BREAKING: Speaker Boehner to Retire from Congress

[TemplarKormac]

You can't because after the Stimulus, he lost control of the House in 2010 and hasn't gotten it back.

But for four years he had the Senate in his pocket. So whatever the house did, it was nullified BY DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE.

 

[Mustang]

He's probably resigning because he can't get his party to pull together and actually do their job. I'm betting with him gone we will see no real legislation because they are incapable of anything beyond making ideological stands that go nowhere. Without the ability to compromise and work with the opposition - legislation will go nowhere.

Yeah...the Rs should always compromise with big ears, but big ears should never compromise with the Rs. Is that it?

Or...Obama should always compromise with the R's but the R's should never compromise with Obama. I hear that a lot.

The thing is - if you want accomplish anything - you need to be able to make deals. This Congress is rated among the worst for good reason.

Other - President Obama Job Approval | RealClearPolitics
Congressional Job Approval Rating: 15.2%
Obama:45.9%

GOP’s Favorability Rating Takes a Negative Turn
R's: 32%
D's: 48%

I hear that a lot too. And you know what? It doesn't make a damn bit of sense. It would be like saying that the left hand should help wash the right hand, but the right hand should never help wash the left.

 

[bripat9643]

Every fiscal year of Clinton's Administration, the deficit dropped.

During Bush's Administration, the deficit skyrocketed and hit the highest level in the history of the Universe.

During every fiscal year of Obama's Administration, the deficit has dropped.

Just how retarded do you have to be to continue to think Democrats are the only party of big spenders?

Seriously.


And before another retard revises history to say Bush was a progressive, he was an evangelical with a GOP Congress helping him spend and spend and spend and spend.,

That's what happens when you combine a pragmatic president with GOP led congress.

But Obama established a high baseline his first year ($1.3 trillion deficit) so if the GOP put the brakes on his spending....the deficit would go down automatically. He raised a bunch of taxes, excise, plenty of tax- increases in Obamacare. That's what it is. A massive tax- increase. He got Boner to agree to a $600 billion tax increase as well. So, the deficit is going down because revenue increased tremendously.

Obamas first year in office was 9 months on Bush's FY 2009 budget and the bulk of that deficit was Bush's! Obama's FIRST budget began Oct.1, 2009. From his inauguration until Sept 30, 2009 Obama was on Bush's last budget, which Bush & Co. are entirely responsible for!!!! There ain't no wiggle room to place Obama responsible for more that EIGHT BUDGETS, FOOL!

Bullshit. The stimulus was signed in February. That makes almost the entire 2009 budget his.

 

[Where_r_my_Keys]

If you, or Rabbi, or any other wingnut could show where Obama spent $18 Trillion you would have done so, ... loser.

LOL! I just adore the sweeter irony.

And it was 9 trillion, quickly heading to 10 trillion. And he spent it in federal subsidies, buying favors, funding ISIS, buying elections, paying lawyers... and in general undermining the viability of the United States.

 

[SwimExpert]

You can't because after the Stimulus, he lost control of the House in 2010 and hasn't gotten it back.

But for four years he had the Senate in his pocket. So whatever the house did, it was nullified BY DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE.

Yeah, but you can't blame Boehner that the Democrats suck.

 

[bripat9643]

You can't because after the Stimulus, he lost control of the House in 2010 and hasn't gotten it back.

But for four years he had the Senate in his pocket. So whatever the house did, it was nullified BY DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE.

Yeah, but you can't blame Boehner that the Democrats suck.

We blame him for passing their agenda.

 

[Campbell]

The Pope's message about the wealth moving to the top must have inspired him. Maybe this will inspire a few of the greedy bastards to put a higher tax rate on the well off. What a blast....the idea of asking ol' Percy to wait a year or two before he upgrades that 2010 model yacht.

Do you have an objective rationale for raising taxes on the wealthy, or is it just personal envy?

We have had a progressive tax system in the US for a very long time. The reason for this is that it makes sense. Bills have to be paid, and the poor and lower income earners are not the ones able to pay those bills. That is why the wealthy should and do pay more. As for my personal views on this, I think the top income tax rate is high enough. I would like to see the capital gains rate restructured and to increase the rates on shorter term gains under three years. I also believe the SS tax rate should be reduced slightly and the cap should be eliminated. As for cuts in spending, there isn't much room for cuts in spending. I would not have a problem with raising the retirement age for SS and Medicare by a couple more years though, for those under the age of 50.

Most sensible post I've seen around here in a while.

 

[leftwinger]

Boner? "at this point what difference does it make"?

Debt? now at $18.4T. Please remember TARP ~$784B GWB last yr. (paid back into Obama yrs.)
Yes, a bit murky as fiscal yrs overlap start/stop yrs but.......yr by yr is online.

Roughly: GWB yrs added ~$4-5T (start:~$5T end:~$10T), ~8T Obama yrs (not done yet)
GWB last yrs with 07' DemWit congress (GWB complicint) and housing collapse.
Obama yrs have "record revenue" not enough to balance vs. spending.

FED agencies (CBO) say debt issue is un-sustainable. But the politicians not doing anything about it.

 

[leftwinger]

The Pope's message about the wealth moving to the top must have inspired him. Maybe this will inspire a few of the greedy bastards to put a higher tax rate on the well off. What a blast....the idea of asking ol' Percy to wait a year or two before he upgrades that 2010 model yacht.

Do you have an objective rationale for raising taxes on the wealthy, or is it just personal envy?

We have had a progressive tax system in the US for a very long time. The reason for this is that it makes sense. Bills have to be paid, and the poor and lower income earners are not the ones able to pay those bills. That is why the wealthy should and do pay more. As for my personal views on this, I think the top income tax rate is high enough. I would like to see the capital gains rate restructured and to increase the rates on shorter term gains under three years. I also believe the SS tax rate should be reduced slightly and the cap should be eliminated. As for cuts in spending, there isn't much room for cuts in spending. I would not have a problem with raising the retirement age for SS and Medicare by a couple more years though, for those under the age of 50.

Most sensible post I've seen around here in a while.

I almost hit the agree checkmark until I thought about "Bills have to be paid,"
Now we could argue what bills don't we need to run up? We could as where in the constitution does it call for (insert spending outlay here)? $18T in debt would suggest STOP something fast.

 

[EriktheRed]

Boner's gotta be so glad to be finally done with the wingnuts in his caucus.

To understand the pressures that brought about Boehner’s demise as an ideological split badly misconstrues the situation. The small band of right-wing noisemakers in the House who made Boehner’s existence a living hell could not identify any important substantive disagreements with the object of their wrath. (The one exception to this is Boehner’s brief, aborted 2011 attempt to craft a long-term debt deal with the Obama administration, which he abandoned under pressure from Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor.) The source of the disagreement was tactical, not philosophical. Boehner’s tormentors refused to accept the limits of his political power.

Boehner has never supported any important aspect of the Obama agenda. Even at the outset of the Obama administration, with the president soaring in the polls and the economy plunging into the abyss, he rallied his entire party to withhold support from the stimulus and never seriously considered negotiating. He not only voted against Obamacare, but he repeatedly punctuated his speech denouncing it with shouts of “hell no!” The positive “accomplishments” of the Boehner Era were limited to avoiding a series of brinksmanship-induced catastrophes. The limits of conservative power extended to the ability to block all legislative progress or compromise. Boehner successfully delivered that. He even joined in several creative efforts to expand his institution’s power by using threats of shutdowns or debt-ceiling crises to coerce Obama into enacting portions of the Republican agenda, giving up only when Obama had beaten him back repeatedly.

It was not enough. Three quarters of Republicans believe, incredibly, that their party leadership has not done enough to oppose Obama. Three fifthsfeel “betrayed” by their party.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/conservatives-hated-boehner-because-of-obama.html

 

[waltky]

Granny gonna miss him - she likes to cry along with him...

How Boehner's Resignation Impacts Defunding Abortion
Friday, September 25, 2015 - House Speaker John Boehner's sudden announcement that he will resign the end of October comes as a shock to many.

His decision comes after Senate Democrats stopped a bill to defund Planned Parenthood. In an effort to avoid government shutdown Boehner and House Republicans planned to draft a fast-track reconciliation bill that would make the fight easier to strip Planned Parenthood's funds.

According to The Hill, Boehner and other leaders were going to address a new strategy in a closed-door conference Friday. Instead, in that meeting Boehner told the GOP caucus that he would resign. "This isn't about me. This is about the people. This is about the institution," Boehner said during a midday press conference.

The New York Times described the lawmaker as "the most passionate opponent of abortion ever to wield the speaker's gavel." Boehner has been instrumental in the effort to defund Planned Parenthood. In 2010, he insisted on a prohibition of federal funding for abortion organization, which almost led to a government shutdown.

LiveAction President Lila Rose spoke with CBN News about Boehner's resignation and how that could change House Republicans strategy to defund the abortion giant.

How Boehner's Resignation Impacts Defunding Abortion - US - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com

See also:

Debt Up $3,968,445,855,460.28 Under Boehner’s Spending Deals; $26,627.43 Per Worker
September 25, 2015 - Under the spending deals cut by House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio), the federal government’s debt has climbed $3,968,445,855,460.28, according to debt numbers published by the U.S. Treasury.

That works out to an increase in the debt of $26,627.43 per each of the 149,036,000 people who, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, had a full- or part-time job in the United States as of August 2015. When the first spending deal made by Speaker Boehner took effect on March 4, 2011, the total federal debt was $95,162.43 per the 149,036,000 workers who had jobs as of this August. It now equals $121,789.86 for each of those workers. The $3,968,445,855,460.28 that the federal debt has increased under spending deals consummated by Boehner during his speakership is more debt than the federal government accumulated during the first 101 Congresses, which ran from 1789 into 1991. 49 House speakers presided over those first 101 Congresses.

The total debt of the federal government first surpassed $3,968,445,855,460.28 (the amount accumulated under Boehner’s spending deals) in June 1992. When Boehner became speaker on Jan. 6, 2011, the government was operating under a continuing resolution enacted in December 2010 by the outgoing Democrat-majority Congress. That CR expired on March 4, 2011. All federal appropriations bills funding the government since then have been approved by the Republican-majority Congress Boehner has led. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution says: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”

At the close of business on March 4, 2011, the day that the CR that the Democrat-majority Congress enacted in December 2010 expired, the total debt of the federal government was $14,182,627,184,881.03, according to the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. At the close of business on Sept. 23, 2015, the total debt was $18,151,073,040,341.31. From March 4, 2011 through Sept. 23, 2015, the debt increased $3,968,445,855,460.28 Between March 4, 2011, when Boehner’s Republican House Majority assumed authority over federal spending and Sept. 23, 2015, 1,662 days elapsed. The $3,968,445,855,460.28 increase in the federal debt during that time equaled about $2,387,753,222.30 in new federal debt per day.

The means the government has borrowed approximately an additional $16.02 per worker per day. The debt has increased $3,968,445,855,460.28 under Boehner’s spending deals despite the fact that since March 13 of this year, as CNSNews.com has reported, the Treasury has been taking “extraordinary measures” to keep the portion of the debt subject to a legal limit set by Congress frozen approximately $25 million below that limit. Despite the $3,968,445,855,460.28 increase in the debt under spending bills approved by the House Boehner has served as speaker, he is not the speaker who has presided over the greatest increase in the debt. Rep. Nancy Pelosi is.

On Feb. 15, 2007, President George W. Bush signed the first continuing resolution enacted during her speakership. On that day, the federal debt was $8,738,700,362,432.03. By March 4, 2011, when the last CR passed under Pelosi expired, the debt was $14,182,627,184,881.03—an increase of $5,443,926,822,449. When Rep. Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) became speaker on Jan. 6, 1999, the entire debt the United States had accumulated since the founding of the country was only $5,615,428,551,461.33.

Debt Up $3,968,445,855,460.28 Under Boehner’s Spending Deals; $26,627.43 Per Worker

 

[tyroneweaver]

Good job boehner of running up the debt 4 trillion
We expect a spend thrift like obama to run up the debt
but you were in a position to stop it, and you did nothing

 

[tyroneweaver]

One thing that's guaranteed to improve is Boehner's handicap. Being Speaker definitely hurt his golf game.

I'm 65 and I walked 36 today, and I'm just puckered out.

 

[tyroneweaver]

So we had this endless thread about republicans are responsible for running up the debt and how rosey things were during democrat administrations
So boehner comes along and runs the debt up 4 Trillion and liberals are sorry to see him go.
I'm scratching my head.

 

[Synthaholic]

One thing that's guaranteed to improve is Boehner's handicap. Being Speaker definitely hurt his golf game.

I'm 65 and I walked 36 today, and I'm just puckered out.

What would possess you to walk two rounds? Even riding two rounds is tiring, since you still do a lot of walking.

I need to get out and play a round soon. No time, unless I get to the course at 7 a.m., and I'm not that guy.

 

[oreo]

The biggest problem the Republican Party has is the Tea Party. There's lots of idiots out there aka far right wing nuts cases that forget that Obama has the VETO pen. So for the last 4 years--they continually throw up Obamacare bills--like they're going to do something with it. Now it's Planned Parenthood.

Nothing, absolutely NOTHING is going to get done about immigration, border control, planned parenthood, or Obamacare until there is a Republican sitting in the oval office.

These Tea Party politicians--continually put on their dog & pony shows to get the attention of their home constituents, without any regard to what it is doing to the party. They're an embarrassment to the Republican party.

Ted Cruz--was out there planning another dog & pony show, threatening another government shutdown that has continually backfired on the party, and he has support in the house. They're doing for THEMSELVES, no one else. John Boehner quit over it, and frankly I don't blame him.

Graham: Cruz Will 'Absolutely' Try to Shut Down the Government Again

This is what Ted Cruz has been up to for the last 4 years--LOL Who wouldn't quit!

 

[barryqwalsh]

Boehner, Pope, China and VW Emissions

Boehner's resignation, the Pope's visit, and China's and VW's emissions.


AUDIO
Boehner, Pope, China and VW Emissions — Left, Right & Center — KCRW

 

[tyroneweaver]

One thing that's guaranteed to improve is Boehner's handicap. Being Speaker definitely hurt his golf game.

I'm 65 and I walked 36 today, and I'm just puckered out.

What would possess you to walk two rounds? Even riding two rounds is tiring, since you still do a lot of walking.

I need to get out and play a round soon. No time, unless I get to the course at 7 a.m., and I'm not that guy.

I'm retired. I have always walked. Friends just kept coming and wanting me to play with them. Had a lot of fun. A lot of bantering. None about politics either.
Burley only has about 15k residents, so everybody kinda knows everybody.

 

[waltky]

Military losin' it's advocate...

As Boehner Resigns, Pentagon Warns Troops and Employees of Shutdown
Sep 25, 2015 | House Speaker John Boehner's resignation announcement came the same day the Pentagon prepared for a government shutdown next week, warning that troops may not get paid and civilian employees may face furloughs.

Following Boehner's stunning announcement, House Republicans said that there was now agreement on passing a short-term continuing resolution to keep funding the government past the Sept. 30 deadline. Agreement on funding had been slowed by moves in the House and Senate to defund Planned Parenthood. Several members of the House Freedom Caucus, the GOP group which had revolted against Boehner's leadership and backed cutting funds to Planned Parenthood, said they would now support a spending bill separate from any action against Planned Parenthood. "The commitment has been made that there will be no shutdown," said Rep. John Fleming, R-Louisiana, The Washington Post reported.

Before Boehner announced his resignation, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work sent a memo to all Pentagon personnel saying "all military personnel would continue in normal duty status" in the event of a shutdown. "However, they would not be paid until Congress provides funding." Work also said the department also has drawn up lists of who would continue to work and who would be furloughed among civilian personnel. "Your chain of command will begin reaching out to you to provide additional detail on our contingency plans and your status under a potential lapse" in funding, he said.

The last government shutdown for 16 days in 2013 stalled efforts by the Veterans Affairs Department to reduce the claims backlog, delayed job training for service members and hit hard on small businesses contracting with the Defense Department, the federal Office of Management and Budget reported at the time. Then-Pentagon Comptroller Bob Hale estimated the cost to the Pentagon in lost productivity during the shutdown at $600 million, and Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell put the overall cost to the federal government at "roughly $2 billion in terms of lost productivity." A report by OMB on the 16 days of furloughs and closed facilities "makes clear that the costs and impacts of the shutdown were significant and widespread, and demonstrates why this type of self-inflicted wound should not occur again," Burwell said.

Of the total of 6.6 million work days lost by federal workers through furloughs, the Defense Department accounted for about 1.6 million, OMB report said. Work and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter have already warned that a continuing resolution to avoid a shutdown would do little to ease the Department's long-range budget problems brought on by the cost-cutting sequester process. Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst at the Center for Strategic and International studies tweeted that agreement on a short-term continuing resolution was "probably not a good sign for the Fiscal Year 2016 defense budget. Odds of a full year CR just went up."

As Boehner Resigns, Pentagon Warns Troops and Employees of Shutdown | Military.com

 

[Toro]

“The resignation of John Boehner is a victory for the crazies.”

Rep. Peter King