House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, lashed out at conservative advocacy groups that have encouraged GOP lawmakers to oppose a budget framework unveiled last night by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
"They're using our members and they're using the American people for their own goals," an animated Boehner told reporters at the Capitol. "This is ridiculous."
Ryan and Murray, the top budget officials in their respective chambers, announced an agreement that would set baseline spending levels for the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years. The agreement calls for spending levels slightly above the cap established by the automatic spending cuts known as the "sequester" through a combination of reforms, cuts and new, non-tax revenue.
Conservative groups had been girding themselves against the deal before its details were finalized, mostly because the spending levels exceed sequester levels. The Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity and Heritage Action — each of them well-financed conservative advocacy groups that hold some sway over Republican primary voters — have begun lobbying furiously against the modest government funding agreement…
…The Republican leadership's struggle to manage its restive conservative flank is a familiar storyline to any observer of Congress over the past three years. Boehner's decision to side with conservatives and drive a hard bargain over government spending and the Affordable Care Act contributed in large part to the government shutdown in October that nearly threatened default on the national debt.
If conservatives balk at supporting the legislation, Boehner would need to turn to Democrats to help advance the package through the House. The speaker did just that in passing legislation to end the government shutdown earlier this year.
It's no secret that the right wing of the Republican Party, energized by the Tea Party's emergence in 2009, has been slowly but surely dragging down the GOP into depths that leave moderate voters shaking their heads. While many Republican leaders have been wringing their hands about how to distance themselves from the right wing while maintaining their support come election time, Boehner's outspokenness is the most visible example yet of the growing frustration in the GOP.
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He's just trying to get ahead on the messaging when his caucus comes down on him and tells him they're not supporting the deal.
It's a sad day when Paul Ryan is seen as a voice of reason in the House.
You can say that again.
Ryan has national ambitions. And though he may be misguided, he is smart enough to come in out of the rain.
Many of the crazies on the extreme right are local boys who don't really want to live large and see the world…they just want to destroy the US government so that big business can establish a desperate workforce. One that will continue to work for less and less money until poverty is the status quo for the working poor.
Then they will go home and get back to the office at home and return to being a "maker".
It creates an ideal circumstance for getting as much value out of the worker as possible…human dignity and civil justice be damned. I am not even sure Adam Smith would admire these self possessed bastards.
It won't help since his idea of coming in out of the rain is just trying to sound civil while expounding on the same old draconian policies that hurt middle earners, women, seniors, students, minorities and immigrants. He'll never be a viable national candidate.
It's not the tone. It's the policy.
It's not the messenger. It's the message.
Boehner is at it again today, calling the far right TP faction " ridiculous". Why did it take this long for sanity to take hold…
Not sanity. Abject fear.
Blue Cat, If you are saying it is fear of reprisals by the American electorate for letting the crazies run around unabated, then that is a good thing. It maybe means Boehner has thought long and hard about it, and he's now decided that its in his best interest and political future to distance himself from the far right faction of the caucus and steer the ship back towards some semblance of a functional congress. I think it is a very calculated decision, which means he knows the majority of the public has no more tolerance for shutdowns and stunts from a do nothing congress. Probably nobody knows about the waning influence of the TP more than Boehner. In my mind that says a lot.
Looks like the Republicans have finally decided the monster needs to be killed. The Republicans in the house voted for the bill by a huge majority, not much less than two to one, in spite of all the threats from the far right groups ordering them to vote no or else.
Are they finally more afraid of the consequences of continuing to go along with the wackos' insanity than they are of being primaried by them? Considering how terrified they've been of getting primaried, that's saying something.
Meanwhile,prominent Republicans in the Senate are joining the wackos in hammering House Republicans the way the House Republicans were hammering them for too much conciliation during the shut down crisis. Tables turning so fast it's enough to make a GOTPer dizzy. Pass the popcorn. Is it too little too late to expel the T and go back to being the GOP? Will the raving rightie maniacs go third party and hand Dems a bunch of unlikely victories like the ones we've been we've been blessed with in Colorado? This is getting pretty interesting.
It is going to be very interesting. Sometimes I like Boehner – I feel he is a lot less smug and obnoxious than a lot of his colleagues. It is true that he is picking a side for his own survival, but I really like the fact that he is pissed off enough to bring this rift out in the open. Pass the popcorn indeed.
His statements about how he and the rest of the House Rs were pushed into the shutdown (by a wacko minority) don't exactly cover him or them in glory, though, do the? They didn't have the guts to stand up then so they must be standing up now because they're more afraid of what they see coming if they don't than they are of being primaried by the wackos. I hope the GOTP follies that have been so fortunate so often for Colorado Dems are repeated nationwide: A Buck or a third party Tanc in every race in every competitive district and state.
The orange Speaker's recent statements seems to be his admission that the Boehner leadership suffers from flacidity and impotence . . .
. . . meanwhile over in the Senate, look who might have finally sprouted a Harry pair:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/us/politics/senate-confirms-georgetown-law-professor-to-powerful-appeals-court.html
Strange season, this . . . !
Great to see Rs complaining about those mean powerful Dems after decades of hearing Dems whine about those big tough Rs but I could have done without the "Harry" image!
Where's the brain bleach?!?