John Boehner

Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King Has Gone Too Far In His Depiction Of Hispanic-Latino Immigrants!

Ronald 24 Comments

Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King is well known as one of the wackiest, craziest, and most divisive members of the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives, sharing that distinction with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert, and in the recent past, former Florida Congressman Allen West and former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh!

King has depicted Hispanic and Latino immigrants as “dogs”, “livestock”, and as “drug dealers”, and he has also called for an electrified barbed wire fence between Mexico and the United States. He is against the DREAM Act, to allow the law abiding children of immigrants who came here illegally to be able to move toward eventual citizenship, including a requirement for military service or college education!

Speaker of the House John Boehner at least had the good sense to condemn King’s remarks as hateful, and Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, said it was inexcusable rhetoric.

But that is not enough, as to spew such hatred on the floor of Congress should lead to a censure of Steve King for incendiary behavior unbecoming a member of Congress. The Republican Party needs to repudiate such language in strong terms, and work to undermine any influence this nightmare member of their caucus has!

If not, the GOP is guaranteed to lose any opportunity to gain, even in the long run, the support of a substantial percentage of those of Hispanic or Latino origin!

The Imploding Of The Republican Party, As Factions Develop Around John Boehner And Mitch McConnell!

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The nation is witnessing the implosion of the Republican Party, as their leaders in Congress, Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are being ripped apart by factional division in both houses!

When the Republican leadership in both houses of Congress is being torn apart by ideological and personal rivalries, that is a sign of the GOP falling apart, and indicates there could be an internal rebellion that forces both out of leadership roles in the present Congress, an unheard of idea historically!

In the House, the key battle has been over immigration reform, and in the Senate, it has been over filibuster reform.

In the House, the key opposition has been the Tea Party loonies, but in the Senate, it is the mainstream conservatives, who are “comparative moderates”, as somewhat rational and reasonable on the issue of avoiding changes in filibuster rules, by allowing President Obama his choice as the administrators of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Secretary of Labor. So it is John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Bob Corker, and Susan Collins who saw the virtues of some compromise arranged to avoid a permanent change in the filibuster rules.

There is no respect, no diplomacy, no tact any more in the Republican caucus in either house, and it is a danger sign that the party may be unable to overcome their internal divisions and operate as a responsible political party for the long term future!

Republicans In Congress Reach A New Low With Elimination Of Food Stamp Program In House Vote!

Ronald 6 Comments

So now the Republican Party in Congress, specifically in the US House Of Representatives, have decided that the Food Stamp Program should be eliminated. They have decided that basic needs for food and nutrition among the poor and the disadvantaged are not something government should be engaged in! They have decided that children, the elderly, veterans, the disabled should shift for themselves, if they happen to be disadvantaged! They think it is God’s will that all fetuses be born, but once here, it is not the job of government even to make sure people have adequate food and nutrition!

What could be lower than this vote, with only 12 Republicans having the decency to vote with all of the Democrats in the House of Representatives against legislation that has zero chance of being reconciled with the Senate bill in conference committee?

What kind of message do Republicans feel is being sent by their vote? Does it indicate that the party has any concern for anyone who is not wealthy and powerful? What is wrong with their heads and their hearts? How indecent can any group that calls themselves “legislators” become? The GOP should hang its head in shame, and Speaker John Boehner should denounce his own caucus and announce his resignation, as he will not be party to the total destruction of the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and Reagan!

The few moderates that remain in the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives and those reasonable, sane members of the party in the Senate, and those Republicans in the states who realize what the Tea Party lunatics have done, need to stand up now, and demonstrate their principles and renounce what has happened, and that they are ready to form a new political party based on the respectable Republican Party of the past.

This is a new civil war for the future of American democracy, against the power of the religious Right and the extremists, who hate immigrants, minorities, women, labor, and the middle class that they have helped to decimate in the name of a false patriotism!

Conservative Split On Immigration Reform: Real Victims Are The Children Of Undocumented Immigrants!

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The National Review and the Weekly Standard have come out against the Senate immigration reform bill, while The Wall Street Journal, representing the business community, has come out for it.

George W. Bush has endorsed the immigration bill, along with 14 Senate Republicans, including cosponsors John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and Jeff Flake, but the other 32 Senate Republicans and a vast majority of House Republicans, including the Tea Party extremists, have made clear their opposition.

It now seems likely that the immigration bill will never come up for a vote in the House, unless Speaker John Boehner decides to risk his Speakership, and allow a vote, whereby a minority of House Republicans join the vast majority of Democrats in passing it.

The implications for those who supported the legislation in the Republican Party will be massive, as it will harm Marco Rubio particularly, and embolden his rivals for the GOP Presidential nomination, particularly Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.

It will also leave the GOP divided on an issue that will affect the political future of the nation, and add to the political chasm that exists between the two major parties.

And meanwhile, the children of those who came illegally, the theoretical DREAM ACT kids, will be denied what other children have, an equal chance for success in America. That is the real tragedy of this situation, the future generation being pushed aside as inferior to other kids! Very sad indeed!

113th Congress To Set Record As Least Productive Since World War II!

Ronald 3 Comments

THe 113th Congress, the second consecutive Congress to be a split Congress of a Republican majority in the US House of Representatives, and a Democratic majority in the US Senate, the only two times that a split Congress has been of this such division in American history, is on its way to becoming the least productive since World War II, surpassing the dismal record of the previous 112th Congress in 2011-2012!

A reminder that the other “split” Congresses were of a Republican Senate and Democratic House, and a lot more was accomplished under that scenario in 1911-1913, 1931-1933, and 1981-1987!

But this 113th Congress is setting a record for obstructionism never seen in American history!

The GOP is preventing action on the following:

The rebuilding of America’s infrastructure, badly in need of repair.
Accessible and affordable health care for all Americans
Getting off dependence on foreign oil by having a clean energy agenda
Promotion of the protection of women’s health
Responsible gun regulations to prevent future Sandy Hooks
Immigration Reform
Air and water pollution regulations
Strengthening of voting rights and civil rights for all Americans
Wall Street and banking reforms to prevent future “crashes”
A new farm bill, including food stamp protection for the poorest among us
Student loan interest reform

Confidence in Congress is at an all time low of TEN percent! The Republicans have abused the filibuster weapon in the US Senate, and the Tea Party Movement in the House of Representatives has hijacked even the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, who is powerless in the assault on cooperation and crossing of the aisle so essential for anything to get done in Congress!

Only 15 legislative items have become law in the past six months, lower than the 23 which became law in the first six months of the 112th Congress!

Those who believe that divided and split government is good for democracy are learning the hard way that it is the prescription for statemate, gridlock, and total paralysis, and that the answer is to kick out the Republican House majority and elect a Democratic majority in both houses, ideally with a filibuster proof Senate of 60 Democrats!

Sadly, neither of these ideas are realistically tenable, so the halting of effective government is likely to continue, undermining the future of America!

14 Republican Senators And The Future Of The GOP On Immigration Reform

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A total of 14 courageous, principled Republican Senators voted for the immigration reform bill which creates a path to citizenship over 13 years; doubles the number of troops at the Mexican border; spends twice as much on border security; and builds a 700 mile fence between Mexico and the United States.

32 Republican Senators voted against the bill in the US Senate, with a final vote of 68-32, all Democrats included in the majority.

The roll of honor of GOP Senators includes:

Marco Rubio of Florida
John McCain of Arizona
Jeff Flake of Arizona
Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
John Hoeven of North Dakota
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Bob Corker of Tennessee
Susan Collins of Maine
Orrin Hatch of Utah
Dean Heller of Nevada
Mark Kirk of Illinois
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Jeff Chiesa of New Jersey

These 14 Senators realize they will have their head handed to them by the Tea Party and right wing talk show hosts, but they did the right and moral thing by supporting reform.

Sadly, the other 32 Republican Senators and the majority of the House Republicans are not going to go along, and it will be up to Speaker of the House John Boehner, whether he will sacrifice his Speakership to do the right thing, promote passage of the Senate immigration reform bill, which is very rational and reasonable, and gives the Republicans a chance to gain some Hispanic and Latino support down the road!

Without this legislation, and maybe even with it, with the attack on women’s rights and gay rights, the Republican Party long term future is doomed!

Republican Party Discipline Is Gone: Looking Back At The Days Of Speaker Newt Gingrich And Speaker Dennis Hastert!

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The Republican Party from 1995-2007 was headed by Speaker Newt Gingrich for four years and Speaker Dennis Hastert for eight years.

With all of their faults and shortcomings as Speakers of the House of Representatives, there was a sense of loyalty and obedience to the House leadership when it came to floor votes on legislation.

But that is now a dim memory, as Speaker John Boehner is unable to control his own caucus, and was embarrassed yesterday to lose on a vote on the Farm bill, due to the Tea Party radicals who are determined to wipe out the Food Stamp program completely, and have no concern if children, the elderly, and the disabled are starving!

When one listens to the debate and the lack of concern and human compassion that the Tea Party wing nuts have, one would think that Boehner should make a dramatic announcement that he is resigning as Speaker, since the job has become impossible to manage!

Boehner is being destroyed from within, including undermining by his own House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, who is the evil genius behind the Tea Party movement in the House.

Cantor is only concerned about his dream to become Speaker of the House, and is willing to ride roughshod over Boehner, as Cantor has no ethics, morals or scruples, and is a monstrous example of power grabbing gone mad!

The poor GOP performance should lead to repudiation by their constituents in 2014, but with gerrymandering and an old Confederate mentality still existing in much of the South and the border states, and anti government militia mentality in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain areas of the nation, more of this incompetence, stalemate, and gridlock are likely, whether or not John Boehner sees the handwriting on the wall, and resigns, allowing turncoat Eric Cantor to accomplish his dream of turning America backward to the years before the New Deal and Great Society!

Will Speaker Of The House John Boehner Be A “Profile In Courage” On Immigration Reform?

Ronald 11 Comments

Speaker of the House John Boehner has a job that no one in their right mind would envy–being leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, when the Tea Party Movement has taken over a good portion of the Republican caucus, and is out to destroy any possibility of any Congressional action on just about anything, unless it fits their extremist right wing philosophy!..

Boehner has been heavily criticized on all political fronts of the left and the right, of the Democrats and Republicans, for trying to maintain some semblance of order, decorum, and discipline in the House.

Boehner is not exactly a likeable character, but one can sympathize with the burden he carries, and he has shown willingness four times this year to move legislation that does NOT have a majority of his party willing to back by their votes.

Boehner has pushed legislation with a minority of Republicans and a majority of Democrats in the following circumstances:

Passage of the “fiscal cliff” legislation in January of this year.

Hurricane Sandy relief vote in January.

Extension of the Violence Against Women Act vote in February.

Federal acquisition of historic sites vote in April.

Now Boehner has the most challenging situation, whether to allow an immigration reform vote, when the majority of his House majority will be bitterly against it, while Boehner has been supportive of immigration reform in his past career as a Congressman from Cincinnati, Ohio.

California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has threatened to call for a vote to unseat Boehner as House Speaker if he calls for such a vote.

So Boehner has to decide to gamble his Speakership on this matter–choosing between his own career, and doing the right thing, something which would revive Republican fortunes with the growing Hispanic-Latino community in America, and also just doing what is fair and just for eleven million people, many born here, and others coming only for economic betterment, not to commit crimes, which only a miniscule number have engaged in over the years!

Is the Speakership that important? Does not John Boehner secretly wish he could give up the burden, which has become a nightmare with the lunatic Congressmen and some Senators of his party who have set out to destroy the historical reputation of the party of Lincoln, TR, and Ike?

The conclusion of the author is that Boehner will allow a vote, and immigration reform will pass the House, if a large majority of the Senate, including Republicans, pass a bill.

And if that happens, and even if Boehner loses his Speakership, we will be able to add Boehner to the list of people who have been a “Profile in Courage”, as John F. Kennedy termed it in his Pulitzer Prize winning book in 1956!

The Immoral, Cynical Sequester: Backing Off On Air Travel, But Not On Seniors, Children, The Sick, Unemployed!

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The $85 billion dollar sequester forced on the nation by the House Republicans has been a tragedy for the helpless, the vulnerable, but once it affects businessmen and air travelers, the Congress is quick to react, but only for that special interest group which tends to have a larger voice politically!

Yes, even this author travels, and will a number of times this summer, and was not thrilled about airline delays caused by furloughs forced on air traffic controllers.

But what about the indigent seniors who will not be fed by the Meals on Wheels program?

What about the children who are in Head Start, and will now have no summer program, and will force their mothers who have work to quit work that barely keeps the family out of poverty?

How about the sick in nursing homes who will not get government services, and will have medications and nursing care dramatically cut?

How about the unemployed, who will have a cut in coverage which allows them to keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs?

How about the victims, the people at the bottom of the social scale, who are told that life is to be protected, but only enough to be born, but not any guarantees beyond that?

And this is all so because corporations must get government welfare who should not get it, such as oil companies!

And this is so because those at the top of the economic pyramid cannot be expected to pay more, when they have had the massive tax cuts of the past decade!

And this is because the Republican Party is willing to cater to special interest groups that support their campaigns, including so called “religious” groups who are out to promote their agenda, despite the concept of separation of church and state!

Who gives a damn for the powerless, over the powerful? Certainly NOT the GOP!

And the sequester which they forced through is now being blamed on Barack Obama, rather than where it belongs–with John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and the rest of their despicable excuse for a political party!

Trying To Analyze Republican Women In House Of Representatives Who Voted NO On Violence Against Women Act Extension

Ronald 23 Comments

The Republican Party in the House of Representatives voted almost unanimously FOR the Violence Against Women Act on the last two occasions when the legislation came up for renewal, with only two and one members voting no!

This time, today, 138 voted NO, and Speaker John Boehner only accomplished its passage with two thirds of the votes being the opposition Democrats. And House Majority Leader Eric Cantor had the gall to vote NO, against his own Speaker, absolutely unbelievable!

But even more unbelievable was that many of the women in the House Republican caucus also voted NO, despite the evidence of the threats against women by men in their lives, which has now become an epidemic! And these women showed their anti immigrant, anti gay, and anti native American sympathies in their vote, as well!

What drove Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Virginia Foxx of North Carolin, the most prominent of these women, to vote NO? What was going through their heads? What makes them tick?

The three women are a total disgrace to their gender, and to the concept of social justice in the 21st century! They should be ashamed of themselves!