Boehner and the Tea Party
Posted on December 22, 2011
Speaker John Boehner has lost control of his House.
Two moves away from the Presidency, and supposedly the most powerful member of his party, Boehner has been made to look like a fool by the Tea Party faithful. Ostensibly members of the Republican Party, Tea Heads – as I like to call them – have become a party unto themselves and answerable only to Grover Norquist. Think about that. Grover Norquist holds more sway than the Speaker of the House.
It was during the summer that Tea Heads held their first insurrection. When President Obama and Rep. Boehner worked out a budget deal to the liking of both parties, and Boehner brought it back to his House for passage, the Tea Heads shot it right out of the water, much to Boehner’s embarrassment. Take that Mr. Speaker! You are now the lackey of Grover Norquist. And this is not your House anymore. Wipe that egg off of your face.
They have driven home their point this time. A bi-partisan deal, which passed the Senate by a margin of 89-10, has been killed by the Tea Heads. Boehner could not deliver the votes needed to pass the legislation. He no longer has the power, if he ever did in the first place. And don’t believe his claim that he was never in agreement with the two month extension of the payroll tax and unemployment compensation deal. He is backtracking, and just trying to save face.
And while the Tea Heads are supposedly on board with a full year extension of the tax cut, they are against the unemployment benefits going forward without changes. They want applicants to pass drug tests and background checks, not at all inexpensive measures, and totally against the Constitution. Such state laws have already been gutted by the courts. And Tea Heads are only for the tax cuts because even they realize another election looms around the corner. Like all politicians, they love their jobs and would never think of leaving voluntarily.
The Tea Heads have hung Boehner out to dry, and it won’t be long before we start hearing calls for his scalp. And it won’t be Democrats leading the charge, but rank and file Republican party members, and Tea Heads.
The Republican Party is a mess. The right-wing fanatics have taken control, and any cooperation with the Democrats is viewed as weakness. They can’t even decide on a Presidential candidate. Romney, though the most electable of the sorry bunch, is viewed as too moderate. The other flavors of the month – first Perry, then Cain, then Gingrich – proved to have no staying power, and Huntsman, the other moderate, might as well be a Democrat. As for Trump, I will only mention his name because he obviously likes to see it in print. He was never a viable candidate. And neither is Paul.
The Democrats have not done much better over the last three years, but at least they seem to know which side they are on. President Obama should not have signed the spending bill until the tax cuts and unemployment bills were passed. His show of good faith was misplaced. But he will still come out of this looking better than the Republicans. As for Speaker Boehner, he needs to step down sometime after the first of the year. His power has been usurped by the Tea Heads, and he should just go home, though he will probably turn up on K street.
Boehner and the Tea Party | breezespeaks.
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