the Speaker finds the resolve to push through legislation that enjoys bipartisan support but has been stalled by conservative objections.

Yet any progress may be hampered by the internal politics of the House Republican Conference and the leadership races to replace Boehner and his lieutenants.

Measures that could advance in October include a long-term budget deal, a reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, a multiyear highway bill and an extension of the federal debt ceiling. Some Democrats have made the unlikely suggestion that Boehner could move forward with the immigration reform package he has kept off the House floor for nearly two years because of a conservative outcry.
Hope does, after all, spring eternal. It is more likely that the debt ceiling will be dealt with than say, immigration reform. It all really depends on how quickly, or not, the new leader is elected.
Rep. Peter J. Roskam (R-Ill.), who is seen as a likely candidate for a leadership post, on Saturday urged his colleagues to convene an extended conference meeting to conduct a “serious discussion about why we’re here serving, what we expect of our leaders, and how we plan to accomplish our goals.”
Quick elections, Roskam said in a interview, would be a “massive error in judgment.”

“We need to really take a look at ourselves, and we really need to reflect on this,” he said. “If we don’t reflect on it well or we move too quickly, nothing good is going to happen.”

Roskam said that by Saturday evening, he had garnered enough support, from at least 50 members, to force such a meeting.
The reality is that we are in for a bumpy ride. This resignation will embolden the conservative zealots that have been gaining control in the house, and in the Senate with Senator Cruz.

I have long said that Boehner was not a very good House leader. I stand by that. But I think we are going to see in the coming months that while his leadership was lackluster, it was spectacular when looking at what the zealots are going to try to do in that body of government.

President Obama stated on Friday
"Maybe most importantly," he continued, Boehner is "somebody who understands that in governance you don't get 100 percent of what you want, but you have to work with people you disagree with, sometimes strongly, in order to do the people's business."
I do think Boehner tried. Trying is impossible when working with people that are too rigid to move at all.

Rigidity might be good for fundraising. It might be good for a showy political rally, but it is not good for legislating the people's business.

Make no mistake, When Boehner said he was cleaning the barn, he is going to try to clean out some of the bullshit that led to his quitting.

It's really that bad. It's so bad that conservative prognosticators are actually saying that would have been prevented if only Boehner was just a little nicer to the Tea Party. (sorry for the fox opinion link)
When Congress came back from recess, they were confronted by Planned Parenthood videos, news that Boehner's chief health care staffer was the sister of the president of StemExpress, the group profiting from harvesting children's organs, the Iran deal, and continuing resolution, and soon the debt ceiling.
 
Boehner had no strategy to navigate the waters and immediately closed his door to conservatives.

He then alienated war hawks through his handling of the Iran deal and defense spending.  He seemed to have no plan on the debt ceiling to ameliorate the conservatives of fiscal hawks. Thursday, he dragged some conservative members into his office and they held firm, giving him no wiggle room on the continuing resolution.  

Boehner lost the ability to bully conservatives because outside conservative groups started making those guys heroes and household names for standing up to him.  Conservatives built themselves infrastructure to fundraise for themselves when Boehner shut off K Street spigots.

And now the Speaker had closed his doors not just to social conservatives, but fiscal conservatives and war hawks.  All he had left were a small group of moderates and the assistance of the Democrats. (snip)

Had Boehner and his staff just treated his Republican members of congress nicely, this would not have happened.  That is what you must understand.



May the wild rumpus begin.

and

Raine
 

22 comments (Latest Comment: 09/28/2015 20:24:25 by Raine)
   Perma Link

Share This!

Furl it!
Spurl
NewsVine
Reddit
Technorati

Add a Comment

Please login to add a comment...


Comments:

Order comments Newest to Oldest  Refresh Comments

Comment by wickedpam on 09/28/2015 13:18:09
Morning

Out in the warehouse for out annual sale - catch up with with everyone later

Comment by BobR on 09/28/2015 13:36:49
Boehner is going to need a bigger pitchfork and shovel if he wants to really clean out the barn. Otherwise, it's weak tea.

I think I just grossed myself out mixing my metaphors

Comment by Mondobubba on 09/28/2015 13:36:55
I think I am going to enjoy Don't Give a Fuck Boehner. Or not. Depends on if continues not giving giving any fucks.

Comment by Mondobubba on 09/28/2015 13:41:35
Quote by BobR:
Boehner is going to need a bigger pitchfork and shovel if he wants to really clean out the barn. Otherwise, it's weak tea.

I think I just grossed myself out mixing my metaphors


Mix away, Bobber. Just don't drink that stuff. Ewwww!

Comment by Raine on 09/28/2015 15:04:03
Comment by Raine on 09/28/2015 15:57:43
Finally someone calls it out for what is really happening… Paul Krugman.

John Boehner was a terrible, very bad, no good speaker of the House. Under his leadership, Republicans pursued an unprecedented strategy of scorched-earth obstructionism, which did immense damage to the economy and undermined America’s credibility around the world.

Still, things could have been worse. And under his successor they almost surely will be worse. Bad as Mr. Boehner was, he was just a symptom of the underlying malady, the madness that has consumed his party.








Comment by TriSec on 09/28/2015 16:00:11
Google "PSA 182" and you'll see a picture of TriSec's morning.

Comment by Raine on 09/28/2015 16:13:54
Quote by TriSec:
Google "PSA 182" and you'll see a picture of TriSec's morning.

Oh dear…


Comment by Raine on 09/28/2015 16:14:46
Comment by Mondobubba on 09/28/2015 16:23:09


Was there any doubt in your mind that he is not human?

Comment by livingonli on 09/28/2015 17:59:22
Quiet day on the blog.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 09/28/2015 18:09:31
Quote by livingonli:
Quiet day on the blog.


Too quiet...

Comment by Raine on 09/28/2015 18:13:33
Hey Boston! wanna take this jerk back to the Sox?

Comment by livingonli on 09/28/2015 18:27:16
Quote by Raine:
Hey Boston! wanna take this jerk back to the Sox?

It seems like everything's falling apart since they lost their playoff bid. Still weird to think the Mets actually managed to clinch it since before the trade, they still didn't look like they could have made it.

Comment by Raine on 09/28/2015 18:32:45
Comment by Mondobubba on 09/28/2015 18:46:24


Don't snark, Raine. This will be perfect for my scifi television show themed Christmas tree.













Comment by Raine on 09/28/2015 18:59:20
Quote by Mondobubba:


Don't snark, Raine. This will be perfect for my scifi television show themed Christmas tree.
















Comment by livingonli on 09/28/2015 19:13:29
I think facebook went down again.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 09/28/2015 19:20:41
Quote by livingonli:
I think facebook went down again.

Sure looks that way.

Not very reliable lately. Can we blame it on Flash?

Comment by livingonli on 09/28/2015 19:52:18
It's back up.

Comment by Raine on 09/28/2015 20:24:25
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Quote by livingonli:
I think facebook went down again.

Sure looks that way.

Not very reliable lately. Can we blame it on Flash?

Sure, but I prefer blaming it on Obama.