The Speaker of the House is still really bad at his job.
“The good news is we have a winning message. The bad news is that in order for that message to mean anything, we have to back it up with action.” –John Boehner, in a closed-door meeting with his caucus this morning.
The bad news for Republicans in the House of Representatives is that they actually have to do something. You know, like fund the surface transportation in this country before funding runs out at the end of the month. But Boehner can’t get that done, so he’s left begging and pleading with his own members to be reasonable.
Boehner bluntly warned lawmakers that if the House does not pass its own bill, it will be stuck with a two-year, $109 billion Senate bill, or “something that looks just like it,” according to a source in the room.
“You don’t like that? I don’t like it either. Why would any of us like it?” the Speaker told his members. “It means punting on the opportunity to pass an infrastructure bill that bears our stamp. It means giving up on the opportunity to make sure a bill is enacted that is responsibly paid for, that has full-scale reforms in it and most importantly, that is linked to increased production of American energy.
“But right now, it’s the plan.”
Boehner urged his caucus to show unity.
“The American people entrusted us with the majority in the House. What we do with it us up to us,” he said. “We can use it to take steps together, one at a time, toward the vision we share. Or we can do nothing. We can squander the time we’ve been given … allowing our internal disagreements to paralyze us.”
When he says “the time we’ve been given” he doesn’t sound like a man who anticipates holding onto the gavel after the November elections. Given his inability to snap out of his paralysis, I can hardly blame him.
