Several conservative members of Boehner’s Republican caucus voted against him and others didn’t vote in protest of what they see as the speaker not holding a hard enough line on fiscal issues.
January 3, 2013
"As the 113th Congress takes its place in the Capitol, John Boehner has been re-elected speaker of the House..."
With 200 votes, says email, just now, from CNN.
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40 comments:
With Zero, Boner and Weed leading the country, I feel confident ...
we are doomed.
DCW - DEAD COUNTRY WALKING.
Now let's have a nice cry along.
It hardly matters who is in charge anymore. The path of decline was laid down decades ago. When, not if, is the trajectory, with the small minded excuse we have for a political class all wanting to avoid being blamed.
What can't be paid for won't.
It is as simple as that.
Same old putz Obama.. same old demented Reid, same old nutcase Pelosi, and now, same old dumbass Boehner.
Wonderful.... next four years are gonna be a rollercoaster. Bury your money and hide your daughters.
The State of IL is coming after guns.
Dems don't want to take you guns, they did to freed slaves after the Civil War.
Ignore history.
"Same old putz Obama.. same old demented Reid, same old nutcase Pelosi, and now, same old dumbass Boehner."
Yeah, and so now the big question is what will it take to break this up. And will it be more or less painful than the status quo.
CNN really said 200 votes? First, it was 220 votes, but more importantly, to become Speaker requires an outright majority, so >217 votes is needed. If Boehner only has 200 votes, he didn't become Speaker. He won because he exceeded 217 votes. One would think CNN would know these things.
Mogget said...
Yeah, and so now the big question is what will it take to break this up. And will it be more or less painful than the status quo.
It will be extremely painful the longer it takes.
My best guess is that the shit will hit the fan when the Feds start delaying paying out income tax refunds to all the taxpayers that overpay throughout the year.
This has happened with several states already, they don't have the money to pay back the interest free loans provided to them by unwitting taxpayers.
Once this starts happening on a larger scale at the federal level, people will become much more interessted.
Meh.
The *interesting* part isn't that he won, even if barely.
It's that two years ago he got 211.
We are screwed.
The vote was 220 to 192.
"Elections are the means by which the people get the government they want, and they deserve to get it - good and hard."
H.L. Mencken
John Boehner is doing the best he can with what he has got to work with, which is not much, but it is what you gave him.
Our current political class reminds me of the show 'Hoarders'. The behavior exhibited is disgusting to normal people, but also self destuctive not only themselves, but others. It is facinating to watch, while horrific at the same time.
The problem is that their continual avoidance of their problems is destroying the rest of us, and we can do nothing about it.
The GOP should rename itself TIP: The Irrelevant Party.
Humbug!
I guess I don't have a significant problem with Boehner.....who would be more effective? Politics is the art of the possible and playing the hand you are dealt.
People want Boehner to play like he his holding a royal flush when all he has his three kings. You can only play that hand so well.
Politicians for life... how can that go wrong?
The problem with the poker hand analogy is that Boehner and Obama aren't just playing against each other, they are playing against reality.
Reality has a royal flush in that the entitlement state is unsustainable, it will bankrupt us.
Obama, Boehner, Reid, et all are focused on beating each other with their three of a kinds, or full house, whatever, when reality has them all beat.
Will things ever change when the political class is playing small ball for personal power while engineering the collapse?
Boehner's remarks:
Leader Pelosi, members of the House and Senate, dear family and friends, fellow countrymen:
“We meet again at democracy’s great port of call. Every two years, at this hour, the Constitution brings a new order to this House. It is an interlude for reflection, a glimpse of old truths.
“To our new members and their families, welcome. You are likely feeling awestruck right about now. History runs through here. And now you are among a select few to share in this privilege.
“For those who are returning, who have walked these aisles before, maybe it’s time we feel awestruck again.
“The way our founders envisioned it, the republic would be led by citizens who recognize that the blessing of governing ourselves requires that we give something of ourselves. Everything depended on this. So they made each other – and their successors – swear an oath of allegiance.
“In a few moments, I will take this oath for the twelfth time as representative of the Eighth District of Ohio. It is word for word the same oath we all take.
“Note that it makes no mention of party, faction, or title … contains no reference to agendas or platforms – only to the Constitution
“The one addition we dare to make, as George Washington did at the first inaugural, is to invoke the assistance of our Heavenly Father.
“This covenant makes us servants of posterity. It calls us to refuse the pull of passing interests and follow the fixed star of a more perfect union.
“Put simply, we are sent here not to be something, but to do something – to do the right thing.
“It’s a big job, and it comes with big challenges.
Our government has built up too much debt. Our economy is not producing enough jobs. These are not separate problems.
“At $16 trillion and rising, our national debt is draining free enterprise and weakening the ship of state.
“The American Dream is in peril so long as its namesake is weighed down by this anchor of debt. Break its hold, and we begin to set our economy free. Jobs will come home. Confidence will come back.
“We do this not just to boost GDP or reduce unemployment, but to secure for our children a future of freedom and opportunity. Nothing is more important.
“As Washington wrote in his farewell address, we should not ‘throw upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.’
“Well, the burden is ours and so is the opportunity.
“There is no substitute for the wisdom of the people. We are their servants. As Speaker, I pledge to listen and do all I can to help you carry out the oath you are about to take.
“Because in our hearts, we know it is wrong to pass on this debt to our kids and grandkids. Now we have to be willing – truly willing – to make this right.
“Public service was never meant to be an easy living. Extraordinary challenges demand extraordinary leadership.
“So if you have come here to see your name in lights or to pass off political victory as accomplishment, you have come to the wrong place. The door is behind you.
“If you have come here humbled by the opportunity to serve; if you have come here to be the determined voice of the people; if you have come here to carry the standard of leadership demanded not just by our constituents but by the times, then you have come to the right place.
“There is a time for every purpose under Heaven. For the 113th Congress, it is a time to rise. When the day is over, and the verdict is read, may it be said that we well and faithfully did our duty to ensure freedom will endure and prevail.
“So help us God.”
Public service was never meant to be an easy living. Extraordinary challenges demand extraordinary leadership.
Playing god with other people's livelihoods is hard? Extraordinarily challenging?
Gore Vidal level pomposity.
All the focus is on the Republicans. Blame the Republicans.
Meanwhile the giant pink elephant in the room goes un-noticed.
Go figure!
Inga said...
Just heard rumor that Boehner will resign tonight at 5 PM.
1/2/13 3:19 PM
Oh well, maybe the next "rumor" will be true...
One good thing is that it was a blow to Grover Norquist "no taxes go higher, ever!!" absolutism.
The same conservatives, with notable exceptions like Tom Coburn on free unfunded prescription drugs for seniors poor at rich alike with no Big Pharma discounts negotiated - signed the "Norquist Pledge" - then spent like drunken sailors along with Bush.
Then screamed and moaned when people mentioned that we did not have the funds to pay for the drugs, the 2 trillion in Neocon wars, the 1.5 trillion in Republican pork barrel and Bush's LBJ like expansion of the Fed Government ....and taxes might have to pay for the money they blew.
And screamed even more that restoring taxes to Clinton rates would be a betrayal not just of Grover, but all the hero JOhn Galts using their tax cuts to create tens of millions of new jobs and grow the economy. Just under Saint Ronald, who proved Voodoo economics worked.
Except no jobs were created, the economy didn't grow, Free Trade gutted American jobs, and the deficits that 1st started exploding under Voodoo economics exploded even worse.
The bigger betrayal of Republicans was in abandoning fiscal responsibility to worship Grover.
Not the question of how paying for what funds they the Republicans blew would be a "betrayal of the sacred Norquist Pledge".
All of these "crises" are getting old.
And a wet noodle shall lead them.
"Yeah, and so now the big question is what will it take to break this up. And will it be more or less painful than the status quo."
1) Reality.
2) More painful. Much.
Boehner should've been gone. He's proven good at nothing, he's a failure even as a minor political leader, and now he's damaged goods.
I hope Boehner's scared enough to keep his word about conducting further legislative business via the standard operating procedures of the House. These constant emergency "negotiations" between the Speaker and the President to make legislation are stupid and worthy of nothing but contempt. You pass bills. You reject bills. Maybe amend them, or don't. Repeat as necessary. That's how good policy is made, out in the open. And it's Congress' entire reason for existence.
Poker? Doesn't matter what Obama, Boehner or Reid hold. Fourth player's a chinaman and he's got all the aces.
I'm with Cedarford. The Republicans grew the shit out of government but didn't pay for it. But none of them ran on repealing NCLB, Homeland Security, Medicare Part D, or promising never again to bog is down in an Iraq or Afghanistan. While many of them decry Benghazi, very few argue that Obama never should have gotten us involved in Libya in the first place.
Before repealing Obamacare, repeal Medicare Part D. W. was a disaster, like Obama. But there is no constituency for repealing W's idiocy because most of these guys voted for it.
John Boehner is doing the best he can with what he has got to work with
Is that really true though? I seem to recall two earlier incidents when he first took office as Speaker after the 2010 elections where House Republicans pledged to cut a whopping $100 billion from the current baseline of federal spending. The first was the special session right after the election in which Boehner helped to extend several spending programs and then justified it on the grounds that technically the new session didn’t start yet. Then when it came time to negotiate for the spending cuts he and the Republicans campaigned on he publicly announced that he’d probably be willing to settle for less (like $60 billion IIRC).
The first incident showed me that that he wasn’t acting in good faith by not honoring the spirit of his pledge which was to cut spending by immediately trying to find a loophole. The second incident showed me that he didn’t understand the basics of Negotiations 101 which is to assume you’re going to get less than what you ask for so ask for more than what you’re willing to settle for.
If his past behavior is any indication, then I do not think that John Boehner is doing the best job that he can even under these difficult circumstances. The problem is that his caucus isn’t willing to demand or expect and no one else was willing to step up to try to deliver better.
I like what he said, but then again, you never listen to what they say, you watch what they do.
Republicans sobbing about a Republican sobber. Amusing.
Does Jake ever have something of note to say?
I loved the NCLB. It did good things.
The point about
Boehner having a weak hand is true, but it's past time for the Rs to say, "Fuck it", and draw the line in the sand.
Too many RINOs still.
I Callahan said...
Does Jake ever have something of note to say?
When does he ever have anything at all to say?
He's just another Lefty hater who hates himself more than anybody.
Does Jake ever have something of note to say?
WAAHHHHHHHHHH!
Please, folks, save your tears for Boehner.
Hey, edumbshit! Please share a few more of your goofy ideas. I particularly like your claim that 150 years of scientific advancements have weakened evolutionary theory. Do you have any new loony notions you'd like to make public today?
I rest my case, but, anybody who actually knows what Darwin wrote knows the discoveries he hoped would back him up haven't always.
So much for the "smart" people and the party of "science".
PS Done going through every comment I ever made here?
There is a cure for it, you know.
2010-2014 will be the biggest spending binge in the history of spending or binges.
The GOP at your service folks.
In response to being mocked as an ignoramus, edumbshit writes "I rest my case."
Indeed!
I give J.D. a lot of credit.
As far as I know, he won the culture.
Sure, maybe Jake Diamond wasn't alone, but no matter.
We have a devisive election and now every single major player is back in same job. Americans should have read Einstein's quote on doing things same and expecting different results defining insanity. We're screwed!
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