Three weeks ago, (click here) Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) — the second-highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives — repeatedly refused to call theories that President Obama was not born in America “crazy.” He told Meet the Press’s David Gregory that “I don’t think it’s nice to call anyone crazy,” and refused to rebuke the wild conspiracy theories....
Speaker Boehner never believed in his Republican majority wihout the Tea Party by setting the tone in the House.
He had his moments of resistance, but, they were far too few. If John Boehner believed in the majority of his Republicans in the House without including the smaller extremist Republicans he could have provided good votes for the House with the Dems making up the difference. There are Red State Democrats.
I really think John Boehner bowed to the Koch's money and figured there was just so much he could oppose from the extremists without losing his funding as well. He never believed in the Speakership. The way campaign financing should work for anyone running for office is that the donor 'comes to the platform' of the candidate and not the party where positions can be manipulated to satiate donors. But, a donor should find a candidate helpful to their needs within the country and within the constitution.
The Speakership carries it's own brevity. Boehner, regardless of his popularity within all members of his party within the House, should have held his ground on extremism. The Speaker never allowed his leadership to speak for itself in providing a platform for all members of the House. He allowed the extremists to dominate the House floor, too. Just as an example, Gohmert is on the House floor nearly everyday, or at least he used to be.
If the House could not move past the Hastert Rule then THAT is where party lines should have broken down until the extremists came to terms with themselves and realized they are not the only members of the House. The very first measure Boehner should have passed in the House without moving an inch is campaign finance reform and voter rights laws. He should never have scapegoated Democrats for the sake of every Freshman House member.
John Boehner was scared of the Tea Party and never provided the right leadership. He was handing the country over to them little by little and now they have destroyed his right hand man.
As of March 21st of this year the House Republicans have voted 54 times on the Affordable Care Act. 54 times. That is abuse of power. In facilitating the House to actually conduct legislation in passing bills, there should have been 54 votes on the Hastert Rule. The 54 abuse of power votes regarding established law was politics. Politics isn't suppose to be conducted from the House floor. That is called unethical.
