It is evidently a fait accompli that he will be reelected as Speaker. There's a big piece about him today in Politico. It's an interesting and profitable read. I like that 'a profitable read'-don't know that I've ever used quite that turn of phrase before.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/john-boehner-profile-113874_Page4.html#.VKwcTyvF9O8
What you get from it is kind of what I've always sensed about him: he's a Republican and so, yes, my enemy,he has the wrong ideas but on a personal level he's not such a bad guy.
I guess you have to give it to him on cigarettes-he once handed out checks from the tobacco lobby on the House floor but at least he's no hypocrite-he's got to be the worlds greatest chain smoker.
I mean there have been many GOPers that are fun to hate on a personal level but less so him. No one really dislikes him-Nancy Pelosi says she likes and respects him on a personal level but, he is just a really weak Speakers. Everybody thinks he should grow some balls as Speaker-certainly the Obama White House has little faith in his ability to get anything done. He just has no credibility with that track record. Old friends of his like Dick Armey certainly things he needs to be a little more assertive going into this year.
“He has no more places to hide,” says former Obama White House chief of staff Bill Daley, in a comment that reflects Obama’s personal view, according to several senior administration officials. “This is a Congress that he helped build. … The ‘Oh, I can’t control my people’ routine is wearing thin.”
Part of what makes him so skittish about asserting his independence is his experience as number 4 in the Gingrich House in the 90s where he along with a small group of House GOPers-including Tom Delay and Armey-to plot a coup against Gingrich. After Gingrich left Congress in disgrace, Boehner got demoted and it took him years to work his way back up the GOP House leadership chain.
Yet, maybe he learned the lesson of not bucking or getting out in front of the caucus too well as it is this fear that is driving his decision to keep Steve Scalise on as his number 3. It's just mind boggling to me that this is who he wants the GOP to be saddled with as it's House Whip the next 2 years.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/steve-scalise-david-duke-without-baggage.html
However, if Boehner is going to stay the course here with Scalise, Dems have little reason to complain.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-ostroy/hey-gop-please-keep-steve_b_6420508.html
http://wonkette.com/571145/white-house-being-very-mean-to-that-nice-racist-steve-scalise
The Wonkette is right: Lame duck Presidents do have more fun. .
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/john-boehner-profile-113874_Page4.html#.VKwcTyvF9O8
What you get from it is kind of what I've always sensed about him: he's a Republican and so, yes, my enemy,he has the wrong ideas but on a personal level he's not such a bad guy.
I guess you have to give it to him on cigarettes-he once handed out checks from the tobacco lobby on the House floor but at least he's no hypocrite-he's got to be the worlds greatest chain smoker.
I mean there have been many GOPers that are fun to hate on a personal level but less so him. No one really dislikes him-Nancy Pelosi says she likes and respects him on a personal level but, he is just a really weak Speakers. Everybody thinks he should grow some balls as Speaker-certainly the Obama White House has little faith in his ability to get anything done. He just has no credibility with that track record. Old friends of his like Dick Armey certainly things he needs to be a little more assertive going into this year.
“He has no more places to hide,” says former Obama White House chief of staff Bill Daley, in a comment that reflects Obama’s personal view, according to several senior administration officials. “This is a Congress that he helped build. … The ‘Oh, I can’t control my people’ routine is wearing thin.”
"Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who served with Boehner in the 1990s, admires Boehner’s patience but says the time has come to risk everything to pass big bipartisan bills. “You need to say, ‘I’m the speaker, and while I am the speaker, I set the terms. If you don’t want me to be the speaker, then vote against me the next time. In the meantime, you have given me the responsibility, and I am going to make the decisions.’
"That’s not far from the answer I got from Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat who lost the speakership to Boehner in 2010—in part because she used her power to ram through controversial bills, like an ill-fated climate-change plan, that helped kill off a generation of swing-state Democrats. “I respect John as a person and like him as a friend,” she says. But “amateur hour” is her response when I ask how Boehner is currently managing the place. “The speaker of the House has awesome power, and as I said to him when [Boehner took the gavel in January 2011], when I was speaker I couldn’t always follow the wishes of my caucus. … Leadership means asserting your independence,” Pelosi adds.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/john-boehner-profile-113874_Page2.html#ixzz3O4Dt4KBR
Part of what makes him so skittish about asserting his independence is his experience as number 4 in the Gingrich House in the 90s where he along with a small group of House GOPers-including Tom Delay and Armey-to plot a coup against Gingrich. After Gingrich left Congress in disgrace, Boehner got demoted and it took him years to work his way back up the GOP House leadership chain.
Yet, maybe he learned the lesson of not bucking or getting out in front of the caucus too well as it is this fear that is driving his decision to keep Steve Scalise on as his number 3. It's just mind boggling to me that this is who he wants the GOP to be saddled with as it's House Whip the next 2 years.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/steve-scalise-david-duke-without-baggage.html
However, if Boehner is going to stay the course here with Scalise, Dems have little reason to complain.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-ostroy/hey-gop-please-keep-steve_b_6420508.html
http://wonkette.com/571145/white-house-being-very-mean-to-that-nice-racist-steve-scalise
The Wonkette is right: Lame duck Presidents do have more fun. .
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