First on the list for Boehner, should he regain control of the House, is repealing the entirety of the Affordable Care Act. Second, the not-yet-signed-into-law financial reform bill:
"I think it ought to be repealed," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, in response to a question from TPMDC, at his weekly press conference this morning.
One of his top lieutenants, Republican Conference Chair Mike Pence agrees. "We hope [the Senate vote] falters so we can start over," Pence told TPMDC yesterday. "I think the reason you're not hearing talk about efforts to repeal the permanent bailout authority is because the bill hasn't passed yet."
Of course, there's no such thing as a permanent bailout authority. There never has been. There is a resolution fund,paid by the large financial institutions themselves if needed, so that, you know, taxpayers won't have to foot that bill again. But Boehner and Pence have never let a little thing like the truth get in their way.
The Senate Republican caucus might not be quite as gung-ho as Boehner on this one:
After a vote this morning, TPMDC asked Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the third ranking Republican in the Senate, whether Republicans would make a concerted push to repeal the financial reform bill.
"Well, that's a good -- that's a good, that's a good question," Alexander said. "We're very disappointed with this...If we have a Congress with a majority of Republicans, and there are ways to improve it or fix it, I imagine there'll be an effort to do that."
But here's the best part:
"There are common sense things that we should do to plug the holes in the regulatory system that were there, and to bring more transparency to financial transactions," Boehner said. "Because transparency is like sunlight, and sunlight is the best disinfectant."
Heh. You can probably guess his position on corporate disclosure on campaign contributions.