Representative Mark Meadows
staged a coup in Congress this Wednesday when he moved to oust Speaker of the
House John Boehner. The Speaker, confident in his popularity, refused to
allow a vote on the motion.
Rep. Meadows accused
Boehner of having “endeavored to consolidate power and centralize
decision-making, bypassing the majority of the 435 Members of Congress and the
people they represent.” Even worse, says Meadows, Boehner has caused Congress
to “atrophy,” making them “subservient” to the President and Supreme
Court.
Rep. Meadows is a member of
the Freedom Caucus, a conservative group that has clashed repeatedly this year
with the Speaker. Do his actions symbolize widespread discontent or the rash
decision of a single member of the House?
The Speaker hopes for the
latter. “This is one member,” says Boehner of Meadows. “I’ve got broad support
among my colleagues. And frankly, it isn’t even deserving of a vote.”
While the Speaker says he
isn’t worried about losing his job, the fact that he denied his fellow
Congressmen the chance to oust him makes me think he’s scared. Boehner
must know that if all 188 House Democrats voted to kick him out, it would take
only 30 Republicans for the coup to succeed. There are over 30 Republicans in
the Freedom Caucus.
The mutiny came just a day
before the House was scheduled to adjourn for summer vacation. Meadows is
frustrated by Boehner’s unwillingness to fight the liberal President on any
issue. Although listed as a Republican, John Boehner’s unwavering support
for Obama and his initiatives during the past five years shows him to be a
Liberal at heart.
The list of grievances
against the Speaker is lengthy. First of all, Boehner was the one who forced
the bill giving Obama the ability to fast-track trade legislation. When Meadows
retaliated against the idea, Boehner stripped him of his position as Chairman. Furthermore,
many Republican lawmakers are upset that Boehner skipped his opportunity to
defund Planned Parenthood and refused to eliminate funding for Obama’s
deportation amnesty bill.
“You’ve got a member here
and a member there who are off the reservation. No big deal,” says Boehner.
“There have been a
whole string of vindictive things that have come out of the speaker’s office,”
says Rep. Steve King from Iowa. “I think that there is an underestimation of
the resentment that that has created.” Fellow member of the Freedom
Caucus, Rep. Trent Franks from Arizona, says the failed coup “empowers Nancy
Pelosi to exploit the situation.”
“This is not the time to be
divisive and counterproductive to our conference,” laments Rep. Lynn
Westmoreland of Georgia. “It’s stupid.”
Congress will face a series of tough topics
when they return after summer recess including an increase in the national debt
limit, the nuclear deal with Iran, and a potential government shutdown. Will
Boehner be able to hold the House together?
Comments
We are facing a Presidential election in
November 2016. The Democrats have continued to try to destroy our economy and
our sovereignty and certainly should not be considered to retain the Whitehouse
or retake the House or Senate.
Republicans have several good candidates, but
the Republican House and Senate Leadership have done nothing to convince the
voters that they would actually take the steps needed to achieve an economic
recovery.
On the contrary, the actions of the Congress
since January 2015 have been ineffective to reduce federal spending despite the
fact that they control the budget. Congress has not reversed our dangerous immigration
policies. Congress has advanced the
treasonous, sovereignty-killing TPA and the suicidal Iran deal. Congress failed
to let bad programs sunset, like Education and Transportation and it doesn’t
appear that they will do anything effective to stop any of Obama’s destructive
initiatives for the next 18 months.
Grassroots Republicans cannot justify
Boehner’s or McConnell’s actions and are concerned that the failure of the
Congress to protect our economy and sovereignty from Obama’s assaults will
endanger Republican prospects in 2016.
We have good presidential candidates, but we will
continue to have no confidence in the RNC or the Republican Leadership unless
we see Congress cut spending, close the border, stop dangerous refugee
resettlement. stop destructive regulations and take some steps to return jobs
to the US.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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