Boehner Wall Street Journal Opinion...

[The Rabbi]

I am guessing by the non-response that the Rabbi does not have enough faith in Boehner or the GOP to take the bet?

No. Unlike you I have a business to run so cannot respond to every piece of dreck you post.

Boehner is the leader in the House (or probably will be). He is not the House dictator. Unlike Democrats, Republicans tend to have a mind of their own. Besides, aren't earmarks the American way and all? Isn't that why Nancy didn't end them?

 

[Epsilon Delta]

Ah, if there is one thing Republicans are good at is clever politicking. There's a few reasons why this is actually pretty ingenious for Boehner to say:

1. It's taken almost directly from the Democrats' playbook from '06 and '08, which they totally and absolutely failed to abide by.

2. Enforcing no earmarks, posting the bill for 3 days, and not allowing for "comprehensive" reform are actually good talking points, and they resonate with people

3. Most importantly, and the reason the Republicans might actually do it, is that the effect (in a divided government) will be to totally ensure that nothings gets done in this Congress.

So whats the conclusion? The Republicans will manage to block everything and look good while doing so, absolutely no major legislation will get passed by this Congress and it is likely that the economy will remain the way it is or worse, and it is far likelier that Obama and the Democrats get blamed and therefore pushed further into oblivion while the Republicans go into 2012 with a strong position and a fucked country.

Then of course, if they take back all of government in 2012, all of this is going to get thrown out the window and the cycle begins anew; with the economy still in shambles, the decimated Democrats, cowering in fear, will have no choice but to "cooperate" with whatever the new Republican government does, much like they pretty much always do.

 

[The Rabbi]

So you're suggesting this is some devious plot by the GOP to do what people elected them to do, be successful and win re-election?
Damned Republicans. Bloody geniuses!

 

[VaYank5150]

I am guessing by the non-response that the Rabbi does not have enough faith in Boehner or the GOP to take the bet?

No. Unlike you I have a business to run so cannot respond to every piece of dreck you post.

Boehner is the leader in the House (or probably will be). He is not the House dictator. Unlike Democrats, Republicans tend to have a mind of their own. Besides, aren't earmarks the American way and all? Isn't that why Nancy didn't end them?

So, basically, the "Contract on America" is already null and void. Thanks.

 

[The Rabbi]

I am guessing by the non-response that the Rabbi does not have enough faith in Boehner or the GOP to take the bet?

No. Unlike you I have a business to run so cannot respond to every piece of dreck you post.

Boehner is the leader in the House (or probably will be). He is not the House dictator. Unlike Democrats, Republicans tend to have a mind of their own. Besides, aren't earmarks the American way and all? Isn't that why Nancy didn't end them?

So, basically, the "Contract on America" is already null and void. Thanks.

No, basically you're an idiot.
Thanks.

 

[Epsilon Delta]

So you're suggesting this is some devious plot by the GOP to do what people elected them to do, be successful and win re-election?
Damned Republicans. Bloody geniuses!

You got it, in a way. I think there's two reasons Republicans got elected by two different groups:

1) Hardcore Republicans elected them to block government and win re-election
2) Moderate Republicans and independents elected them to fix the economy

This plan from Boehner succeeds for the first constituency's goals, but not for the 2nd. The good thing for them is that they're shielded from failure in the 2nd by the Democrats. We'll likely have to wait til after the 2012 cycle to see what the Republicans actually plan to do to get the economy going again if at all, when they actually have an incentive to get it fixed (to keep power). Whether they can or not, or whether it will be too late and we're stuck in a low-employment, low-growth "new normal" indefinitely (or worse, a double-dip) remains to be seen.

 

[blu]

Here's some interesting highlights from Boehner's WSJ opinion piece today.

Steps the next speaker should take immediately:

- No earmarks...have become a symbol of a broken Washington, and an entire lobbying industry has been created around them. He has avoided using them throughout his time in Congress.

-Speaker should not allow any bill to come to a vote that has not been posted on the internet for at least 3 days. Also, the speaker should insist every bill includes a clause where in the Constitution Congress is given the power to pass it.

-Next speaker should put an end to "comprehensive" bills with thousands of pages of legislative text that make it easy to hide spending projects and job-killing policies.

-No more bills written behind closed doors in the speaker's office. Bills should be written by legislators in committee in plain public view.

-Speaker should place an emphasis on smaller, more focused legislation that is properly scrutinized, constitutionally sound, and consistent with Americans' demand for a less costly, less intrusive government.

Interesting stuff IMO. Wonder what the current speaker thinks of it?

Here's the article John Boehner: What the Next Speaker Must Do - WSJ.com

I agree with all , but the bolded will never happen