John Boehner

It amazes me every time I hear Boehner decry federal money as being a failure. He tried to do it on the stimulus by saying there were no stimulus projects happening in Ohio, despite one going on a couple of miles from his own house. Now we have this issue:

Nearly a year and a half after federal lawmakers gave Butler County $4.2 million to deal with the housing crisis, county leaders are still trying to figure out what to do with it.

With only six months to go before the federal government takes unused money back, commissioners heard a list of options today, Feb. 25, from county Community Development Director Donna Everson.

This money is from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, a program created in 2008 to help combat high foreclosures. You know, 2008, a time when Bush was President.

Now for some facts:

• Butler County is the home of John Boehner (and me)
• Butler County is 100% Republican run.

Enough facts. Now see the problem? It’s not that the programs don’t work – it’s that Republicans don’t know what the hell to do with them. People have been losing their houses around here and there’s money sitting there to help, yet the corrupt Republicans that run this county just sit there doing nothing. These are all friends of Boehner and as our representative, he should be working to remedy this problem instead of playing politician all the time.

In a vote of 406-19 the House passed a bill today that will allow health insurance companies to actually compete across state lines. That is something a lot of people have been pushing for for years, including Republicans. As matter of fact it has been a key of the Republicans “health care plan”, so it is interesting to see who voted no:

Akin (KS), Boehner (OH), Brady (TX), Broun (GA), Buyer (IN), Franks (AZ), Garrett (NJ), Jenkins (KS), Jordan (OH), King (IA), Lamborn (CO), Linder (GA), Moran (KS), Paul (TX) Price (GA), Ryan (WI), Sensenbrenner (WI), Tiahrt (KS) and Westmoreland (GA)

Yup – John Boehner. This guy has no ideas, plans or vision. He just wants Americans to suffer while he plays politics. What a piece of shit.

Remember last month how the GOP constantly said cameras should be rolling during health care negotiations? Now that there’s a chance for that, well look at what’s happening:

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) today echoed Rep. John Boehner's (R-OH) supposed concern that televising President Obama's bipartisan health care reform summit would turn it into a "media show" -- even after both called for him to make the process more transparent.

Much like Boehner, Enzi was one of the Republicans who earlier called for Obama to televise the health care debate on C-SPAN, in the name of "increased transparency."

What are these Republicans afraid of? There must be something there. I mean if they had such a great position then you would think they would want the cameras rolling. I guess their position isn’t that great after all….

Yesterday on Meet the Press John Boehner continued the same old line that President Obama was the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate.

He also seems to be throwing out the idea of ever working together:

MR. GREGORY:  Does he have a point?

REP. BOEHNER:  No.  If, if you think about what I said, I was referring to the--all the president's policies.  Wasn't demonizing him, wasn't demonizing the White House.  And I'm usually very careful about dealing with the subject at hand.  Listen, there aren't that many places where we can come together. The president is--well, he was the most liberal member of the United States Senate.  You don't get there by accident.  And if you look at the policies that we've seen over the course of this year from the administration and his Democratic colleagues in Congress, they're all these leftist proposals.  And the people of Massachusetts, the people of Virginia, the people of New Jersey are sending a pretty loud signal, just like the other 47 states, to the--to Washington, saying, "Stop!  This is, this is way more than we ever wanted Washington to do."

Again – this is a flat out lie and John Boehner knows it. Let’s see how “liberal” Senator Obama really was. Here is a graph that automatically rates members of Congress based upon their voting records, which is generated by GovTrack.us:

(Click for the full Congress view)

Yes Obama is not a “centrist” Democrat, but he is far from being the most liberal person we had in the Senate. Hell, even Hillary is more to the left of Obama, but these are facts John Boehner seems to totally ignore.

There’s no way we will ever see bi-partisanship when we have people like John Boehner, who never worries about governing and instead chooses to live on the campaign trail. Perhaps the Democrats should start saying that John Boehner is the biggest neo-con in the House. He wants to get rid of government, tell you how you should have sex, not give you any help if you hit on hard times, believes that insurance companies should make huge profits off your hard times and make Americans subservient to big business and destroy America by creating our own caste system.

John Boehner has constantly ignored stimulus projects happening here in Ohio, even when some of them are just a few miles from his own house. Now we have a big stimulus project coming to Ohio and I can bet that he will ignore this one also:

Ohio is getting about $400 million in federal stimulus money to restore passenger train service among its major cities.

Gov. Ted Strickland said Wednesday that U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called him about the grant.

Ohio is planning a 79-mph, startup train service connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati using existing tracks.

"The end point is under discussion right now, (but) the preferred end point is Cincinnati Union Terminal, and the state of Ohio and Amtrak will be working with the railroads to try to locate a terminus point because, at this time right now, there's going to be four trains a day each way, north and south," said Robert Wickens, founder of All Aboard Ohio.

This is excellent news for Ohio. I used to have to travel to Columbus on a constant basis and the 90 minute drive got really boring. Now I will be able to plop down $12 and head up there.

This really seems like a game of politics to me:

resident Barack Obama will call in his State of the Union address for a three-year freeze on spending for many domestic programs as part of his strategy to rein in the deficit, administration officials said.

The proposal, which wouldn’t affect spending on national security, would save an estimated $250 billion over a decade and reduce the deficit by $10 billion to $15 billion in 2011, according to the two officials, who briefed reporters on the plan. Last year’s budget shortfall was a record $1.4 trillion.

Obama will unveil the plan in his address to a joint session of Congress tomorrow night and include it in the fiscal year 2011 budget he’s set to deliver to lawmakers Feb. 1, the officials said.

Then you got the Republicans questioning the move:

A spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio was critical of Obama’s plan. “Given Washington Democrats’ unprecedented spending binge, this is like announcing you’re going on a diet after winning a pie-eating contest,” the spokesman, Michael Steel, said yesterday.

Well if that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black. It’s the same thing as when Republicans go on that health care will cost more than a trillion dollars over the next ten years, yet the Bush  tax cuts they love so much cost more than double that. Oh and those tax cuts were supposed to make our economy so much stronger – right? Yeah we see where that left us.

Adding… A look at history reveals something interesting. Clinton came into office with a recession, passed on to him after 12 years of Republican rule. Obama came into office with a recession, passed on to him after 8 years of Republican rule. Can we honestly trust the Republicans when it comes to fiscal responsibility?

Via FOX News

A 46-year-old top aide to House Republican Leader John Boehner died suddenly, reportedly from a heart attack, the minority leader announced Sunday.

"It is with profound sadness and shock that I announce the passing of Paula Nowakowski, my longtime chief of staff, trusted aide, and friend, who died suddenly last night. Words cannot adequately express the sorrow and disbelief I and every member of our team are grappling with today in the wake of this stunning news," Boehner said in a statement on his House leadership Web site.

"We will remember Paula as she would want to be remembered -- as a tireless worker, faithful friend, rabid Detroit sports fan, whip-smart strategist, warrior for freedom, and devoted Catholic who counted President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II among her greatest heroes. She will never be replaced, or forgotten," Boehner continued.

Only 46. What a shocker.

Or as I will now refer to it as – the Boehner tax:

1. Section 500B - New 10% tax on indoor tanning! Note, this REPLACES the "botax" on elective cosmetic surgery contained in the underlying bill.

This is actually a way of sticking it to the working class once again. Tanning beds get most of their business from working class people, where as botax and plastic surgery is for the more well off. So we have the Democrats screwing over the poorer people while giving the richer a pass.

If they make it a tanning bed tax, because their are medical implications from the service, and keep the “botax” section in there also then I can get behind that, but changing the language to like this is another attempt at class warfare from the Congress.

This is something the GOP does every year and despite all the problems the nation faces this year, the Republican leader won’t break from tradition. Here is the resolution:

Whereas Christmas is a national holiday celebrated on December 25; and

Whereas the Framers intended that the First Amendment of the Constitution, in prohibiting the establishment of religion, would not prohibit any mention of religion or reference to God in civic dialog: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives–

(1) recognizes the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas;

(2) strongly disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas; and

(3) expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas.

How about a resolution honoring Hanukkah? How about Kwanza? Oh wait! The Republicans think Kwanza is some faux holiday.

But the most interesting part of Boehner’s resolution is his apparent hypocrisy:

It was just six weeks ago that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) decided he was fed up with empty, meaningless congressional resolutions. These largely symbolic measures are taken up all the time -- it's been routine fare for years -- but Boehner decided they're now evidence of Democratic negligence. "These are your hard-earned tax dollars at work," Boehner scoffed.

In the spirit of the season I want to offer John Boehner some free advice that might help him save face on this. Figure up how long it will take for this resolution to pass. To help you out I did a little math:

Now figure up how many hours it takes to write, debate and vote on this resolution. Multiply that by the $14,877.00 and have your caucus donate that money to charitable organizations who are helping out families who can’t afford Christmas this year. That would be a very Christian thing to do and goes to the heart of the meaning of Christmas, plus the added benefit that it will prove you are serious about Congress wasting time on “meaningless resolutions”.

It looks like John Boehner has a problem with accurately filing paperwork required under the FEC:

Since 1996, Boehner's congressional campaign committee has received 63 letters from the Federal Election Commission requesting "additional information" to correct seeming errors in reports the committee submitted.

That total surpasses similar FEC requests to Ohio's 17 other representatives. Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Bainbridge Township, is second with 40.

Instead of addressing the issue, Boehner’s people decided to take the approach of a juvenile:

"There is zero comparison between an administration using fictitious data to sell a failing 'stimulus' and a campaign that files amendments to keep its FEC reports as accurate, updated, and transparent as possible," said Don Seymour, a spokesman for Boehner's campaign committee.

They couldn’t even own up to their mistakes? This really would have been a non-story if they didn’t jump on the “Timmy did it to mom” defense. Instead Boehner has now proved that he doesn’t have what it takes to lead by not being able to accept his own responsibility.

Image via Wikipedia

Everyone knows that Boehner loves his golf, but it turns out he loves it a little too much:

By all public estimations, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is a pretty good golfer.

He should be, given the $82,998 his political action committee has spent on golf outings so far this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

I bet all the people who donate to his PAC are glad that their money is going to something as important as golfing. What’s also interesting is how much Republicans get on Obama for golfing, yet they won’t mention Boehner’s obsession.

Being one of Boehner’s constituents, I can safely say he worries more about golfing than he does his own district. He doesn’t do crap for people around here and the people are finally getting fed up.

Following the news today that some of the 9/11 terrorists will be tried here in the U.S., the mayor of New York City issues a statement supporting the decision:

“I support the Obama Administration’s decision to prosecute 9/11 terrorists here in New York. It is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered. We have hosted terrorism trials before, including the trial of Omar Abdel-Rahman, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

“When I spoke to Attorney General Holder earlier today, I told him New York City stands ready to assist the federal court in the administration of justice in any way necessary. I have great confidence that the NYPD, with federal authorities, will handle security expertly. The NYPD is the best police department in the world and it has experience dealing with high-profile terrorism suspects and any logistical issues that may come up during the trials.”

Bloomberg is one of the few from the right with confidence in our legal system. Here is John Boehner:

The Obama Administration’s irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people. The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found ‘not guilty’ due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause.

Yet as Bloomberg points out, the U.S. has a very solid history of trying and convicting terrorists. I guess Boehner just doesn’t believe in America,

Let’s see what the minority leader has to say today:

Now let’s have a look at exactly what Boehner has said:

“One generation of Americans after another has answered the call of duty without fail. These brave men and women call themselves veterans. We call them heroes. Today, we renew our commitment to repaying the debt we owe them knowing we can never fully do so except to cherish the blessings of freedom they have preserved for us and stand with the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who carry on in their stead.”

I can’t think of a better way of “repaying the debt” than to provide access to healthcare to all our veterans, unlike the 2,200 that died last year had. What say you John? I’m not asking as a blogger, but as one of your constituents.

Rep. John A. Boehner (R - OH-8) Website http://johnboehner.house.gov/ Phone 202-225-6205 Fax 202-225-0704 Contact http://www.johnboehner.house.gov/Contact/ Additional Information

The word ‘shall’ is the new talking point of the GOP when it comes to the healthcare bill. It started this morning with John Boehner on CNN talking about the word ‘shall’ appearing in the healthcare bill a couple of thousand times. It became on obvious talking point when George Will repeated it on This Week.

Apparently the Republicans believe that healthcare reform will be gained by giving guidelines instead of requirements. In other words they are arguing that this bill does too much.

Are we going to ask the insurance industry to do something and hope they do it out of the kindness of their hearts? I thought that was what got us into this mess to begin with. We can all agree that the health insurance industry shouldn’t be making record profits off of the sick, but they do. That has been the status-quo for too long now and look where it has gotten us.

I just wish some of the big media heads would ask these folks how we can reform healthcare without making requirements.

What does this say?

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) are voting against the House/Senate fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill — because it contains hate crimes provisions designed to protect gays and lesbians.

Boehner and Pence are putting their own bigotry against the needs of our troops at a very volatile time in the Afghanistan war. Why do Republicans continue to put politics above our troops?

Call Mike Pence and John Boehner and ask them to support our troops now!

Adding….could you imagine the Democrats voting against a defense bill? Oh yeah, when they did Boehner was one of the leading voices out there saying how they didn’t support the troops. Funny how that works out.