boehner

TPM has gathered a list of Republican members of Congress raising the possibility that John Boehner could see his short time as Speaker of the House come to an end in 2012:

“He’s (Boehner) got a big problem when he comes back,” one anonymous congressman claimed. “He may have a hard time keeping his Speakership after this.”

“We were hung out to dry by our leadership,” said another unnamed member.

My guess is that these unnamed members are most likely Tea Party members of Congress that really don't understand politics all that much. I don't really see Boehner losing his position as Speaker, mainly because this is a big election year and that would make the GOP look really bad.

On the other hand, if Boehner doesn't do some serious healing or explaining in the next couple of weeks, it could become a possibility. The GOP wants to look united going into an election and the payroll tax fight showed they weren't. What's even worst is that with Congress' approval in the 9% range and people viewing that branch as being completely broken having a totally Republican controlled Congress could lead to even more roadblock with the two chambers unable to agree.

My guess is that Boehner will hold onto his position, but only after being taken to the woodshed by his caucus. The Tea Party members will remind him that they are the reason the GOP got a majority in 2010 and the reason he is Speaker, so play nice or they will make life hell on him.

Whichever way it ends up going, one thing is for sure - it's going to be fun as hell to watch. Republicans have loved in the past pointing to a Democratic party divided, mainly over the 2008 primary and the healthcare battle. None of those begin to compare to what we are seeing in the GOP right now.

Today is d-day, as in debt:

The U.S. government is expected to hit the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling Monday, setting in motion an uncertain, 11-week political scramble to avoid a default.

The Treasury Department plans to announce Monday it will stop issuing and reinvesting government securities in certain government pension plans, part of a series of steps designed to delay a default until Aug. 2.

The Treasury's moves buy time for the White House and congressional leaders to reach a deficit-reduction agreement that could clear the way for enough lawmakers to vote to raise the amount of money Congress allows the nation to borrow.

We are now in unprecedented territory, but that won't stop the GOP from playing games with the entire worlds financial future. Even more ironic is how this same GOP had no problem raising the debt limit every single year that Bush was in office. When they said they "want Obama to fail", they meant by doing anything possible to affect his job and this country. Hopefully the Democrats can seize message control on this and let everyone know that this is the Republicans playing politics at the cost of our financial security. If you still don't believe that, then ask why so many Republicans, including Boehner and Cantor, voted on a budget that adds to the debt just a few weeks ago.

Yesterday Bob Dole joined a growing number of big name Republicans in supporting the health care bill:

"Sometimes people fight you just to fight you," he said, according to The Kansas City Star. "They don't want Reagan to get it, they don't want Obama to get it, so we've got to kill it..."

"Health care is one of those things," he added. "Now we've got to do something."

Following that Eric Erickson at RedState posted the following:

I am told quite reliably that in a meeting today on Capitol Hill, Republican Senators began to rapidly move toward concessions on health care because they are afraid they cannot hold their members. Some Republicans are now thinking of supporting a government program.

That has been followed by a lot of chatter from the right wing blogs, mostly echoing their disgust with the GOP.

The problem is that the GOP spent all their energy on being the party of no, instead of working towards a compromise. Not one single Republican has offered an alternative plan to healthcare, including the man who came in second to become the 44th President. And while the GOP spent the last several months yelling, screaming and stomping their feet like a child unable to talk his parents into buying the latest and greatest toy, the GOP has missed out. They saw a little support in August from the townhalls, but that support is long gone. The public wants change, and while they are still split over exactly what change, most are favoring a public option.

With all the focus on Rep. Grayson telling it like it is, that Republicans want you to die quick if you fall ill, it’s time to focus on what he said is exactly right. Enter Mitch McConnell:

Satisfying every Republican demand short of scrapping the entire project, said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), would still not capture GOP support.

In other words the Democrats could offer nothing more than 100% GOP plan and the GOP would still vote no. People are dying in this country and the GOP would rather play politics than address the situation at hand.

Now let’s look at what McConnell and the entire GOP view as items less important than watching their counterparts fail. Check out this video of an insurance company denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition:

Catch that? A broken wrist is considered a pre-existing condition and murderous fucks like McConnell, Boehner and the rest of the GOP thinks that is fine.

Let’s talk about something more common – diabetes. Most insurance companies won’t cover the cost of diabetic supplies. That means diabetics have out of pocket expenses of $100 a month just for the testing strips. If the insulin isn’t covered then you can add another $330 a month to that. And this isn’t a problem to the “party of life”? Nope – because these monsters are more worried about political brownie points and corporate profits than they are human life.

Everyone remembers the SCHIP debacle last year. Polls showed overwhelming support amongst Americans for the popular program that provides healthcare to children, but Republicans still killed the legislation. Well it is back up, and it looks like the Republicans will really lose out:

Republicans appear to have overplayed their hand when blocking the expansion of a children's health care program last year.

They face the likelihood that Democrats in the coming weeks will pass a bill that they dislike even more.

With more Democrats in Congress and President Barack Obama in the White House, GOP lawmakers don't have the numbers or a veto threat to do anything about it.

The Senate planned to begin debate as early as Monday on a bill that would increase spending on the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $31.5 billion over the next 4 1/2 years.

Elections do have consequences. Instead of listening to the will of the American people, Republicans instead chose to vote by their own ideology. This is the core problem with Republicans today. They constantly ignore what the American people want, by trying to spin polls and lie their way out of things. The people aren’t putting up with it anymore and are voting them out of power. How does minority status feel now Mr. Boehner?

Yes I am lucky. I live about 1.5 miles from the school where Bush signed No Child Left Behind into law. So how is this area's children doing?

Poverty levels are down in Hamilton and Middletown, but figures across the rest of Butler County are not as promising, according to data released Wednesday.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its 2005 estimates for the number of poverty-stricken students. Although Hamilton and Middletown still have more than 20 percent of their student populations living in poverty, they did see a decrease from 2004. Numbers in the county's other seven districts all went up.

Yup the economy here in southwestern Ohio is crap. It seems like we hear news of another business leaving the area on a weekly basis. Of course we have a congressional representative who doesn't care about his district - right Mr. Boehner?

Just received this from the Ohio Democratic Party:

"For a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mike DeWine, did an awful dumb thing by not noticing the use of doctored photos of the 911 tragedy in his campaign ad. How can we trust his judgment?"

"Ohioans and Americans should be outraged that they put their trust in Mike DeWine on the most sensitive committee of the United States Senate and he has allowed his consultants to exploit and doctor one of the most infamous moments in American history. "

"On Sunday, former GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich, said America was in the throes of World War III. The 911 tragedy is our modern day Pearl Harbor. If Mike DeWine wants to restore trust, he will disavow himself from these ads - fire the consultants who doctored the photos - and focus on terrorists instead of dividing America for his own political gains."

CHRIS REDFERN

Chair, Ohio Democratic Party

We are still waiting for Boehner to make a statement and hold DeWine, a fellow Ohioan, to the same standards that he tried to impose on the Democrats. Will you stand your ground Mr. Boehner and make a statement about this? I would say that is very doubtful.

So the stock market is back to the 2005 levels, inflation is rising, people are losing jobs, people who have jobs have an insecure feeling about their income, the national debt is at record levels, we got army bases who might get the power shut off for failure to pay bills, etc., etc., etc. So how will Congress act to fix all these problems? Well they are already working on it:

Despite record low approval ratings, House lawmakers Tuesday embraced a $3,300 pay raise that will increase their salaries to $168,500.

The 2 percent cost-of-living raise would be the seventh straight for members of the House and Senate.

Lawmakers easily squelched a bid by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to get a direct vote to block the COLA, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it.

That's right. We will put more money back into our economy through the pockets of our Congress. Thanks Congress for caring. I feel better now. You know they could have done something really bad like raised the minimum wage. Oh wait. How could they do that when they are only working 98 days this year? Remember - this House is working less than any session of Congress in over 60 years.

I think I will send a letter to my Representative today , thanking him for doing this. Of course he helped even more because he is the Majority Leader and his salary now stands at $183,500. Way to go Mr. Boehner.