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Wotta Boehner!
Author: BobR    Date: 07/02/2010 11:16:21

When it comes to politics, there are always those rare birds that epitomize the cliché politician. These guys are hard-drinking narcissists that love power for the sake of power, and are always raising money, posturing for the press, pontificating with obvious insincerity, and so entrenched, they'll never leave. Often caricatures of themselves, they are living cartoons. No current politician fits this bill better than Rep. John Boehner (R-OH).

Who can forget his "impromptu" standing up and storming out of the House in disgust, then walking down the Capitol steps for a press conference where a dais and microphone just happened to be waiting for him. Who can forget his "hell no you can't!" bluster when discussing the health care bill (hell yes they did).

Recently though, things have ventured into the absurd. First was the jaw-dropping statement that the financial reform bill was like "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon". Even President Obama had to make fun of him for that. So how does he respond? He chides Democrats for celebrating the birth of our nation on the Fourth of July:
"With the President failing to lead, Democrats are rushing out of town to watch fireworks and eat macaroni salad instead of getting the American people's work done"

Will Boehner be working at the Capitol this weekend? Perhaps I should drop by his office and offer a helping hand. Surely he wouldn't go home to spend the weekend with his family. Why - that would be just plain hypocritical!

There have also been allegations of laziness and drinking. How does he respond? By claiming he works hard at raising money for Republicans:
QUESTION: Is there any truth to the matter that you're at bars at 5 or 6 o’clock during the day?

BOEHNER: You can go back over the last 16 years and look at my schedule and you'll see you'd be hard-pressed to find a night when I wasn't doing events for my colleagues or my candidates.

So he drinks at bars to raise money for colleagues. What about working for the people who elected him? What about working for the American people? Nope. According to his press rep, he works hard at partying:
Gail Collins noted yesterday that this is, at the very least, a substantial commitment to partying: "1.25 fund-raising events per day." And at an impressive average of $117,000 a pop, Boehner's stacking some serious cheddar. Still, one would hope that one's Congressional representative might actually be able to demonstrate a real work ethic doing the real work of legislating.

However, he does speak out about issues that are near and dear to his heart. I'm talking of course about tanning bed taxes:
Boehner blasted out a press release and tweet warning about a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning beds, which goes into affect today, to help fund the Affordable Care Act. Citing a Wall Street Journal article, Boehner wrote, the tax is "causing all kinds of problems for business owners who provide tanning services."

It does beg the question about whether Boehner goes to the tanning booth himself, or uses the spray-on method. His concern would seem to indicate the former.

You have to wonder what the voters in Ohio's 8th district see in this joke of a congressman. They've been sending him back every two years since 1990. Of course, that district has voted Republican since 1938, so the chances of a Democrat beating him are pretty slim. That hasn't stopped challengers from trying. This year's brave knight is Justin Coussoule. He doesn't stand much of a chance in such a red district, but a little cash floated his way might help.

 

30 comments (Latest Comment: 07/03/2010 00:38:17 by TriSec)
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