Free Republic

In the six months that have passed since then-retiring House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cut a budget deal with President Barack Obama that suspended the legal limit on the federal debt until March 15, 2017, the federal debt has increased by more than $1 trillion. The Senate passed “The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015” with a vote held in the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 30. Obama signed it on Monday, Nov. 2. At the close business on Oct. 30, 2015, the total federal debt was $18,152,981,685,747.52. By the close of business on April...

Ted Cruz isn't going to have the last word in his feud with former House Speaker John Boehner, as the lawmaker who branded Cruz 'Lucifer in the flesh' is set to have some fun before all of political Washington at the White House Correspondents Dinner, MailOnline.com has learned. Boehner is still seething over Cruz – having branded him 'Lucifer in the Flesh' during a Stanford University speech this week. Boehner repeated his 'son of a bitch' characterization when the DailyMail spoke to him at a low-key DC waterfront watering hole just as most of DC was heading to glitzy lobbyist-subsidized...

The media is working hard to convince you that they caught Ted Cruz in a lie about working with John Boehner. But they are the ones lying, as usual. During an interview hosted by Stanford in Government (SIG) and the Stanford Speakers Bureau, former House Speaker John Boehner referred to presidential candidate Ted Cruz as “Lucifer in the flesh.” He continued, “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.” But Boehner did not “work” with Ted Cruz. Boehner only...

Ted Cruz's claim on Thursday that he never knew or worked with John Boehner has been called into question following the revelation that the Texas senator once served as the former House speaker's lawyer.

Thursday on Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show,” Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Judith Miller said Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is so disliked in the Senate,” because “he was not a man of his word,” and would “stab you in the back.” Miller said, “Cruz was so disliked in the Senate, and Boehner was a charter member of that club. So, you could just see the politicians hated Cruz for reasons, by the way, that still have yet to be fully reported.”

Cruz also told reporters gathered in Fort Wayne, Indiana that he’d only met Boehner “two or three times.” Which, in terms of actual numbers, may or may not be true, but the depth of these meetings was far greater than Cruz’s statements suggested. That’s because he worked as Boehner’s attorney during the Ohio representative’s federal lawsuit against Washington representative Jim McDermott in 1998.

We are re-upping this post from early 2014 in light of Boehner labeling Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh" and saying, "I've never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life." Here's where their work together began, two decades ago. For what it's worth, Cruz downplayed their relationship Thursday in his comments responding to Boehner. "I've met John Boehner two or three times in my life," he assured. As we show below, that's not entirely accurate.

EXCERPTS "When John Boehner calls me 'Lucifer,' he's not directing that at me," the GOP presidential candidate and Florida senator said in a Fort Wayne, Indiana press conference Thursday morning. "He's directing that at you. What Boehner is angry with me for is not something I've ever said to him. What Boehner is angry with me for is standing with the American people and energizing and encouraging House conservatives to stand with the American people and actually honor the commitments we've made." (snip) "If I said 50 words in my life to John Boehner, I'd be surprised," said Cruz, nothing...

When specifically asked his opinions on Ted Cruz, Boehner made a face, drawing laughter from the crowd. “Lucifer in the flesh,” the former speaker said. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”

John Boehner sounded off a litany of insults for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz Wednesday night, labelling the Texas senator "Lucifer in the flesh" and a "miserable son of a bitch." "I have Democrat friends and Republican friends," the former House speaker said during a frank on-stage discussion at Stanford University Wednesday. "I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life." Boehner, who retired from Congress at the end of October, also let loose on the two other GOP candidates in the race. Of his relationship with...

INDIANAPOLIS – Two Republican contenders for the state's open U.S. Senate seat are getting a new appreciation for all of Indiana's 36,418 square miles. Leading to next week's primary, airwaves are filling with messages to bolster the campaigns of Todd Young and Marlin Stutzman in their increasingly bitter fight to face Democratic contender Baron Hill in the fall. The candidates, themselves, are crisscrossing the long state and logging countless hours on two-lane highways, in between appearances in coffee shops in small cities and local Lincoln Day dinners in rural counties. Each man – both were elected to Congress in 2010...

Paul Ryan wants everyone to know he's no John Boehner. "I think I do it better," the House speaker told CNN during an interview this week, adding that his leadership style is different than his predecessor, whose resignation last year shocked Washington. "Not to knock John, but I spend more time with all of our members on a continual basis." Ryan, the GOP's vice presidential nominee in 2012, has won over conservatives by trying to showcase a more inclusive leadership style than Boehner. But he's still beset by the same internal divisions that led to Boehner's ouster -- as his...

We get it. John Boehner doesn’t like Ted Cruz. In a witless cheap shot, Boehner called him “Lucifer in the flesh” at an event at Stanford University. Boehner’s attitude is widespread among Republican insiders who are foolishly allowing personal ill will to cloud their reasoned judgment about who, among the candidates left in the GOP race, is the best representative of conservative principles and policies, and about who would be the best candidate in the upcoming general election. On both counts, Cruz is the obvious choice. Ted Cruz is a constitutional conservative dedicated to reducing the outsized federal government to...

On Wednesday night, former House Speaker John Boehner bluntly called GOP candidate Ted Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh.” When asked for his opinion about the Texas senator, Boehner said, “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.” It turns out that the Satanic Temple agrees with Boehner’s sentiments — but they said there’s no way Cruz is the living incarnate of Satan. When asked by the Friendly Atheist, Satanic Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves bashed Cruz.

Former House Speaker John Boehner ripped into Sen. Ted Cruz in a memorable fashion during a Wednesday appearance, prompting Cruz to say he "doesn't know" Boehner. "I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life," Boehner said, dubbing Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh." But a closer look at their history reveals the two weren't always enemies. In fact, long before Boehner saw Cruz as Lucifer, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate was actually his lawyer.

BOEHNER LIKES TRUMP, SAVAGES CRUZ The Republican establishment is getting jiggy with the idea of nominating Donald Trump. How jiggy? Former House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday told a crowd at Stanford University that he was “texting buddies” with the celebrity businessman and would have no trouble voting for him in the fall. According to the school’s student newspaper, Boehner “accepted Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee,” though he declined to endorse Trump’s specific policies. As for the remaining obstacle to Trump’s takeover of the GOP, Boehner sounded rather Trump-like himself. “Lucifer in the flesh,” the former speaker said of...

2016 Presidential election Much of the discussion – and laughs – focused on Boehner’s views on the current presidential candidates. Segueing into the topic, Kennedy asked Boehner to be frank given that the event was not being broadcasted, and the former Speaker responded in kind. When specifically asked his opinions on Ted Cruz, Boehner made a face, drawing laughter from the crowd. “Lucifer in the flesh,” the former speaker said. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.” Boehner...

Warren Davidson, a businessman and former Army Ranger, won a 15-way Republican primary Tuesday in the special election for Ohio’s 8th Congressional District. The tea party candidate rather easily bested more moderate candidates, including two state lawmakers, in a campaign that quickly became ground zero for the party’s ongoing identity struggle in the House that Boehner used to run. The winner of a June special election will serve out the rest of 2016 in Boehner’s seat, and in such a deep red congressional district, that winner is likely to be Davidson.

Former House Speaker John A. Boehner said current Speaker Paul D. Ryan should be the Republican nominee for president if the party fails to chose a candidate on the first ballot at its national convention this summer in Cleveland. SNIP Mr. Boehner, who stepped down from the speakership last fall, has long whispered to friends that he thinks Mr. Ryan could be the savior of the Republican Party. He told the crowd Wednesday that “anybody can be nominated” at the Republican National Convention. SNIP During the same question-and-answer session in Florida, Mr. Boehner referred to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former House Speaker John Boehner says he'd support his successor, Wisconsin's Paul Ryan for president if Republicans cannot nominate any candidate at their national convention this summer. Boehner, who has endorsed John Kasich, tells the Futures Industry Association that if Republicans can't agree on the first ballot to nominate Donald Trump, Kasich or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, he's "for none of the above."(continued)