There seems to be a bit of a shooting war, of sorts, that’s currently underway with the conservative activist group FreedomWorks now returning fire at House Speaker John Boehner, who said on Thursday that conservative groups have "lost all credibility" by they’re choosing to attack the budget deal that was reached by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). According to Boehner, "This budget agreement takes giant steps in the right direction." He added, "But when groups come out and criticize something they've never seen, you begin to wonder just how credible those actions are." Now if I was Boehner I wouldn’t be to quick to call into question someone else’s credibility.
As most should now be aware, Boehner, first on Wednesday and then again on Thursday, chose to assail those conservative groups who chose to openly oppose the latest budget deal, accusing them of having crossed some line and losing their credibility. "This budget agreement takes giant steps in the right direction," Boehner said. "But when groups come out and criticize something they've never seen, you begin to wonder just how credible those actions are." Adding, "Yesterday when the criticism was coming, frankly I thought it was my job and my obligation to stand up for conservatives here in the Congress who want more deficit reduction, stand up for the work that Chairman Ryan did."
Meanwhile, FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe said in a statement, "Speaker Boehner may not care about what fiscally conservative groups do, but grassroots Americans still care about what he’s doing in Washington." Mr. Kibbe went on to say, "When it comes to ‘credibility,’ actions speak louder than words. And right now, it looks like the Speaker is leading the charge for spending increases and recruiting Democrat votes in the House to help get it done." Which, personally, I think it is a pretty accurate assessment regarding what it is that we are seeing take place in the House. And I’ll be honest with you, from my standpoint it’s Boehner who’s currently suffering from a credibility problem.
In the past Boehner has always been hesitant to criticize conservative groups, such as Heritage Action and Club for Growth. Some of these groups have had a considerable influence on the Tea Party faction among House Republicans. Asked if he was officially saying "no" to the Tea Party, Boehner emphasized the deficit reduction achieved under the budget deal and said there was no reason to oppose it. "I came here to cut the size of government," he said. "That's exactly what this bill does, and why conservatives wouldn't vote for this or criticize the bill is beyond any recognition I could come up with." Boehner is being more than a bit disingenuous, even dishonest, in claiming to be a cutter of government.
In his choosing to sound off against Club For Growth, Heritage Action, FreedomWorks and Americans For Prosperity, Boehner said, "Frankly I think they're misleading their followers." Boehner also took the opportunity to defend his own ‘commitment’, or lack thereof, to conservative principles, which has repeatedly come under fire, especially when he has attempted to negotiate with Barry and congressional Democrats. He said, "I say what I mean and I mean what I say." Adding, "I'm as conservative as anybody around this place." But it’s important that we keep in mind here that under Boehner’s tenure as speaker, the national debt has now increased over $3 Trillion in less than 3 years.
And what should cause some additional angst is the fact that Boehner had ‘Dingy Harry’ Reid rushing to his defense. ‘Dingy’, who roughly a year ago was accusing Boehner of being a dictator, has praised Boehner for choosing to stand up to those evil conservative groups attacking the budget deal. At a press conference on Thursday ‘Dingy’ said, "I think it was a breath of fresh air as far as I'm concerned." And in referencing those outside groups, ‘Dingy Harry’ went on to ask, "Why are they doing this?" He added in what I’m thinking was an attempt to defend his own actions, "What is this supposed to accomplish? It is showing the American people why the [Senate] rules had to be changed."
To say the Boehner has been a disappointment, I suppose, will be seen by a majority of folks as being a bit of an understatement. Those of us, back in 2010, who had high hopes that were bringing some semblance of fiscal sanity to our nation’s capital have seen those hopes dashed, repeatedly. Our leaders in both Houses of Congress have demonstrated time and again that our priorities are NOT their priorities. And now when there exists a real opportunity for us to not only keep control of the House but to gain a majority in the Senate, what do we see our leadership doing? Trying their damnedest to be just like the Democrats. And I just don’t see how such a tactic will get us to where it is we need to be.
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