The Nile is not just a river in Egypt:
A simple yes or no would have sufficed, but when House Speaker John Boehner was asked whether anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist was a positive influence on his caucus, he feigned ignorance.
“It’s not often I’m asked about some random person in America,” he said.
There is something so fundamentally dishonest about the Speaker’s response that it almost defies description.
Too bad nobody’s going to ask why he signed a letter from some random person he never heard of. Deep dishonesty is as much a part of Boehner as the man-tan. What continues to surprise is the sheer incompetence. Somehow he managed to make himself look like a liar and a fool, rudely dismiss a hero of his caucus, and yet fail utterly to take any kind of stand against Groverism that might have gotten him a little cred from so-called moderates. Three strikes in one short sentence ain’t easy.
You’re right. That’s a whole lotta fail. Very concise fail.
And yes, slugs are embarrassed to be in the same room with John Boehner.
Boehner’s answer is heartening if it means that he is now running away from Norquist. Even Boehner is starting to get that Norquist’s anti-tax crusade has run out of steam in the face of reality.
You are wrong. They’ll take temporary pain if they can sucker Democrats into gutting Social Security/Medicare. Even if they were to pass tax hikes on the 1%, how much do you think they’ll raise it?
Yah, I could be wrong. Sure would be nice if I were right though, so let me bask in that glow for a while, OK?
A few months ago in a meeting with the top local aide for freshman congressman James Lankford (OK-5), who had worked on his campaign last year, she also feigned ignorance about Grover Norquist. There must have been a memo went out about denying any knowledge of the number one campaign promise.
Ya think Grover will be satisfied with dogwhistles from now on? 😉
And governor Norquist said unto him, “Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crows, thou shalt deny me three times.”
The real issue here is that Tom Coburn really wants to reduce the government deficit (by ending ethanol subsidies. and no doubt that’s just the beginning), and Grover Norquist just wants to lower taxes. In other words, a good part of the GOP already knows that Grover is not cool any more.
This is a completely in-house GOP fight. That’s the reason Boner doesn’t want to talk about Norquist. It’s a very divisive issue for the Republicans.
The Hill today explains the issue with a lot more background:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/191611-boehner-calls-anti-tax-activist-norquist-some-random-person
More background:
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/269802/norquist-coburn-feud-reignites-andrew-stiles