Somehow when we, the American people, decided to take it upon ourselves to hand control of the House over to the Republicans, thus allowing allow John Boehner to become Speaker of the House on Jan. 5, 2011, I don’t think what we had in mind at the time was to have the debt of the federal government explode by $3 Trillion, or to be exact, $3,064,063,380,067.72. That, my friends, is more than the total federal debt accumulated in the first 200 years of the U.S. Congress, during the terms of the first 48 speakers of the House. So, in that regard, I’d say that old John has really outdone himself. Wouldn’t you?
That grand total breaks down to nearly $27,000, or $26,722, for each of the 114,663,000 households that the Census Bureau now estimates are in these United States. So what could have been purchased with that $27,000 in additional debt that each and every household, though no fault of their own, has now accumulated under Speaker Boehner. Well, that $26,722 would be more than enough to buy every household in America a minivan, considering that the manufacturers’ suggested retail price for a Toyota Sienna, according to autos.aol.com, is $26,585. (Some other models of minivans are significantly less expensive than that.)
Or, if minivan is not to your liking, or you happen to be more of a truck guy, that same amount also would have been enough to buy every household in America a pickup truck, considering that, according to autos.aol.com, a Ford F-150 carries a manufacturers’ suggested retail price of $24,070. The $26,722 the federal government has borrowed in the name of every single household in America since Boehner became House speaker would have been also enough to pay for three years of in-state tuition at your typical state college (minus room and board), which the College Board says now costs $8,655 per year (or $25,965 for three years).
But, instead of getting a shiny new minivan or a new pickup truck or getting three years of tuition at a state college, what exactly have Americans gotten in return for the $3,064,063,380,067.72 in new debt that the federal government has now accumulated since Boehner became Speaker? Well, what they actually got was an even bigger federal total debt that their children and even their grandchildren will be required to pay interest on, whether those children and grandchildren ever own a minivan, or a pickup truck, or even get the opportunity to attend college. All thanks to John Boehner
Based on what turned out to be quite a number of empty promises, the Republicans were provided with a pretty significant majority in the House of Representatives in the November 2010 elections. And on Jan. 5, 2011, that new Republican majority chose to elect Boehner as speaker. And at the close of business that day, the federal government's debt stood at $14,011,526,727,895.85. On Oct. 17, 2013, the most recent day reported by the Treasury, the federal debt was $17,075,590,107,963.57. That means that since Boehner became speaker, the federal debt has increased $3,064,063,380,067.72.
The Constitution of the United States, which seems to be getting pretty much ignored in this age of Barry, gives Congress the power to authorize spending and borrowing by the federal government. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 says: "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." Article 1, Section 8, Clause 2 says: "Congress shall have power ... To borrow Money on the credit of the United States." So unless the House, which Boehner leads, votes to give the Executive the authority to spend and borrow money, the Executive cannot spend and borrow. Which should be the end of the story.
Thus, all spending and borrowing by the federal government are the de facto responsibility of the House of Representatives that John Boehner leads. On March 1, 2011, the Republican-controlled House passed the first continuing resolution spending deal that Boehner ‘negotiated’ with Barry "Almighty". The $3,064,063,380,067.72 in new federal debt accumulated in less than three years under Speaker Boehner is more than the total federal debt accumulated from Rep. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, elected speaker on April 1, 1789, to Rep. Jim Wright of Texas, who resigned as speaker on June 6, 1989.
So what are we, the American people, willing to do about it? And I would recommend that we decide to tread carefully here, my friends, there’s no need to go off halfcocked or to bite our nose just to spite our face. But it has now become very obvious that something of a more drastic nature does need to be done. Especially now with the potential for ‘comprehensive’ immigration reform looming just over the horizon, that need for some sort of action has become all the more urgent. A plan of action needs to be devised, a plan, I dare say, that must not include any effort to encourage the forming of a third party. That would be self-defeating.
Instead, I think we can start by simply ignoring the many voices of those who comprise that crowd described as being the ‘Republican Establishment." Also we need to be far more discriminating when it comes to deciding whom we are willing to donate our hard-earned money to. On a more personal note, I stopped giving any money to the RNC, the NRCC and the NRSC sometime ago, because they simply insist upon choosing the wrong candidates to endorse. And let’s not forget that while 2014 doesn’t sound all that far off, it’s more than enough time for those presently in charge to do some pretty significant damage.
So there is literally no time to waste. I think that with this most recent capitulation by the Republicans, Barry may now sense weakness on the part of Boehner. And in sensing such weakness, I’m sure Barry is also now of the opinion that there may be no time like the present to start pushing for immigration reform that would be prove to be the most advantageous for the Democrats. Frankly, I find myself agreeing with Barry, which is a little scary, in that I just don’t see Boehner as possessing the necessary spine to prevent such reform from becoming a reality. And if he is unable to do, then he must be replaced by someone who can.
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