Archive for the ‘John Boehner’ Category

This article by CNN’s Maeve Reston and Stephen Collinson is a worthwhile read. That doesn’t mean they don’t get some important things wrong, though.

It’s apparent that they think anyone calling themselves a TEA Party conservative agrees with Ted Cruz’s strategies 100% of the time. That’s apparent when they said “Despite the constitutional constraints on action in Washington and the presence of a Democratic President with a veto in the White House, they are furious that the GOP has failed to overturn Obamacare.”

Actually, I’m not upset with the GOP Congress for “fail[ing] to overturn Obamacare.” I’m furious with Mitch McConnell and John Boehner for not pushing the conservatives’ reform agenda. There’s no excuse for why they haven’t pushed Tom Price’s health care reforms. It’s filled with popular features that are infinitely more popular than the mandates in the ACA. There’s no excuse for not pushing Paul Ryan’s tax simplification legislation. Republicans and Democrats alike support tax simplification. Most importantly, it’s supported enthusiastically by small business entrepreneurs.

There’s no excuse for Mssrs. Boehner and McConnell haven’t pushed cutting government based on the GAO’s reports of duplicative programs. I’d love hearing Democrats defend programmatic duplication that runs into the tens of billions of dollars. (That isn’t a typo. It’s billions with a B.)

Finally, and I’m especially passionate about this, there’s no justification for not pushing Ron Johnson’s regulation reform. Sen. Johnson’s reforms aim to neuter something he calls “weaponized government.” When the EPA insists that a couple in Idaho can’t build their dream home on land they purchased because there’s a low spot somewhere on the property, that’s weaponized government. There’s nothing about that that lives up to “of, by and for the people.”

Though I’m upset with CNN, that’s nothing compared with how pissed off I am with Mssrs. Boehner and McConnell.

This NYTimes article is this week’s political bombshell:

WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner will resign from Congress and give up his House seat at the end of October, according to aides in his office.

Mr. Boehner was under extreme pressure from the right wing of his conference over whether or not to defund Planned Parenthood in a bill to keep the government open.

The race for the next speaker is essentially open.

When it comes to presidential arrogance, President Obama sits atop Mount Olympus. After the Supreme Court slapped him down on making recess appointments, DC pundits speculated whether President Obama would display a little humility. I knew that he isn’t given to humility. Further, I know that he doesn’t give a damn about the Constitution. This video shows that he doesn’t respect the greatest governing document devised in the history of mankind:

Here’s part of what President Obama said:

And this obstruction keeps the system rigged for those who are doing fine a the very top. It prevents us from helping more middle class families. And as long as they insist on taking no action whatsoever to help anybody, I’m going to keep taking actions on my own to help the middle class, like the actions I’ve already taken to speed up construction projects, attract new manufacturing jobs and lift workers’ wages. It helps students pay off their student loans. And they criticize me for this. Boehner sued me for this. And I told him I’d rather do things when you pass some laws. Make sure the Highway Trust Fund is funded so we don’t have to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers. It’s not that hard.

That’s just part of the speech. Frankly, I couldn’t take more of President Obama’s imperial tone. First, that minute of his speech is riddled with lies, starting with him saying that Speaker Boehner having sued him. It’s true that Speaker Boehner announced that he’ll sue President Obama but it wasn’t because President Obama took action to “speed up construction projects.”

Frankly, the legislative branch doesn’t have the authority to “speed up construction projects.” Only the executive branch can speed up the bid-letting process.

Speaker Boehner’s lawsuit will be focused on President Obama’s insistence that he be able to rewrite laws that he’s signed without working with Congress. That’s what I’d expect of Third World dictators, not the president of the United States.

That’s before talking about President Obama’s supposed actions that “help the middle class.” Mr. President, where’s the proof that your policies have helped the middle class? Economic growth was weak for 5 years before tanking the last quarter. Longterm unemployment is the highest it’s been since the Carter administration. Most of the jobs being created are part-time jobs.

That’s before talking about President Obama’s war on coal, oil and natural gas, not to mention the war he’s waging against states like Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wyoming. That’s before talking about how higher electricity prices are hurting states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota and the Rust Belt states.

Mr. President, where’s the proof that you’ve done anything that’s helped the middle class?

President Obama’s policies aren’t great policies. If he was smart like Bill Clinton, which he isn’t, he’d co-opt the Republicans’ ideas. Instead, he insists that his ideas are the only legitimate ideas being offered. That’s laughable. He’s offering more of the same ideas that’ve failed the middle class for the past 6 years.

The only short-term option left for the American people is to elect a Republican majority in the Senate so things can get done. We’ve seen how obstructionist Harry Reid’s been in the Senate. That recipe has failed. Let’s see if changing the dynamics changes the results.

Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We’ve been stuck in the Democrats’ obstructionist rut for the last 4 years. It’s time to change directions. That’s the only way we’ll break out of this stagnation.

Technorati: President Obama, Presidential Overreach, Recess Appointments, Supreme Court Rulings, Third World Dictators, Imperial Presidency, Democrats, John Boehner, Legislative Branch, Constitution, GOP, Election 2014

States are attempting to thwart President Obama’s and Sen. Reid’s plan to decimate small businesses, aka the government shutdown. They’re having mixed results:

The Arizona town of Tusayan, on the southern rim of the Grand Canyon, has 558 residents and 1,000 hotel rooms. And by Friday, it had $325,000 to reopen temporarily shuttered Grand Canyon National Park.

“The reason we exist is the Grand Canyon National Park. This closure is devastating,” said Greg Bryan, Tusayan’s mayor and the owner of a Best Western hotel. The town is offering to fund a partial reopening of the park that would allow visitors to drive through on a main road and stop at overlooks.

This week, Sen. Reid shot down the House bill that would’ve opened all national parks. In fact, he suggested that it was a gimmick. It isn’t. It’s the GOP’s attempt to not hurt small businesses. Something that’s undeniable is that Sen. Reid’s obstructionist tactics are hurting small businesses across the nation.

In Wisconsin, officials are keeping seven federally subsidized state-owned forest, wildlife and recreation areas open, even after receiving instructions from the federal Department of the Interior to close them. The state lands depend on federal funds for 18% of their budgets, or $701,000 total.

“I really don’t think it is a defiance, but fulfilling our obligations,” said Cathy Stepp, an official with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which administers the state properties. “We are doing everything we can with social media, radio outlets and news to get the word out that we’re open. The calls are coming in like crazy—people are planning to come here with camping trips every year, weddings, reunions.”

Wisconsin, thanks for keeping parks open rather than joining with President Obama and the Democratic Party in inflicting pain on American families.

This definitely caught my attention:

Lawmakers in Maryland have worked out a small exception to the federal shutdown to allow several hundred family members to honor firefighters who died in the line of duty at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Md., this weekend.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) worked with the memorial, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Fire Administration to open the site briefly for the annual memorial service.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, said the brief opening didn’t present an additional cost. “They’re just unlocking the gate and allowing families of fallen firefighters to pay their respects at the memorial,” the spokeswoman said.

This is the history of the Obama administration and Democrats. They threatened to arrest World War II veterans trying to visit their memorial but they give special exemptions to Democratic allies like Steny Hoyer and Martin O’Malley.

In Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, the awe-inspiring attraction brings in millions of visitors every year and is an anchor of the state’s tourism industry, which last year accounted for $19 billion in spending and 7% of tax revenue, according to a state tourism report. The attraction creates 12,000 jobs, and tourists spend $1.2 million a day on businesses there, according to Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat who represents the district that includes the canyon, as well as seven national forests and other national parks.

Ms. Kirkpatrick said Friday she is continuing to negotiate on behalf of her district to try to reopen the Grand Canyon and other parks.

The Grand Canyon would be open if not for Sen. Reid’s insistence on hurting small businesses. He’ll attempt to explain away his refusal to fund the National Park Service by saying it’s part of his political strategy. That’s his option. Still, that doesn’t exempt him from criticism that he’s putting a higher priority on his political party’s political posturing than he’s putting on helping small businesses.

Most of the shops in and around the Grand Canyon are little mom and pop shops. Most can be run by a family. That’s who Sen. Reid and President Obama are hurting. Shame on them for needlessly tormenting these shopkeepers.

Technorati: Grand Canyon National Park, Small Businesses, Arizona, Tourism, John Boehner, World War II Memorial, World War II Veterans, GOP, Harry Reid, President Obama, Steny Hoyer, Martin O’Malley, Government Shutdown, National Park Service, Democrats

The Democrats’ allies in the Praetorian Guard, aka the formerly mainstream media, won’t admit to this phenomenon. They won’t even report it. That won’t prevent real journalists, aka citizen journalists, from saying what’s happening. What’s happening is that Harry Reid is acting like a dictator:

Senate Democrats blocked four resolutions to fund government programs, including paying the National Guard and opening national parks, as Republicans offered the limited measures in an attempt to win the government shutdown fight by financing popular programs and leaving those they oppose untouched.

“Unbelievably, today Senate Democrats went on record to oppose funding for National Guard and Reserve salaries, veterans’ services, lifesaving medicine and cures, and national parks and museums,” Senate Republican Conference chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said in a release following the procedural battle.

“Congress unanimously passed a bill to ensure active-duty military personnel are paid during this lapse in government funding, and it’s unclear why Senate Democrats wouldn’t pass similar measures to fund these important services,” Thune said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asked for unanimous consent to pass funding for the Veterans Affairs Department and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, requested unanimous consent to pass a bill funding the national parks and monuments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., rejected both.

“Senator Reid is countering Republicans’ UC request with a request to pass a clean [continuing resolution] that reopens the entire government,” Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson.

Sen. Reid isn’t willing to negotiate. He isn’t willing to accept anything that isn’t exactly what he wants. Sen. Reid’s position is identical with President Obama’s no-negotiations position, meaning President Obama and Sen. Reid don’t like the Constitution. Specifically, they’ve proven their disrespect for Article I, Sect. 7 which states:

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Clearly, the men that wrote the Constitution placed as much power, if not more, in the hands of the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives ins’t the Senate’s weak sister. The Senate doesn’t dictate what happens in the House.

Apparently, Sen. Reid thinks he’s entitled to dictate terms of the continuing resolution. Obviously, he’s wrong. He can thwart the People’s House, which is broken into districts, not states. Members of the People’s House are elected every 2 years, which forces them to keep in touch with their districts.

If the national media, aka the Agenda Media, was interested in things other than DC echochamber gossip, they’d be covering how pigheaded Sen. Reid has been. Unfortunately, they’ve largely ignored Sen. Reid’s behavior, rather focusing on the alleged pickle Republicans are in.

Here’s a suggestion for the Agenda Media. Focus on whether the things that Republicans are proposing are reasonable. They won’t do that because that might ruin their storyline. It might cast Sen. Reid, not Republicans, in a negative light. That they won’t do.

Technorati: Harry Reid, Dictator, Senate Majority Leader, Government Shutdown, Agenda Media, President Obama, Democrats, Veterans Administration, National Parks Service, National Institutes of Health, John Boehner, John Thune, Continuing Resolution, Constitution, GOP

Wednesday afternoon, President Obama met with leaders from the House and Senate. With the potential to reach a deal hanging over the table, President Obama, Sen. Reid and Minority Leader Pelosi took the hardline position that they’ll only accept a clean continuing resolution, aka CR. After the meeting, Speaker John Boehner made a brief statement:

Here’s what he said:

SPEAKER BOEHNER: You know, in times like this, the American people expect their leaders to come together to find ways to resolve their differences. The President reiterated one more time tonight that he will not negotiate. We’ve got divided government. Democrats control the White House and the Senate. Republicans control the House. We’ve sent 4 different proposals to our friends in the Senate. They rejected all of them. We’ve asked to go to conference to try to sit down and resolve our differences. They will not negotiate. We had a nice conversation, a light conversation, but, at some point, we’ve got to allow the process that our founders gave us to work out. We’ve appointed conferees on the House side to sit down with our Senate colleagues. It’s time for them to appoint conferees. Now all we’re asking for here is a discussion and fairness for the American people under Obamacare. I would hope that the President and my Democratic colleagues in the Senate would listen to the American people and sit down and have a serious discussion to resolve these differences.

President Obama and Sen. Reid have acted like spoiled brats throughout these ‘negotiations’, if you can call them that. Their behavior is best summed up with this sentence: They want what they want when they want it. They aren’t interested in treating all Americans the same way. The Senate has voted to keep their special exemption from the Affordable Care act while subjecting American families to the Affordable Care Act.

What President Obama and Sen. Reid essentially are saying is that they’re entitled to be treated like royalty. With families struggling, it’s difficult seeing the American people agreeing that Washington’s disfunctional elites deserve special treatment.

Sen. Reid’s meanspiritedness was displayed Wednesday when he was asked by CNN’s Dana Bash why he wouldn’t fund the National Institutes of Health to help save children with cancer. Here’s what he said:

BASH: But if you could help one child with cancer, why wouldn’t you do it?
SEN. REID: Listen, why would we want to do that?

Sen. Reid’s reply will make tons of ads for Republican Senate candidates. If they’re smart, they’ll say something like this: When House Republicans tried funding health care for children with cancer, [Mark Pryor, Kay Hagan, Mary Landrieu, etc.] sided with Sen. Reid to deprive these children of the treatments they need.

It’s time for President Obama, Sen. Reid and Minority Leader Pelosi to stop acting like spoiled brats and pawns of DC’s special interests. It’s time for them to act like leaders. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re interested in that.

Technorati: President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Government Shutdown, National Institutes of Health, Brinksmanship, Democrats, John Boehner, Continuing Resolution, Conference Committee, GOP

Lately, Harry Reid has thrown one temper tantrum after another. This morning, he threw another childish, mean-spirited hissy fit:

“Republicans have had a very bad week. On the same day that Democrats in Congress delivered quality, affordable health insurance to tens of millions more Americans, Republicans in Congress delivered the nation a government shutdown.”

“It’s time for Republicans to stop throwing one crazy idea after another at the wall in the hopes something will stick. There has been a sensible plan to reopen the government right in front of House Republicans all along: the clean, six-week continuing resolution passed by the Senate last week.”

“Once [Republicans] reopen the government, Senate Democrats will gladly appoint conferees and work out our long-term budget priorities with the House of Representatives.”

Harry’s taken too many punches. He’s punch drunk. When he, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Boehner and Sen. McConnell meet with President Obama tonight, I’m confident that he’ll have to eat a plate full of crow. I’m confident that President Obama understands that he’s losing momentum because he and Sen. Reid have overplayed (and misplayed) their hand by being totally intransigent.

If President Obama and congressional Democrats don’t agree to give up their premium support, support that isn’t available to others in the same income bracket, they’ll be blamed for not working to solve the problem. The American people might agree with Democrats that the government shouldn’t be shut down but that doesn’t mean they can refuse to negotiate with Republicans. Americans, above all else, insist that people work together and play fair.

Right now, the American people are questioning whether Democrats are playing fair.

The other thing that’s happening, in my opinion, is that reality is overtaking Sen. Reid’s and President Obama’s spin. Last week, President Obama said in a speech that Republicans want to kill the Affordable Care Act because they don’t want people to sign up for the exchanges and like it. Thanks to this week’s disastrous roll-out of the exchanges, Republicans can point to that and say ‘We told you so. That’s why we want it delayed a year.’

Night after night, day after day, Republicans announce their latest offer to fund the government. At first, the Democrats’ spin message won the day. Bit by bit, the Republicans started winning that fight, thanks in large part to their showing the American people that they’re trying to resolve this dispute.

It might take time but reality will overtake spin every time. It’s just a matter of when, not if.

Harry Reid’s calling the Republicans’ proposals crazy might fool a handful of people for a little while but that won’t last long. Night after night, Speaker Boehner or Rep. McCarthy have stepped to the microphone to tell the press what the latest bill contained.

Ed Morrissey has more on tonight’s meeting:

The executive branch’s handling of the shutdown has been a disaster, as has been the rollout of the ObamaCare exchanges. They need to win a messaging cycle badly now, and one way of doing that is to broker a fix on funding the government — perhaps even with a concession on Congressional exemptions to ObamaCare, if not an agreement on a repeal of the highly-unpopular medical device tax.

Reid’s spin that Republicans were having a difficult week simply isn’t credible. Ed’s observations indicate that. Democrats got too full of themselves early on. They thought they could just run roughshod over House Republicans. This week, it’s apparent that they thought wrong.

Technorati: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama, Spin, Government Shutdown, Democrats, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Kevin McCarthy, Continuing Resolution, Congressional Exemption, GOP

President Obama insisted that he’s cut the deficit by $2,000,000,000,000 since he took office. That’s laughable because his deficits have totalled $6,000,000,000,000 since he took office. Sen. Rand Paul’s explanation to Chris Wallace is spot on:

Here’s the transcript of Sen. Paul’s reply:

He said in his speech that he’s reduced the deficit by two trillion. Well, he added $6 trillion. That means that because he didn’t add $8 trillion that he’s reduced it by $2 trillion?? That’s absurd. He listed about 50 new programs saying oh there not going to cost you anything. We’re going to squeeze this money out of the rich. The problem is that whenever he tries to squeeze more money out of the economy, he’s slowing it down.

First, the economy isn’t improving. It isn’t in a total tailspin but it isn’t recovering, either. Second, Washington, DC is the only place where running $6,000,000,000,000 in deficits would be considered cutting the deficit. Third, President Obama’s predictions aren’t predictions. They’re lies meant to keep the gullible trusting him.

The reality is that President Obama isn’t about honesty. He’s totally about implementing a radical leftist agenda, then using the rest of his term to cement that ideology into the citizens’ minds. That would make it much more difficult for Republicans to repeal this administration’s ‘accomplishments’.

Since his re-election, President Obama has acted more like an emporor than a president. He’s clearly in his my-way-or-the-highway mode. He’s the only president in US history to run up a $1,000,000,000,000 annual deficit. In fact, he’s on track for his fifth straight trillion dollar deficit.

Yesterday, President Obama said “You don’t go out to dinner and then…eat all you want and then leave without paying the check.” In his column, Ed Morrissey highlights the fact that President Obama’s Democrats aren’t paying the bill, either:

A debt ceiling, after all, only allows the federal government to spend money already allocated by Congress. Obama made this point repeatedly on Monday, offering a restaurant analogy to claim that he’s only being fiscally responsible by insisting on a clean debt-ceiling increase. “You don’t go out to dinner and then, you know, eat all you want and then leave without paying the check,” Obama lectured NBC’s Chuck Todd. “And if you do, you’re breaking the law.” The only problem with that analogy is that we’re not paying our bills; we’re adding to the running tab and borrowing 40 cents on the dollar to make it look like we’re covering our obligations.

It’s disrespectful of the American people to say that America’s paying its bills when it’s running trillion dollar deficits. President Bush’s last budget was for $3.1 trillion. Last year, the federal government spent $3.8 trillion. That’s a 30% increase in spending.

It’s time to take spending back down to 2007 or 2008 levels. We can’t afford to spend at the pace we’re currently spending at. President Obama won’t tolerate that type of spending cut. He’ll throw a hissy fit.

Whatever.

He’ll insist on negotiating with Speaker Boehner on a new CR. Speaker Boehner should continually insist on the Senate passing a budget, then ironing things out in a conference committee. Then he should repeat the same message day after day after day until President Obama caves.

Republicans will take a short-term PR hit as a result. Whatever. Their ratings are lower than root canals and cockroaches already. It’s time to highlight the fact that Democrats don’t care about spending the taxpayers’ money responsibly.

It’s time to demand that President Obama and the Democrats to justify current spending levels. President Obama is long on demonization, short on reality. What’s worst is that he knows it. President Obama strongly hinted that Republicans didn’t care about the elderly and disadvantaged children, which he knows is BS.

It’s time for him to show that there isn’t massive amounts of waste in the HHS budget. Ditto with the Commerce Department. Ditto with the Energy and Education departments. Better still would be to force this administration and the Democratic Senate refute the GAO reports on duplication, fraud and waste.

In short, it’s time for the GOP to take the gloves off and start taking the fight to the Democrats.

Finally, Republicans can highlight the fact that they compromised on taxes and the debt ceiling, then demand that President Obama is the one who won’t compromise on real spending cuts that are badly needed.

Good luck winning that fight, Mr. President.

Tags: Government Shutdown, Debt Ceiling, President Obama, Spending, Deficits, Negotiations, Harry Reid, Budget, Democrats

One thing that’s been bothering me in the debt ceiling discussion is the total absence of consideration of what’s the best path forward for the nation. Altogether too often, the discussion has focused on President Obama’s re-election, not the fact that he didn’t win a mandate from the American people.

The message the nation sent wasn’t that they approved of President Obama’s mishandling of the economy. Rather, the nation sent the message that they elected the lesser of two evils. (That isn’t my perspective but it’s the message the voters apparently sent.)

They definitely blamed President Bush for the economy without giving President Obama high marks on the economy.

The reality is that the nation re-elected Republicans to run the House of Representatives despite President Obama’s victory. The point is that neither Democrats or Republicans have a mandate. That means doing what’s right on the federal budget and what’s right for creating jobs.

Despite his victory, President Obama hasn’t proposed policies that create enough jobs. Month after month, job creation lags farther behind population growth. Month after month, family incomes drop. Despite the Democrats’ insistence that the economy has turned the corner, the reality is that the Democrats’ policies haven’t created the robust job growth that’s needed.

There isn’t an economist out there that’ll argue that President Obama’s policies will start creating jobs in the numbers we need to lift ourselves from this recession.

Speaker Boehner shouldn’t buy into the media’s myths about the Democrats winning the fiscal cliff debate. If we go over the cliff, historians won’t call this Speaker Boehner’s recession. That’s because presidents, not speakers, get the fault for the recessions just like they get the credit for when the economy soars.

President Obama’s legacy won’t be filled with stories of how the stimulus revived the US economy. The ACA won’t be recorded as a success, either. It’s a failure. President Obama’s strict adherence to his failed ideology will be his legacy.

There’s never been a time when this many taxes have been raised and this much money spent this recklessly and the economy recovered. That’s before talking about President Obama’s exponential growth in regulations, which are exploding while ruining the US economy.

It’s time for Republicans to start promoting their plan as the only plan from either party that addresses the problems confronting the nation. That isn’t because it’s the greatest plan ever devised. It’s partly because Democrats haven’t offered a serious economic plan.

Tags: Fiscal Cliff, President Obama, Recession, Unemployment, Tax Hikes, ACA, Stimulus, Fiscal Restraint, GOP