Watching the events of today, I figured that this was John Boehner's desperate last-ditch attempt to save face. With the Senate near a deal and the debt deadline fast approaching, this was his last attempt to get something with at least a few goodies that he could sell to the rabid lunatics who hold his Speakership in their hands. And, of course, we all saw how that turned out. Now that the Drunk Weepy Oompa-Loompa's last effort has, like all his others, crashed into ruin, the Senate is back in the driver's seat and near a deal.
And what does the House GOP leadership think of this? Apparently, reality has set in and they're throwing in the towel:
Now, House Republican lawmakers and aides are saying they're ready to throw in the towel and accept a Senate deal.
From various sources. First,
Politico's Jake Sherman:
Email from Republican lawmaker: "Time to roll over."
NRO's Jonathan Strong:
"It's all over. We'll take Senate deal." -GOP aide
And, as always, the invaluable Robert Costa:
"Boss heard Boehner will bring [Senate deal] to the floor... House action probably over." --House GOP aide, via e-mail.
And, perhaps more importantly,
from Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions:
Boehner “made a decision that what we’re going to do is allow us to take the night and make sure all of our members know what’s going on. We’re trying to make sure that what we’re doing, people know about and they can prepare and study for,” Sessions said, going on to pin the lack of action on the Senate. “You know what? We’re waiting for the Senate to get their work done. We had no reason to necessarily have to do anything,” he added, when I asked him what it says about the House GOP that Boehner couldn’t bring the bill to the floor.
It's not exactly saying, "We quit, we'll take the terms of surrender," but the implication is pretty clear. And this is a particuarly hilarious ancedote:
The Christian rite accompanying legislative chaos today was Florida representative Steve Southerland’s rendition of “Amazing Grace” — “all three verses,” said Representative Michael Burgess (Texas) afterwards in amazement.
But Southerland is an undertaker by trade, and the song is normally sung at funerals. It’s hard not to see’s today’s failure as the death of the House GOP’s role, in at least this standoff.
Indeed. It has also seen the death of the GOP's standing in the polls. It may well yet signal the death of both Boner's Speakership and the GOP's House majority.
One thing's for sure. Tomorrow's going to be a very interesting day in D.C.
8:03 PM PT: Boy, four straight diaries on the Rec list. As if my ego wasn't bloated enough already.