The Hill has an article that is little more than a polite way of saying that the House Republicans are nuts and John Boehner isn’t very good at his job. More specifically, Boehner has annoyed everyone in Congress, including especially Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. because he can’t keep his word. It’s not that Boehner wants to make promises that he can’t keep. He’s just not very good at his job. He constantly underestimates the insanity of his caucus. The funny part of the articles is where they argue that the nut cases will listen to Boehner in the future.
The silver lining of the December payroll tax meltdown is that conservative Republican freshmen in the House may have learned to trust Boehner’s political judgment. They might be less likely to rebel, even if they believe themselves to be on the correct side of a policy argument, if they trust their leaders’ judgment about the political fallout.
“The problem is the Republican House leadership wasn’t in sync with its caucus,” said one GOP strategist.
A second strategist said: “The next time they do this, they’ll be much more understanding of Boehner when he says what the politics are. They’re freshmen, they haven’t dealt with the politics as much.”
The thing is, they won’t be more understanding next time. If Boehner actually thinks that, he’s going to be breaking promises again in two months.
And Eric Cantor will be standing beside him with that Cheshire Cat grin, just waiting to make his move.
