Paul Kane of the Washington Post repeats the common wisdom.
For Boehner, Saturday’s vote marked an early political victory, allowing his party to honor a 2010 campaign pledge to trim spending to 2008 levels.
“It’s democracy in action,” Boehner said in an impromptu, triumphal news conference off the House floor just past 9 p.m. Friday, when it was clear the bill would pass. “I’m proud of this vote,” he added.
But what kind victory is this? The White House immediately rejected the House’s bill and the Senate isn’t even going to consider it. For five days the House debated and held votes on more than a hundred amendments, but none of it means a thing. And John Boehner has put himself in a real jam.
Congress must pass some kind of funding bill by March 4th or the government will shut down. The Senate is on vacation all next week, and they have insufficient time to debate and pass their own spending bill. The only solution is to pass a quick Continuing Resolution that covers just the two or three weeks that the Senate will need. But Boehner seems to have precluded that possibility.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he won’t approve another extension unless it also includes significant cuts. And it’s unclear whether the scores of Republican freshmen who were elected last fall on their promise to dramatically downsize the federal government will agree to any sort of deal, particularly after insisting on the deep cuts agreed to Saturday.
Perhaps Boehner can get the freshmen to agree to a very short-term bill to give the Senate time, but how will he get them to vote for the bill the Senate eventually produces?
This is why I don’t feel like Boehner won any kind of victory yesterday. He missed an opportunity to rein in his freshmen class and instead let them run roughshod over the entire apparatus of the federal government, slashing and burning as they went. Maybe Boehner thinks that they had earned the right to sow their oats a little bit before getting down to business, but it appears to me that he’s lost control of his caucus and is incapable of leading his house of Congress.
Where’s the victory in that?
pretty much my feelings. He’s lost control, and in fact is being led by the freshmen (Senator Mitch McConnell seems to be in the same boat).
It’s gonna be a sticky wicket for Mr. Boehner, what with the Senate never inclined to do what the House tells it to do, and with Republicans like Mr. Brown and Lugar (and probably a few more) disinclined to cut LIHEAP, WIC, etc.
gonna be awfully interesting. I’m looking forward to how the senior citizens of the GOP feel when the government really IS out of their social security and medicare for a few days/weeks/however-long. or how those veterans for mccain feel when the VA’s closed 3 days out of 5.
It’s kind of like saying that Pelosi had some great victory when she passed Cap & Trade. Why? It definitely didn’t become law and the backlash was devastating.
Disagree. She got votes when I didn’t think they were there. She fought, and showed what can happen when you fight.
Where’s the victory in that?
What’s your problem? Kaplan said it’s a victory for Orange Julius, so it’s a victory!!
This is what happens when one takes the bumper sticker causes for a ride with backseat drivers who declare we shall not negotiate.
I suspect that Boehner cannot negotiate any better than he can count votes. Meanwhile Rome/DC is burning.
Boehner’s strategy for playing chicken is toss the steering wheel out the window. That assumes that (1) the other car will swerve – likely, such as the Pelosi amendment; (2) there are no curves in the road and no trees – unlikely.
The House is going to play chicken.
Boehner may back down and not shut down the government.
WIll he cry if he doesn’t shut it down?
From the lack of leadership he’s already displayed I suspect Boehner doesn’t have the say on whether the govt gets shutdown.
Right. That’s my point.
It’s the kind of victory that can make Eric Cantor speaker.
Scott Walker and John Boehner have overplayed their hand (unless the Village bails them out with massive propaganda; FoxNews is insufficient to this challenge). Members of Congress cannot be recalled. We must wait until November of 2012 to vote them out.
Do Democrats have 241 strong progressive voices who can run as challengers in 2012? Thought not. Thanks Tim.
Looks like an opportunity for a third party running candidates in Republican districts, especially Republican strongholds. That’s thin gruel too.
Me too politicians are not going to cut it in 2012.
Hey, its not Tim’s fault that there aren’t enough STRONG progressive voices out there that meet your purity tests.
It’s Tim’s fault that Louis Goehmert ran unopposed and Pete King ran with token opposition. That the South Carolina Democratic Party didn’t have the funds to rebuild itself and have field organizers who could have sensed a debacle of a primary coming. That was then.
This is now. If 241 Republican seats get put in play by the Republicans going over a cliff, the ones that remain will be those that are unopposed. The question is whether (1) Kaine will make sure there are no de facto unopposed Republicans and (2) Kaine will aid in the rebuilding of state and county party capacity to beat the Republicans in GOTV and rebuild in states Democrats are currently shut out of (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah, for example), and (3) if there are seats that remain unopposed will progressives put up candidates to make sure that the Republicans have to defend themselves.
It’s not his sole fault, but he sat idly while Creigh Deeds ran away from the President and marginalize the President as “too lefty” for a conservative Virginia Democrat.
It’s not the DNC director’s job to recruit House candidates. That job is currently Steve Israel’s and was formerly Chris Van Hollen’s.
It’s actually the responsibility of the state party organizations. Steve Israel’s job is to see that it gets done and to coordinate the efforts across states.
The premature rolling back of party capability building that occurred in the shift from Dean to Kaine left a number of state party organizations flatfooted when it came to the 2010 election. DNC financial, organizational, training, and technical support could have avoided that. And only at the last minute did OFA gear up to try to put the situation out of the fire.
My point is not to blame but to point out that (1) if you don’t have a candidate, you don’t win (the Cal Ripken principle), and (2) the states that we do the worst in have party organizations with serious compromised abilities to organize geography, train candidates, and coordinate campaigns. And are more seriously compromised in this after the Citizens United decision.
And to express pessimism that the ground will look different in 2012.
Meh, I understand the sentiment but I’m familiar with Tarheel’s history and I think he/she is actually quite reasonable and worthy of having a debate with.
Oh, just stop it right now!
Are you trying to make the Speaker cry? Huh? Do you like to see those tears washing away that carefully applied Orange pallor?
Jeesh! Let the man believe he’s won something.
He only cries when someone reminds him he was once a bartender’s son.
yeah, I wonder what that’s about
did you see the Rachel Maddow clip from last week when she basically said Orange Julius is bad at his job as Speaker?
saw it, very interesting.
This somehow assumes Boehner is responsible and does not himself want to shut down the government.
I’m not sure where the evidence for that comes from.
at best a Pyrrhic victory.
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