Home » The Boehner challenge

Comments

The Boehner challenge — 21 Comments

  1. Looks like Boehner survived. I underestimated the anti-Boehner votes by a few, but this largely went as I expected. Now that this tantrum/publicity stunt is over and Gohmert, Yoho, Webster, etc. have buttressed their credibility with Tea Partiers (and built a nifty fundraising hook), it’s time to get down to business

  2. Ackler’s reply and yesterday’s Boehner thread tell us a lot about the troubles the Republican party is facing. Two camps that have very different takes on fixing the troubles facing our country. Or at least how urgent the problems are. I’m sure the incremental, finger in the dike approach will work. Especially after we welcome several million new citizens that are illiterate in their native language. It’s going to be great. Yay, let’s get to work giving Obama what he wants!

  3. Comment from another blog; “Really pathetic and depressing. After two “wave” midterms (2010 and 2014), after six years of Obama, after overwhelming national rejection of amnesty and Obamacare, the best conservatives can muster are 13 votes against the most democrat-enabling and otherwise ineffectual speaker in recent memory. This party is seriously ailing.” rrpjr

    This while 60% of Republicans want Boehner replaced.

    “Now that this tantrum/publicity stunt is over…, it’s time to get down to business” Ackler

    We await the GOP “getting down to business” with bated breath. That you apparently believe that the GOP will do anything beyond feathering their own nests and those of their big donors and, will instead place the interests of the nation foremost, while advancing the goals of their base is quite frankly… stupefying.

    As always, time will tell. I should be delighted to be proven wrong and will be the first to admit it. I wonder how many yet convinced that the GOP is trying to protect America from the left will, if the GOP once again does little to nothing, admit the reverse?

    Boehner profits from Obamacare stocks”

    “An analysis of Boehner’s current investment holdings includes a number of stocks benefiting from Obamacare in a total portfolio estimated at between $3.5 and $5 million in current market value.

    Boehner’s Obamacare-related investments trace back to 2009, when the Obama administration was pushing the Affordable Health Care Act through Congress.

    Peter Schweizer, in his 2011 book on Washington corruption, “Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism that Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison,” noted on Page 20: “Congressman John Boehner, who was leading the opposition to Obamacare in the House of Representatives, may have been fighting John Kerry on policy matters, but he was entirely allied with him when it came to investment decisions.”

    Schweizer continued:

    On December 10, 2008, Boehner bought numerous health insurance company stocks, including tens of thousands of dollars in Cardinal Health, Cigna, and Wellpoint. On the same day, Boehner purchased shares in the Big Pharm companies Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Forest Labs, Covidien, and Pfizer. He also bought shares in CareFusion, which provides systems for countering infections. Just days later, on December 15, the Washington Post declared that the ‘public option’ was officially dead.

    Schweitzer drew a causal link, noting that Boehner’s heavy investment in Obamacare stocks meant his political opposition to the legislation was undermined by his personal interest.

    Schweizer concluded:

    Health insurers breathed a sigh of relief. So too did pharmaceutical companies, who feared that a government health insurance program would lead to price controls. When Boehner bought Wellpoint stock on December 10, the price was about $56 a share. Within a month it was trading at $66 a share. Cardinal Health was up approximately 10 percent by the time President Obama signed the health care bill. In early 2010, Boehner bought yet more shares in Cardinal Health and Pfizer, before President Obama signed the health care bill.

    Boehner has continued to profit from health-industry investments tracing back to 2009: Wellpoint Inc, which he bought at $56 a share, is now trading at $124.37. Cardinal Health, which he bought when it was trading at approximately $30 a share in 2011, is now trading at $80.44; and Pfizer which was trading at under $20 a share in 2010, is now at $31.06.”

  4. As I said yesterday, Boehner’s job is like herding cats. Replace the cats and you’ll change the way the herder has to work.

  5. “We await the GOP “getting down to business” with bated breath. That you apparently believe that the GOP will do anything beyond feathering their own nests and those of their big donors and, will instead place the interests of the nation foremost, while advancing the goals of their base is quite frankly… stupefying.”

    No, Geoffrey, I do not hold out any significant optimism for Congressional Republicans in the coming two years. Nor would I were every GOP Representative Trey Gowdy and every GOP Senator Ted Cruz. The Washington culture is simply too corrupt, self serving and indifferent for meaningful reform to come from Congress. The article you cited illustrates this reality well.

    To the extent that reform will occur, it will primarily come from the states; given the GOP dominance at the state level, I have measured hope for many more Scott Walkers blooming.

    All that being said, toppling Boehner, while cathartic for many conservatives, would have almost surely resulted in a chaotic scramble, potentially bitter infighting and likely a Speaker who, however pristine his conservative credentials, lacked Boehner’s leadership abilities (of all the names bandied about, only Jim Jordan seemed to have the potential to be a forceful, effective leader). Such a melee would have been exploited ad nauseam by the MSM to discredit Republicans in general, even at the state level. This is why I am happy Boehner prevailed

  6. “potentially bitter infighting and likely a Speaker who, however pristine his conservative credentials, lacked Boehner’s leadership abilities ”

    Leadership abilities?? Are you serious?? The only leadership I’ve seen from him is his leading all the RINO’s to give in to everything Obama wants.

    Here’s a prediction: … The House will pass the Keystone pipeline, and then when BHO vetoes, Boehner will come out and say, “Well, we did what we could but there’s nothing more to be done.” Just like he has done in the past and will continue to do in the future. We’ve seen this act before and it got tiresome for me about a year and half ago.

  7. Cutting to the chase, the controlling rino faction has no interest in conservative solutions. They want more money and power sucked into the DC black hole. Their only goal is to control that giant sucking sound and be the center of attention at beltway cocktail parties. So far this is shaping up to be the year I stop holding my nose in order to vote for the lesser evil. Amnesty is the red line, if they don’t hold the line I am done with the gop unless a real conservative leader takes command of the party.

  8. My opinion is that the votes are there to override a veto of the Keystone XL pipeline. There is no, repeat no, cogent argument against the pipeline except the usual Watermelon complaint that it will carry that “dirty Canadian oil sands” oil. But here’s what the State Department said in 2008:
    “The [State] Department has determined that issuance of the permit to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline LP is in the national interest, in part, because it increases U.S. market access to crude oil supplies from a stable and reliable trading partner, Canada, that is in close proximity to the United States.” — State Department Issuance of Presidential Permit for Keystone Pipeline, March 14, 2008.

    It won’t just be carrying Canadian oil. A lot of the oil will be from the Bakken Formation fields in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. That crude is now being shipped by train, which is much more expensive and dangerous than by pipeline.

    The Canadian oil sands will be produced and the oil will be refined in spite of what the Watermelons want. The only question is whether it will be refined in the USA and benefit this country or if it will be sent to China for its benefit. Though the progs are pushing the Watermelon line about CAGW, even the LIVs aren’t buying it. The pipeline polls well and it is an issue where voters writing their Reps, particularly the dems, can make a difference. Don’t be afraid to write to your Congress Critters on this issue. They need to hear that you favor the pipeline. The fact that oil prices are temporarily low is not an argument against building the pipeline. Oil prices will go back up. We will need all the oil we can produce and transport. Maybe not this year, but it will take two years to complete the pipeline. By the time it’s completed, the need will be there.

    If you need more info about the positives go here: http://freebeacon.com/issues/increase-in-oil-shipments-by-rail-bolsters-case-for-keystone-xl/

  9. J.J. : yeah getting 67 votes to override a veto will be eazy peazy. You complain about unreasonable tea partiers but refuse to see how your unrealistic optimism is a problem. The issue is not that Keystone is a no brainer, it’s that most Dems and Obama don’t want it.

  10. “There is no, repeat no, cogent argument against the pipeline except the usual Watermelon complaint that it will carry that “dirty Canadian oil sands” oil.” JJ

    That’s true but irrelevant. There is no factual, reasoned, cogent argument against the pipeline. But… there is a decisive, political argument against the pipeline. Opposition to the pipeline is an environmental “OX” that must not be gored. Any democrat who does so becomes persona non grata on the left.

  11. KLSmith and G.B., are you arguing that they shouldn’t pass it because Obama will veto it? Why not pass it and let him veto it? Then fight like h**l to override. The bill can pass both the House and Senate easily. There will be much publicity. Obama talks about infrastructure programs to “get this country moving” and vetoes a big infrastructure program. How will it play in Peoria, Fargo, or Omaha? Not well. Not when Obama is talking about infrastructure programs. His veto may stick, but it will not win him and the dems friends on main street.

    Same, same with immigration. Send him a bill that provides for green cards for illegals if…….after three years, the border is shown by verifiable metrics to be secure. If he vetoes that, he will show he has no interest in securing the border – an issue that most Americans want done. When he vetoes bills that the majority of people want, he lowers the boom on the dems. Even LIVs will see how the dems don’t have the best interests of the majority in mind. It paves the way for 2016. At least that’s the way I see it.

    Buck up men, the fun is just beginning.

  12. J.J., 10:59 pm — “Buck up men, the fun is just beginning.”

    Hey J.J., what “men” are you addressing? Surely not Boehner and/or McConnell . . .

  13. MJR, I’m addressing G. B. and KLSmith. They are two men worth addressing.

    We’ll finally find out about McConnell and Boehner. Maybe they won’t deliver. I’m hoping they are ready to roll.

  14. JJ,
    Joe Manchin is already on our side WRT Keystone. We have to give traditional Dems from places like WVa a chance to break with the Obama Reid Pelosi powerlock they have been held in. It’s not a bad idea to have people like Manchin go home and explain to their voters why Obama’s plans hurt them. We need to put some cracks in the PC shell.

    Plus, think of the people who will notice that the formerly omniscient Harvard profs are now complaining that Obamacare is raising their healthcare costs. Also, there was a piece in the Atlantic recently about the value of sharing meals as a family. Ultimately we will gain more if normal people start to question established dogma and think for themselves.

  15. JJ,

    “KLSmith and G.B., are you arguing that they shouldn’t pass it because Obama will veto it?

    No, of course not.

    “Why not pass it and let him veto it?”

    They should, absolutely.

    “Then fight like h**l to override.”

    They won’t, no way, no how. There’s your GOP pattern J.J. Lip service and then oh well, see we tried…

    “The bill can pass both the House and Senate easily. There will be much publicity.”

    There will be ZERO publicity on the MSM about a bill sent to Obama knowing he’ll veto it. Sure, FOX may speak of it but they’re preaching to the choir not to the LIVs.

    “Obama talks about infrastructure programs to “get this country moving” and vetoes a big infrastructure program. How will it play in Peoria, Fargo, or Omaha? Not well.”

    News flash! The VOTES aren’t in Peoria, Fargo, or Omaha. The votes the dems care about are in the big cities.

    “Not when Obama is talking about infrastructure programs. His veto may stick, but it will not win him and the dems friends on main street.”

    Last I checked, Obama doesn’t care and with a 50% approval rate, why should he?.

    “Same, same with immigration. Send him a bill that provides for green cards for illegals if…….after three years, the border is shown by verifiable metrics to be secure. If he vetoes that, he will show he has no interest in securing the border — an issue that most Americans want done.”

    First; the GOP favors amnesty so they’ll send him a bill that he can live with or he’ll demagogue the issue with the assistance of the MSM. Result; it’s all greedy evil republican’s fault. Second; he can always sign the bill and then ignore the border provisions. Since the GOP favors amnesty, you can bet your last dollar that there will also be provisions in any bill sent to Obama that pleases the GOP’s big business donors. Third: he’s repeatedly shown that he has no interest in securing the border… and it hasn’t made a bit of difference to his approval rating of 50%!

    So J.J., if tens of thousands of criminal aliens flooding across our border while Obama finds them homes, jobs and benefits hasn’t awoken the LIVs to his game, what makes you think that a few vetoes will do so?

  16. G.B. “So J.J., if tens of thousands of criminal aliens flooding across our border while Obama finds them homes, jobs and benefits hasn’t awoken the LIVs to his game, what makes you think that a few vetoes will do so?”

    Did you see the results of the 2014 elections?

  17. J.J., you’re old enough to know not to count your chickens before they hatch. Did you see the results of the 2012 elections, which followed… the republican ‘triumph’ of the 2010 elections.

  18. G.B, yep. The dems also had the Senate all during that period. Reid protected Obama from having to see bills that he wanted to veto. Thus, there was no record of his working against the popular will. I’ll be the first to admit that nothing may happen as I see it. However, I’m not ready to give up or give in until the jack boots come knocking on my door.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>