Speaker John Boehner sizing up his real opposition, Minority Leader Eric Cantor (Larry Downing/Reuters)
Speaker John Boehner sizing up his real opposition, Minority Leader Eric Cantor (Larry Downing/Reuters)
It would seem that the fun has just begun for House Speaker John Boehner, who now has to navigate to the middle class tax break that all sane Republicans know they have to allow to survive 2012, but which the really crazy wing of his party won't allow unless they can extract maximum pain. Those same nihilists are
now publicly attacking Boehner.
“I am disappointed that our Republican leadership in both the House and Senate chose a course of political expediency rather than standing on conservative principle,” said Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) in an official statement. [...]
“He’s (Boehner) got a big problem when he comes back,” one anonymous congressman claimed. “He may have a hard time keeping his Speakership after this.”
“We were hung out to dry by our leadership,” said another unnamed member.
The self-appointed speaker for the craziest GOP members, Florida's Alan West, took to Facebook to express his dismay: "I cannot support this, but it seems the politics of demagoguery have won over policy and principle with the concession to enact tax policy on two-month basis."
But did he show up at the Capitol on Dec. 23 to oppose the bill? Of course not. Everyone of the nihilists had every opportunity wreck Boehner's eventual capitulation, but failed to do so.
Freshman Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a member of the Tea Party caucus, told CNN he considered returning to Washington to block the bill but he couldn't make it back in time.
"The problem was by the time we were notified that a unanimous consent agreement would be offered, where I come from in Kansas, I can't get to Washington quick enough," he said.
Another Republican freshman, Rep. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, told Fox News the same thing but he blamed Boehner and other Republican leaders.
"One of the reasons I didn't stick around is because I had the trust in the leadership that we were going to take this fight all the way to the end," he said.
Excuses, excuses.
But there are some lessons to be learned here. Boehner is weakened, definitely. But Cantor and his minions aren't in a particularly strong position, either. The bottom line is that even the nihilists understand that, politically, they can't be responsible for blocking middle class tax relief. The GOP didn't just blink this time, it caved. For once, Democrats were not just able to, but were willing to, use the upper hand. They can win this one again, and without having to make outrageous concessions.
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