Whatâs
Wrong Today:
Why is this man laughing?
Yesterday,
we said that it was difficult to understand precisely what John Boehner
expected to get from passing Plan B. We were focused on the wrong issue. The
right question is what does he expect to get now that Plan B wasnât passed?
It
turns out that Plan B was not brought to a vote, since John of Orange
apparently did not count noses correctly and would not have had enough votes to
pass the House.
So,
two winners emerge from this disaster: Mr. Obama, who does not have to explain
why he isnât doing more to meet Mr. Boehner in the middle; and Rep. Eric Cantor, (R-VA)
the House Majority Leader, pictured above, in a happy moment obviously
not on the floor of the House last night.
Mr.
Cantor is likely to be the next Speaker of the House, unless he is too smart to
take the job.
The
National Review reported
that House Republicans gathered in the Capitol basement for a meeting:
The
scene was hushed and confused. Instead of huddling in a windowless room,
members thought theyâd spend the evening on the House floor, voting on âPlan
B,â Speaker John Boehnerâs fiscal-cliff proposal. But as they took their seats
and looked at Boehnerâs face, the reason for the gathering became clear: The
speaker didnât have the votes. The whipping was over. âPlan Bâ was dead.
Boehnerâs
talk to the group was short: He said his plan didnât have enough support and
that the House would adjourn at least until after Christmas. But:
tone and body language that caught most Republicans off guard. The speaker
looked defeated, unhappy, and exhausted after hours of wrangling. He didnât
want to fight. There was no name-calling. As a devout Roman Catholic, Boehner
wanted to pray. âGod grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot
change,â he told the crowd, according to attendees.
Everyone appeared stunned that
Boehner didn’t have the votes and that he was just pulling the bill and sending
everyone home for the holidays. Boehnerâs allies thought: âThis is a disasterâ.
If
there were two winners, the loser is
the Country. Nothing of substance that favorably impacts the Countryâs
fiscal health will be passed as long as the Republicans are so divided amongst
themselves.
When
the sanest of the crazies (arguably, Boehner) can’t herd the cats, you know
it’s a lost cause.
Todayâs
Republican Party is a loose confederation of independent agents, many of whom
views themselves as elected to be the savior of the Real America: Governing
is not something that they seem to have any interest in understanding or in
doing.
The
Republicans either must establish discipline in the caucus (unlikely) or
abandon the Hastert Rule, under which nothing comes to the floor unless there
are enough Republican votes to pass it.
Although
they hold 234 seats and just 218 votes are required to pass legislation, there
are more than 17 Republicans who will refuse to support anything that has a
good chance of passing in the Senate, so Mr. Boehner cannot lead on any issue
that is of critical importance to our country.
Does
anyone really believe that Mr. Boehner and the next Congress will pass any of
the following?
- Meaningful
Tax Reform? - Immigration
Reform? - Restrictions
of the sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines? - Raising
the debt ceiling on a routine basis?
Is
Mr. Boehner a patriot rather than an ideologue? If he is, perhaps he can make a deal with Mr. Obama and get
40 or so other Republican patriots to join 204 (or fewer) Democrats and pass a fiscal
reform bill that ends the Fiscal Cliff issue.
Otherwise,
that giant crashing sound you will
hear in the New Year will be America’s sole superpower standing, wobbling and
then collapsing on itself.
Great
job Republicans!
I am willing to believe the Boehner would like to be a patriot, but all he is, is a salesman – and to be frank, he’s not very good.