2015 American Politics Thread: The 114th Congress Is in the House!

so was the whole shutdown thing a ploy by the right-est wing of the gop to discredit boehner all along or what this doesn't compute

wth is going on

no idea. i thought i understood the underlying dynamics of this, but apparently i have no fucking clue

lololol

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) got a standing ovation when he broke the news House Speaker John Boehner's resignation to the packed ballroom at the 2015 Values Voter Summit in Washington.

"Just a few moments ago, Speaker Boehner announced he is resigning," Rubio started, and before he could finish the sentence, the ballroom erupted.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/marco-rubio-john-boehner-values-voter-summit-comments

it's just so weird to see the cheering far-right go crazy at news of boehner's resignation (see the link alfred just posted) and then pair that with backing down on PP.

"we finally ousted the RINO who was preventing us from defunding planned parenthood! in return, we agreed to fund the government, including planned parenthood. hooray!"

i mean, that's certainly good news, but i don't understand the logic for them

no idea. i thought i understood the underlying dynamics of this, but apparently i have no fucking clue

yeah me too, this is v befuddling. It seems unlikely the freedom caucus had a clear path to votes to unseat him, so why did he resign? is he just sick of it? did the freedom caucus offer to avert the shutdown if he just resigned, so he fell on his sword? was this even about PP at all, or was it all just about how much the caucus hates Boehner?

was this even about PP at all, or was it all just about how much the caucus hates Boehner?

doesn't this kind of call into question the motives for the previous shutdowns as well? freedom caucus playing the long game

I saw it proposed on twitter that Boehner might do a bi-partisan agreement, perhaps even longterm funding, since the tea party caucus now has no leverage over him. They might want to remove that danger, by proposing clean shortterm bill. Then begin putting pressure on next speaker to do as he's told.

starting to think GOP caucus is just 100% chaotic evil

"I'll give up my job, which I'm sick of anyway, if you'll sign a clean spending bill." --maybe?
xps

currently yeah it looks like that's what happened

But what are they celebrating? The switch from Boehner to McCarthy? McCarthy is more popular with conservatives, but he's still going to have to deal with the same things that Boehner did. It's not like suddenly the far right agenda can be pushed through now that evil liberal Boehner is out of the picture.

NRO:

In the hours after Pope Francis addressed a joint meeting of Congress yesterday, Speaker Boehner told his leadership team he had a plan to defund Planned Parenthood by including money for the bill in a reconciliation bill, rather than shutting down the entire federal government. Many conservatives who felt passionately about the issue revolted and there appeared to be about 30 to 40 Republicans who were insisting they wouldn’t go along with a stopgap funding bill that didn’t defund Planned Parenthood. As CNN reported last night: “Boehner summoned to his office some of the conservatives who are threatening him. Mulvaney, Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Arizona, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wisconsin, and Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho arrived at the speaker’s office Thursday afternoon. On his way in, Mulvaney said he felt like he was being called ‘to the principal’s office.’” But none of the rebels would budge, once again threateing Boehner’s hold over the House. The pressure on Boehner was building from both sides. Senator Ted Cruz accused Boehner of “surrender.” But a letter to all House Republicans from eleven freshmen in marginal districts said their party should avoid an “unnecessary and harmful government shutdown” and support a short-term funding bill. So Boehner decided to pop the boil by resigning. “Nothing is likely to better to force members to pause and re-evaulate where the House is going and force people to come together than a dramatic shakeup,” one House Republican told me. “The venom may have been taken out of this debate and could a strategy that gets us out of the government shutdown debate.” House majority leader Kevin McCarthy is the most likely to succeed Boehner since any opponents would have little time to prepare a campaign.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner

Eric Erickson:

The truth is that conservatives alone did not have the votes to end Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) N/A%‘s tenure. Conservatives may not like it that I say this, but it is true. There were only twenty or so conservatives holding fast against Boehner, but their numbers did grow closer to thirty, which put Boehner in need of Democratic votes.

That said, Boehner was losing more than thirty votes in the end and whoever is the next Speaker should understand why.

Mathematically, there are only about 21 conservatives in the House of Representatives who are repeatedly anti-Boehner. That Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) N/A% cut bad deals with President Obama or that Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) N/A% negotiated with Mitch McConnnell or even that Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) N/A% wanted to fund Planned Parenthood really was not going to affect that.

What was affecting Boehner was an increasing unwillingness to give anyone a seat at the table he did not like. Conservatives knew they could not do business with Boehner, but it became increasingly obvious that no one else could do business with Boehner if they were not already in his club. He relied more and more on outside voices, which played to caricatures of an out of touch Speaker.

It's not like suddenly the far right agenda can be pushed through now that evil liberal Boehner is out of the picture.

no one in the House caucus can count votes, apparently

lmao erickson: "the truth is, we are not the center of the universe, but boehner failed because we are the center of the universe"

Conservatives knew they could not do business with Boehner

didn't realize that 'do what we say' = 'do business'

Is he resigning his Speakership, or from Congress?

headlines indicate he's vacating his seat

presumably to go cry in his G&T

what a weirdo http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/john-boehner-in-twilight/2015/09/25/124fc54a-6399-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html

Boehner moved a few steps over and closed his eyes for a moment, seeming to recall what it was like for him as Pope Francis entered the Capitol. His blue eyes grew moist and his voice shaky. He asked me to stand inches from him, in essence standing in for Pope Francis as he recreated the scene, perhaps hoping to savor the rush of it all again while the memory was fresh.

Sherman and I looked at each other, both a little uncomfortable. But Boehner’s unprompted interest in telling us the details about his own experience was too compelling to leave. We listened.

Faced with watching the same awful movie again, Boehner decided to offer himself as a sacrifice to conservatives who wanted him out: I will leave if you vote to keep the government open. Oklahoma Rep. Jim Bridenstine, one of the most vocal opponents of Boehner, summed it up during remarks at the Values Voters Summit in Washington on Friday.

Luke Russert ✔ @LukeRussert
Rep. Bridenstine (R-OK) at Value Voters Summit: "bad news, Leadership told us we have 2 fund PP, amnesty, Ocare Good:getting new Leadership"
10:38 AM - 25 Sep 2015

The truth was that Boehner and his allies knew that a coup attempt was brewing and that putting it down would have taken considerable effort and was not a sure thing. North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows (R) had put in a legislative measure to vacate the chair of the speaker over the summer, and insurrection was in the air.

Boehner, having achieved a life goal of bringing a pope to Capitol Hill, quite clearly saw two paths for his future. The first was to continue banging his head against the wall built against his priorities by the tea party wing of the party. The second was offering his resignation up as a way to try to move the party forward -- in the near term and the long term.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/25/john-boehner-just-sacrificed-his-career-for-the-good-of-the-republican-party/

“So. So, the pope puts his arm around my left arm,” Boehner said as he pulls my arm up to his shoulder. Boehner was now fully committed to acting it out. “Hold on, hold on,” he said as I pulled my arm away. “Let me finish. The pope says to me, ‘Please pray for me.’”

“Please pray for me,” Boehner said as he dipped his head. “He said, ‘Please pray for me.’”

Boehner stood there for another 10 seconds, not saying a word, his hands at his sides, and then turned sharply toward his security detail, the now open doors and a shimmering sunset on Capitol Hill.

As Boehner stepped away, Sherman and I jolted back. I asked if he had anything left to accomplish as speaker, that maybe the pope’s visit was it for him. He narrowed his eyes and issued a gruff but coy, “No.” I wasn’t sure if he meant it as a brush off of the question or an answer to it. Sherman asked if he was resigning. Boehner laughed as he ducked into the back seat, and he was gone.

bizarre. something kind of Nixonian about his pathos.

Never knew Costa could be quite this snarky:

“The pope, he comes up the steps right there. He comes right here,” Boehner said, pointing down at my feet. “Right here? I asked. “Right here!” Boehner said, smiling. “Right here. When he gets here, there are all of these kids he is going to bless. And you know how I get.”

“You start crying?” I asked.

worst slashfic ever
xp

this whole thing is so utterly stupid I cant wrap my head around it..

I really don't think this is particularly confusing, and I would chalk it up as a pretty big win for the conservative branch of the GOP, at least for the short term. Boehner resigned in exchange for a clean budget and no shutdown. I know that it seems like the conservatives were really eager for a shutdown, but even they know that it would be a disaster, making the GOP look bad while not achieving any of their goals regarding Planned Parenthood. Now they have Boehner's head as a trophy and the cover they need to walk away from the brink without losing face. Of course, they may find themselves back in the same position before long once they realize that they still can't pass their extreme agenda even without Boehner standing in the way.

they're going to be right back at square one as soon as the next hot-button right wing extremist cause comes to the fore, and the next speaker's going to have the same exact problem as Boehner. Pretending like Boehner was the problem - and not the basic math - is idiotic, but hey these people are idiots.

Now they have Boehner's head as a trophy and the cover they need to walk away from the brink without losing face.

going back to my fake quote earlier:

"we finally ousted the RINO who was preventing us from defunding planned parenthood! in return, we agreed to fund the government, including planned parenthood. hooray!"

i still don't understand why the 20-30 freedom caucusers would feel free to vote to fund PP at this particular moment, as all the diehard conservatives are slapping each other on the back. wouldn't they be falling on the sword as well, to do that at this point?

They think they'll have a clearer path forward to defunding PP, and a lot more ultracon objectives on top of that, with a Speaker they can push around and take lunch money from.

exactly, plus they can show their constituents that they stood up to the hated speaker

i.e., they're showing an alarming ability to think in the longer term and use basic tools like the thighbone of a wild pig. sxp

lol

man, politics got especially italianate today, thanks pope

Pierce:

​Way I figure it is this. In their private chat yesterday, Boehner explained to the pope the problems he was having with the flying monkey caucus, and Papa Francesco who, after all, heads a bureaucracy with a long history as a seething cauldron of ambition, scandal, murder and betrayal, as well as a unique tradition of crazy institutional proceedings (See: Cadaver Synod), listened to Boehner's plight and said, mildly, "Jesus H. Christ in a Fiat, my son, these people crazy. Get out while you can." That's the way I'm going to figure it, anyway.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a38246/john-boehner-the-inmates-running-asylum/

yeah I dont know when the GOP decided to switch to the parliamentary form of governance but it seems to be what were working with now

xp

Now's Boehner's chance to throw his hat into the GOP presidency ring. He could run as a moderate. I mean, who knows that else the Pope told him?

Pareene: http://gawker.com/dont-cry-for-john-boehner-1733048706

Because he was dealing with a Congressional caucus increasingly made up of ideologues and idiots, and because he was occasionally forced to betray conservatives in order to stave off catastrophes, moderate pundits occasionally speak, with some fondness, about John Boehner as man who tried his best to keep his unruly conservative colleagues from doing too much damage.

There is no particular reason to feel any sympathy for the man.

John Boehner was and is an unprincipled ward-heeler who simply couldn’t weather the transition of the Republican Party from a corporatist party with a sizable conservative base to a purely conservative party. Boehner came to power when the priorities of the House Republican caucus were driven by what was effectively straight-up bribery, and his power came from his close ties to industry lobbies. This is the guy, as we all ought to be regularly reminded, who passed out checks from tobacco companies on the floor of the House.

Boehner’s problems as speaker stemmed from the fact that the conservative base that the Republican donor class exploited for a generation is now effectively in complete control of the party. Ironically, that control was solidified by the same event, the 2010 midterm election, that put Boehner into the speaker’s chair.

god the last thing we need is another point of evidence for the right wing that they can frustrate and harass their way to victory

They can in the ruthlessly gerrymandered House. Harder in the Senate, and very hard in a national election. My guess is it's 2030 before demographic shifts really put the House in play again, so we've got a long ride here.

The question is, how much more can an even more conservative leadership hamper legislation? Can only imagine how horrific it will be to watch the Tea Partiers face off against Clinton.

nice start to the press conference, really

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11D6AVD3gAI

I've mentioned this story. In 2008 my political reporter friend, in DC for color, hung out on Election Day at the National Democratic Club. An hour after Barack Hussein Obama had been declared the winner. In walks Boehner, not sober. "You guys ran a helluva campaign. My hats off to ya," he said at the bar. Whereupon he bought everyone at the club a drink. My friend said Boehner might've had at least 65 packs of Marlboros on his perosn.

boehner bowing out . . . after the pope comes to town . . . following scott walker's lead . . . taking aim at the false profit, the jackass ted cruz . . . to help further narrow the field? and what's the tears?

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/outgoing-boehner-rails-against-republican-false-prophets-on-face-the-nation/

So they will get a temporary spending bill through apparently, and then likely the new House leader may shut down the government December 11th, when the temporary one runs out. Always the same kind of fun here in DC

ShutDownMas! Wheee!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_09/the_can_kicked_down_the_road_a057822.php

Elizabeth Warren:

I have often spoken about how America built a great middle class. Coming out of the Great Depression, from the 1930s to the late 1970s, as GDP went up, wages went up for most Americans. But there's a dark underbelly to that story. While median family income in America was growing - for both white and African-American families - African-American incomes were only a fraction of white incomes. In the mid-1950s, the median income for African-American families was just a little more than half the income of white families. And the problem went beyond just income. Look at housing: For most middle class families in America, buying a home is the number one way to build wealth. It's a retirement plan-pay off the house and live on Social Security. An investment option-mortgage the house to start a business. It's a way to help the kids get through college, a safety net if someone gets really sick, and, if all goes well and Grandma and Grandpa can hang on to the house until they die, it's a way to give the next generation a boost-extra money to move the family up the ladder. For much of the 20th Century, that's how it worked for generation after generation of white Americans - but not black Americans. Entire legal structures were created to prevent African Americans from building economic security through home ownership. Legally-enforced segregation. Restrictive deeds. Redlining. Land contracts. Coming out of the Great Depression, America built a middle class, but systematic discrimination kept most African-American families from being part of it. State-sanctioned discrimination wasn't limited to homeownership. The government enforced discrimination in public accommodations, discrimination in schools, discrimination in credit-it was a long and spiteful list. Economic justice is not - and has never been - sufficient to ensure racial justice.