He will not, of course, but given the recent events leading up to this mornings news, it is clear that the Speaker has lost control of his caucus.
The news from CNN.com this morning:
He needs 217 votes to pass the bill. According to congressional watchers, he doesn't have it.
On Tuesday, Boehner was dealt a blow when the Congressional Budget Office released figures showing that his plan would reduce deficits by only $851 billion over 10 years -- less than what he was expecting.
Boehner's office said the Ohio Republican will rewrite his debt ceiling legislation to ensure that it meets his oft-stated pledge to cut spending more than Congress increases the federal borrowing limit.
The 60 House tea party caucus members -- including many of the Republican freshmen -- have seemingly painted Boehner into a corner. Any deal, they say, must include nearly $4 trillion in spending and absolutely no tax increases, something Obama has publicly advocated.
The New York Times:
House Republican leaders were forced on Tuesday night to delay a vote scheduled on their plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, as conservative lawmakers expressed skepticism and Congressional budget officials said the plan did not deliver the promised savings.
The Wall Street Journal:
House Speaker John Boehner, facing a rebellion among conservative Republicans and questions about the amount of spending cuts in his plan for raising the borrowing limit, abruptly postponed a vote on the measure scheduled for Wednesday.
Politico:
Tuesday’s evening drama was the latest challenge facing Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as they push toward what’s considered the year’s biggest vote.
And in a dying man's last grasp at air, from the same article:
The Republican leadership has privately reached out to conservative TV personalities like Sean Hannity and Brit Hume, and Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot, National Review’s Kate O’Beirne, Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard, David Brooks of The New York Times, George Will, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, and groups such as The Heritage Foundation, among others, have all heard from Republican leadership, including Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam of Illinois. And even former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), the chairman of FreedomWorks and a tea party favorite, got a call from GOP leaders.
While the Republican "Leadership" wrings its hands and frets about how to please their minority Tea Party Caucus, the Senate has moved on without them:
The Reid plan would save more than a competing proposal by Boehner, whose proposal the CBO said yesterday also would save less than advertised -- about $850 billion -- prompting him to retool his legislation.
The Speaker's obsession with embarrassing the president has, not only put the country at risk, it has actually erroded wealth for real people. Each day the Republican's spend their day worrying and fretting about how to please the Teahadist subculture is worth about 80 points negative on the Dow. Real people have real 401Ks and real Roth IRA accounts and real savings and the Republicans are directly leading to the erosion of wealth that they proclaim to care so dearly about.
Incredulously, the Speaker had the nerve to stand up in front of the American people on Monday night and scold the President when the Speaker can not control his own and has now twice (or thrice depending on you reckoning) walked away from deals that would give them all they want and more, simply because he must kowtow to redstate.com.
The amazing thing to me, and I'm sure most people right left and center, is how the Speaker is not embarrassed after his public prime-time temper tantrum and then failing to deliver even from his own caucus.
Mr. Boehner has lost the ability to lead, provided that he had the ability to begin with.
Updated:
jec posted a diary linking to a story where a Tea party leader is calling for Boehner to step down.
