Is this it for John Boehner?

I suspect it is. Holding the big news conference today to announce a “bipartisam” bill that was going to be a straight party line vote, then discovering he didn’t even have enough Republicans on board to pass it. Sad.

He will be challenged ONLY if he tries to make a deal with the moderate Democrats, rather than the fringe Republicans. Clearly, he is screwed. If he truely felt he was Speaker of the entire house, he would try and work with the moderates.

He’s in a pickle for sure.

If he wants to pass a bill its going to have to be a more moderate bill that attracts a large number of Dems to the table (which would be good for us all overall because such a bill might actually pass the senate and get signed by the President). But to do so would cause outright revolt among his caucus.

His other option is to pass nothing, because the only thing he can get enough of his caucus to sign off on, would be some idiotic bill that wouldn’t even appear to be an honest attempt at passing something and would for sure not get through the senate.

I do not envy him at the moment.

If I recall, it took the Democrats a year to get all their members on board for the Health Care bill. Between the Blue Dogs, the far left, and the moderates they couldn’t seem to agree on the best way forward. Nonetheless they solidified into a group to support some pretty bad legislation. When the other side has difficulty assembling a unanimous vote we call them disorganized, When they do vote in unison we call them Ideologues. The rumors of Boehner’s demise are greatly exaggerated.

@Jaxk, the health care bill was not in response to a looming economic crisis.

And who cares? This entire question is a non-sequitor. I don’t care about Boehner’s political acumen or standing. I care about the fact that one party in our political system is deliberately threatening to sabotage our economy if they don’t get the spending cuts they want—spending cuts which are already counterproductive to our recovery.

If the shoe was on the other foot and a Republican was president they would be called traitors and likened to terrorists. This should not only be “it” for John Boehner but for every single fucking moron in that party.

Salon.com suggests that Beohner no longer speaks for the Republicans. He doesn’t have them in control, which makes him much weaker, and possibly not the person who can lead them in the future.

Although, who could? The Republicans are fractured by the Tea Party. Is there anyone who could earn enough trust to be able to hold the party together in Congress? Could the Tea Party even split off and become a separate party? Would we need coalition governments if they did?

What does having a weakened leader who does not hold the trust of his party mean? How will it affect future legislation? Will the Tea Party let bygones be bygones? Or does this represent a rift that will widen?

@Jaxk I don’t necessarily think that this is the end of the Speaker, but I do not envy his position at all. Even with Healthcare, yah it took a long time to get all the Democrats on board, but they had a lot more agreement overall than the Republicans have right now. Not to mention they had a bigger majority so more wiggle room…. and no “deadline” a week away staring them in the face.

I think Boehner is in one of the toughest spots a Speaker has faced in the past 20 years right now.

@Qingu Boehner and the GOP have offered a plan that gives the president what he wants:raising of the ceiling. He said no for political reason.

Who again is deliberately threatening to sabotage our economy?

@cletrans2col its a lot more complex than just that. That’s ignoring the President/Gang of 6 plan that would cut the budget by 4 trillion and included compromised tax raises and entitlement reforms that the Republicans said no to because of the taxes, even after the guy who made them sign that “no new taxes” pledge said he signed off on the bill…. and they did that for political reasons… Banking that if they held out the Democrats and President would give up more rather than let the nation default….... The Dems called their bluff.

The current GOP plan has no chance of passing because its a total surrender for the Democratic side. You have token budget cuts that don’t go near fixing the situation, and a token debt ceiling increase that will barely get us through this year, along with some vague “congressional panel” to find more ways to cut money. Why would the Democrats sign off on that? It would be like the Republicans signing off on a bill that gave the US no debt ceiling and raised taxes 100%.... there’s no concession and no compromise in it.

I would agree with you that at this point both sides have just decided to play politics with it. I think originally the Dems were trying to compromise and work out a deal, but when it became clear the Republicans were going to say no til they got everything they wanted the Dems just said… “well ya know what, when sh*t hits the fan more of the American public is going to blame you.” And so now they’re just sitting on their hands waiting for a train wreck that will be blamed on their political foes…. forgetting about all the people who are going to be victims of said train wreck.

@cletrans2col Boehner can’t get that passed by the House or Representatives.

@tedd

I don’t disagree with that assessment. No matter which plan you look at, they are filled with accounting gimmicks to get to an artificial number. All Republicans would like to see some even small, realistic cuts. But that’s not in the cards. Some Republicans are willing to accept the gimmicks, just to get at deal and some are not.

But there is no question that the gimmicks have caused a problem with trust. Not just between Democrats and Republicans but between Republicans as well. It is a problem for Beohner but I doubt it will be a mortal wound.

@cletrans2col, absolute bullshit and you know it.

Let’s say you request a day off work from your boss to see a doctor. Your boss then offers to give you what you want in exchange for being able to have sex with your wife. By your logic, rejecting your boss’s proposal means you’re to blame for intransigence?

The Republicans know that what they are asking for in exchange for raising the debt ceiling is completely off the table. Even more infuriating, the Republicans’ own budget, by Paul Ryan, would have needed to raise the debt ceiling too. The Republicans are callously, dishonestly, and at this point dangerously using it as a cynical bargaining chip to enact policy that they would never in a million years be able to enact through normal legislation. They are holding the economy hostage, and you should be ashamed of yourself for supporting them. People I know and care about are suffering and are in danger of being entirely fucked because of their behavior.

@tedd, no, both sides have not decided to play poltics with it. Only one side is using the debt ceiling as a hostage. Only one side is refusing to compromise. The spending cut compromises that the Dems have already offered the Republicans make me sick to my stomach and are insane to make in a depressed economy.

We shouldn’t even be talking about cutting spending right now. We have 10% unemployment. We have perhaps close to 20% underemployment. That is insane, and it should be the legislative and moral priority for this country. And cutting spending makes unemployment worse.

The debt is a real problem, but it is not an immediate problem. Talking about cutting spending with our unemployment rate what it is now is like talking about how a patient needs to start exercising and eating better when his leg has just been cut off and he’s bleeding out.

@Qingu For the record, I support the Go6 plan, but this plan will do what Barry wants (notice how as much as he tries to be above politics, he’s in it just as much?) it raises the ceiling and we get more time to hammer out a deal.

@cletrans2col, either you don’t know what Boehner is proposing, or you aren’t being honest.

Obama wants to raise the debt ceiling.

He also wants to raise the debt ceiling past 2012 so we don’t have to deal with this insane shit again next year in a depressed economy.

He also does not want to enact a constitutional amendment that will cripple all social programs and regress the economy beyond the craziest right-wingers dreams.

You know… like how in the hypothetical example I brought up you might want to get medical attention but also not want to whore out your wife to get it. Except this hypothetical example isn’t even as bad as what the Republicans are doing, since it lacks the sheer hypocrisy of the Republicans. The Republicans’ own budget also needed to raise the debt ceiling.

His career as a Tea Party puppet won’t last.