John Boehner

The 112th Congress The Worst In Bill Passage Since World War II!

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The 104th Congress of 1995-1996 under Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole had the worst performance of any Congress in fifty years, when it passed only 333 bills into law.

But now the 112th Congress has surpassed the 104th Congress in mediocrity, as under Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, ONLY 219 bills have been passed, and this coming after the 111th Congress (2009-2010) was the most productive since the 89th Congress (1965-1966) under President Lyndon B. Johnson!

The common thread of the 112th and the 104th Congresses is that in both cases, the House of Representatives was under Republican control, and with Republican control also in the US Senate for the 104th Congress. Split party control in the past two years between Democrats and Republicans turned out worse than the Republican control of both houses in 1995-1996!

The Growing Role Of Vice President Joe Biden

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Any thought that Vice President Joe Biden, who was a major factor in the successes of the first Obama term and in his reelection efforts, might start to “disappear” after the election is effectively dormant!

Biden has been asked by President Barack Obama to head a team to come up with some kind of plan for gun regulation, which does not take away the Second Amendment, but shows a level of responsibility to protect the American people from gun maniacs, who are now able to buy large magazines of bullets and assault rifles without any regulation. If anything, the killing of volunteer firefighters outside Rochester, New York, by a crazed murderer, only adds to the tragedy of what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, and earlier this year in Colorado and too many other places, the mass death or wounding of innocent people!

But also, Biden is working behind the scenes to try to come up with a deal to avoid the “Fiscal Cliff”, and he is highly respected by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and more importantly, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.

There is no guarantee that Biden will have a magic potion on the issue of gun control or the “Fiscal Cliff”. But the point is that he is in the game, always willing and able to help the President and the nation, and this cannot but help his potential, and likely, candidacy for the Presidency in 2016.

Biden is a man of energy, who acts much younger than his age of 70, and should not be dismissed as the heir to Barack Obama in 2016!

Speaker John Boehner And The Uncontrollable Republican Majority

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It is absolutely amazing how Speaker of the House John Boehner has been totally emasculated by the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives, and seems unable to strike a deal with President Barack Obama on avoiding the so called “Fiscal Cliff”.

The only good thing out of this is that the Republican Party, already way down in the polls, and seen as an extremist, uncompromising group, will suffer further from the lack of an agreement, and the Democrats will have the edge on the issue of spending and taxation when the new year begins, and after a short period of uncertainty, the tax cuts for 98 percent of the American people will be restored, while the tax increases for the top two percent will continue, and maybe go back to the $250,000 range, rather than the deal Obama was striking to make it $400,000.

The Republicans, with a reduced majority and fewer Tea Party members in January, will face the music that they have self destructed, and it is time to consider that we may be witnessing the death of the Republican Party as we once knew it, and that a new moderate, centrist party, a real competition to the Democrats, might emerge sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, the Speakership office has suffered its greatest decline since the “Revolution of 1910” against Speker Joseph Cannon, which took away a lot of power from the Speaker’s office.

Boehner will NOT go down in history as an outstanding Speaker, such as Sam Rayburn or Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, but more like Joseph Martin or Jim Wright. And even Newt Gingrich, with all his faults, will rank higher in history than John Boehner!

Rumored Deal On Raising Medicare Eligibility Age Totally Wrongheaded!

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As the “Fiscal Cliff” deadline nears, there are rumors emerging that President Barack Obama might be ready to make a deal with Speaker John Boehner and the Republican Party, that in exchange for their support on raising taxes on those making over $250,000 a year by a few points, that the Democrats agree to raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.

Some see this as similar to the “grand deal” between President Ronald Reagan and Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, adopted thirty years ago in 1983, that raised the Social Security age from 65 to 67 in graduated amounts over a long period of time.

However, that was a totally different situation, and only involved a delay in gaining full benefits on Social Security over a long period of years.

This involves a rapid move to 67, and with no benefits until that age for Medicare, while Social Security has always allowed a smaller benefit as young as 62.

Also, this is MEDICAL, not a check every month, and people in their mid 60s are more likely to have health issues, and many jobs are such that a person cannot be expected to work extra years (particularly physical kind of jobs), and will therefore have a gap of years without medical coverage, and any such coverage would be prohibitively expensive!

The answer is to tax a higher percentage amount for Medicare, as everyone should be entitled to Medicare at no later than 65!

It would be unconscionable to throw people nearing or in retirement off of guaranteed health care at a vulnerable age!

Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Tom Harkin of Iowa are leading the fight against any changes in the retirement age, and President Obama needs to have pressure brought to prevent such a radical change that would really hurt working class people, both white and minority!

Progressives and liberals need to let Obama know that they have his back, and that he must NOT bend to Republicans on this issue, and if he does, he will have lost much of his support which put him in the White House twice!

And this would anger this blogger as well! Let me make that perfectly clear!

Speaker Of The House John Boehner In Danger Of Being Unseated By Tea Party Extremists!

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Speaker of the House John Boehner is in great danger of being unseated by Tea Party extremists and radical right wing opinion journalists, with RED STATE blogger Erick Erickson leading the charge!

They are concerned that Boehner will make a deal with President Barack Obama on the controversy over the “Fiscal Cliff”, and it has been made clear that if 16 Republicans in the new House of Representatives refuse to back Boehner on January 3, that he could lose his Speakership in a right wing revolt, and likely be replaced by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

This situation has been brewing for the past two years, since Boehner has been a conservative who is seen as too much establishment oriented, and has displeased Tea Party wingnuts!

It is clear that the opening of the new Congress will not be dull in any sense!

The Tea Party Republican Influence In The US Senate Grows, Even With Jim DeMint Leaving For Heritage Foundation

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South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, the creator of the Tea Party Caucus in the US Senate, and one of the most right wing, reactionary members of the upper chamber, is resigning to head the ultra conservative Heritage Foundation for about ten times his Senate salary, and to continue to work to purge the Senate Republicans of anyone moderate, or willing to compromise with Democrats or President Barack Obama.

The members of the Senate Republican minority considered to be Tea Party oriented include:

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Senator Mike Lee of Utah
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania

Also, new Senators joining the group include:

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona
Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas

The Tea Party Senate Republicans failed to elect the following to the Senate:

2010
Christine ODonnell of Delaware
Sharron Angle of Nevada
Ken Buck Of Colorado
Joe Miller of Alaska

2012
Todd Akin of Missouri
Richard Mourdock of Indiana
Josh Mandel of Ohio

One could say, therefore, that there are now EIGHT Senators in the group, with SEVEN others being successfully defeated in the past two Senate election periods.

One more is likely to be added, when South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley appoints someone to replace DeMint, until the next Senate elections in 2014, with a tremendous edge for that individual to keep the seat.

Potential candidates for the replacement include:

Nikki Haley herself, who has national ambitions to run for President
Congressman Tim Scott, the only black Republican, and similar to Allen West in his views and attitudes
Congressman Joe Wilson, who infamously said Barack Obama was lying in his first State of the Union address

Many might say that the Tea Party is in decline, but in reality, it is far from dead, and there are still a large number of Tea Party Republicans in the House of Representatives, making life difficult for House Speaker John Boehner.

And one can be sure that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will be having more sleepless nights, more so with DeMint able to work to make the Republican Party ever more right wing in his position as the head of the Heritage Foundation!

Any thought that the Republican Party might move toward the center of the political spectrum seems highly unlikely after this event of DeMint’s move out of the Senate!

Speaker Of The House John Boehner Removes Hard Line Conservatives From House Budget Committee And House Financial Services Committee

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Speaker of the House John Boehner, faced with a Tea Party caucus that has made life miserable for him, and held the country hostage on the issue of tax increases, has summarily removed four “troublemakers” from their positions of power on the House Budget Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.

This was a courageous act on his part, but it could portend a revolt, whereby the Tea Party Caucus could refuse to vote for Boehner next month to be Speaker, as the new Congress convenes on Thursday, January 3.

The House leadership under Boehner, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor, is backing Boehner in his actions, but one has to wonder what this means in reality when that vote for Speaker arrives in a month.

It is, however, a good sign that Boehner understands that some kind of deal with the Obama Administration is necessary to avoid going off the fiscal cliff before the end of the month.

But ti also portends a difficult time for Boehner, having to deal in the future with the far right wingnuts in his party, who, as has been described by others as the inheritors of the John Birch Society of the 1960s and after, were repudiated by conservative columnist William F. Buckley, Jr., publisher of the National Review, then and still the leading conservative journal of opinion.

Where is a man of courage and principles in the conservative movement today, to repudiate today’s wingnuts, in the mode of Buckley?

The Republican Jewish Coalition, Israel, And Barack Obama: A Total Failure To Change The Jewish Vote

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The Republican Jewish Coalition made every effort to defeat President Barack Obama, but failed miserably!

In 2008, 78 percent of American Jews voted for the Democratic nominee; in 2012, after spreading lies and mistruths about Obama and Israel, the end result was that Obama received 70 percent of the vote, a total smack to the deception practiced by the RJC!

Why did 7 out 10 Jews remain loyal to Obama and the Democrats? The answer is that they knew that Obama had given more aid to Israel than any other President, including the IRON DOME missile system; that the Democrats were the party of social justice, as shown through Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare, along with civil rights legislation, environmental legislation, and stood for women’s rights; and also that the Republican Party wished to cut back on all these accomplishments, including wiping out ObamaCare.

Additionally, many American Jews do not trust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and it is now known that even people within his own government and military feel Netanyahu is too trigger happy, wanting to start a war with Iran before diplomacy has played its course, and that Netanyahu favored the Republicans and Mitt Romney from the beginning. So the question was: Should our President have to bow to every demand and detail that Netanyahu insists upon? Is he our President, instead of Barack Obama? And is it not true that Defense Minister Ehud Barak (former Prime Minister) and President Shimon Peres have raved about the support of Israel by our President?

Face the facts: The RJC was more concerned about preserving the wealth of Boca Raton Jewish residents and others elsewhere who are extremely wealthy, and do not wish to pay their fair share of taxes, as evidenced by the meeting in Florida of wealthy Jews where Mitt Romney said his famous “47 Percent” statement that harmed him greatly in the end result!

Also, Orthodox Jews as a group have a problem with socially tolerant views of abortion and gay rights, and are not seen as great advocates of civil rights for other minorities, other than themselves, sad to say!

And it is not just the RJC that was disgraceful!

It was also House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, the only Jewish Republican on Capitol Hill, who has made it his mission to destroy ObamaCare and privatize Medicare, and is very mean spirited in his relations with the President, and is also well known for his attempts to undermine House Speaker John Boehner, who he would love to replace!

And also, House Republican candidate Adam Hasner of Boca Raton, who lost to Lois Frankel, has the same agenda as Cantor. And Josh Mandel, the GOP nominee who lost to Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, ran a nasty, undignified campaign, and made clear that his goal was to promote the Tea Party radicalism of his party, rather than be part of the great majority who see their faith as connected to social justice!

Fortunately, both Hasner and Mandel lost handily, and it would be no loss to the nation if neither ever runs again, with their agenda to help the rich and powerful, and ignore the needs and wants of women, labor, minorities, gays, and senior citizens!

Barack Obama’s Historical Reputation Is Now Guaranteed, As Speaker John Boehner Concedes ObamaCare Is Here To Stay, And No Attempt To Repeal Will Be Made!

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Today is a momentous day, as the certainty of the survival of ObamaCare has just been declared by Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner!

After working for more than two years to repeal it, the Republicans are throwing in the towel on trying to repeal it.

The Supreme Court, with Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority with four liberals, upheld the law in June, but the GOP still pledged to kill it.

But with the victory of Barack Obama on Tuesday, and with Democrats gaining seats in the US Senate and in the House of Representatives, the battle has come to an end.

This is a major event, worth celebrating, and it insures the historical legacy of Barack Obama, who will always be remembered first for this accomplishment, just as Franklin D. Roosevelt is remembered for Social Security, and Lyndon B. Johnson for Medicare!

Final House Of Representatives Division: 227 Republicans, 208 Democrats—A 15 Seat Gain By Democrats

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This author’s prediction on the House of Representatives elections is much more difficult, since trying to follow the race in 435 Congressional districts is overwhelming.

But it seems clear that the Republican Party will keep control, as with the gain of the Governorship and state legislative control in many states in 2010, the Republicans had the edge in reapportionment of district lines in the House.

Having said that, the discontent with the Tea Party Movement control of the GOP growing, it seems likely that the Democrats will gain seats, about 15, and make the next House competition in 2014 give them the opportunity for takeover.

Needing a minimum of 25 seats this time, the Democrats will gain, maybe, 60 percent of that, with 15, putting them within reach to gain control with a 10 seat gain two years from now.

The real battle for now will be whether Speaker John Boehner stays, or Eric Cantor mounts a “coup”, and whether Nancy Pelosi remains Minority Leader, or loses it to Minority Whip Steny Hoyer!