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* Boehner calls some conservatives "unrealistic" * Plans to pass government funding bill with Democratic support * Says he could have survived a vote to oust himHouse Speaker John Boehner isn’t going out quietly. The outgoing and embattled speaker had choice words Sunday for his foes inside and outside of Congress and signaled that he intends to be very much in charge until he relinquishes the speaker’s gavel under pressure at the end of October. Boehner took aim at Republican rebels in the House of Representatives and unnamed conservative and tea party groups that agitated for his departure. He blasted...

House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) announcement that he is resigning from Congress effective October 30th was followed by a torrent of tears in Washington. Leading the sob fest, of course, was Boehner himself who lamented that “the blood, sweat, and tears I’ve shed for this country have gone unappreciated for too long.” As if to contradict Boehner’s lament, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) praised “Boehner’s cooperative approach to getting things done,” and expressed the hope that “a similarly motivated and compliant successor can be found.” A glum Presidential Press Secretary Josh Earnest called the resignation “a serious setback for...

The abrupt resignation of House Speaker John Boehner shows that “the crazies have taken over the party,” Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said Friday. “I think it signals the crazies have taken over the party, taken over to the party that you can remove a speaker of the House who’s second in line to be president, a constitutional officer in the middle of his term with no allegations of impropriety, a person who’s honest and doing his job. This has never happened before in our country,” King said in an interview on CNN. “He could have stayed on.” King praised Boehner,...

"Today was the right day for Speaker Boehner to announce his retirement. He is a new grandfather and nothing would surpass the Pope's address" -Newt Gingrich "Given how it ended, I am guessing Boehner wishes he had just jammed immigration through, would have fundamentally changed his legacy" -Dan Pfeiffer "If Boehner wasn't conservative enough for the Republican Party, they are handing the Dems a win in 2016." -Sarah Wood "I wasn't always happy with what Speaker Boehner told me, but he never, ever misled me. He never told me something that wasn't true." -Harry Reid "John Boehner talking about the...

"Boehner is despised by the younger, more conservative members of the House Republican Conference. They are repelled by his personal behavior. He is louche, alcoholic, lazy, and without any commitment to any principle. Boehner has already tried to buy the members with campaign contributions and committee assignments, which he has already promised to potentially difficult members. His hold is insecure. He is not [Newt] Gingrich, the natural leader of a 'revolution,' riding the crest into power. He is careworn and threadbare, banal and hollow, holding nobody's enduring loyalty." – Sidney Blumenthal in a private email to Hillary Clinton "We’ve never...

Non-House members have received votes for speaker, and that’s a trend that seems to be growing.Who can replace Speaker of the House John Boehner, who announced Friday he’s quitting? Almost anyone. Maybe even you. This isn’t a comment on the job Representative Boehner has or has not done in his role as leader of his legislative chamber. It’s meant to illustrate a little-known fact: Under the Constitution, the speaker does not have to be a member of the House. He or she doesn’t have to be an elected lawmaker or government official. The speaker can be an ordinary, private citizen....

House Speaker John Boehner told lawmakers Friday that he plans to resign at the end of October, in a stunning development that comes amid mounting friction with the conservative wing of the party. He plans to step down as speaker, and resign from Congress. The 13-term Ohio Republican shocked his GOP caucus early Friday morning when he informed them of his decision in a closed-door session. One lawmaker told Fox News he was "stunned," and that there was "some anger" in the room "against the people who caused this to happen." The announcement came one day after the high point...

If you're the donut man, sell donuts. And if you're the pope, preach Christ. In life, you have to know your role and remember your purpose. You have to keep your eye on the prize. Yesterday, in front of a Congress and a nation, Pope Francis forgot who he was. He came to the plate, and he didn't swing. He failed to deliver the one message his life is supposedly dedicated to delivering. With the eyes of a government and a people upon him, he squandered the opportunity of a lifetime. America needed to hear something, and he didn't say...

Not once was the name or Our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed aloud. Not even a subtle illusion. Not even a blessing. Even at St. Patrick's Church later, not even a formal blessing to Catholics. Is the Pope embarrassed to be Catholic? Is he even? Not once was the word "abortion" used. There were references to protecting "human life at every state of development." Yes, the Pope opposes abortion. But that weak statement could mean anything to anyone. To me it could mean from conception to natural death; to someone else it can mean birth until life has no dignity. It...

EDITORIAL WASHINGTON, D.C., September 24, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- In his historic address at the US Congress today Pope Francis focused on immigration, human dignity, poverty and the environment. Speaking before all senators hours before they vote on defunding Planned Parenthood, at no point did he mention abortion by name. He spoke to Congress of “money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood,” but was referring only to the sale of weapons. “In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade,” he said. Prompting palpable joy...

I don’t want to spend a great deal of time on the text of the speech. You can read it for yourself. But there are a few of points I want to highlight and ask questions about. First, I said in my post yesterday morning that the White House address was a missed opportunity to talk about abortion in a week when Congress was duking it out over defunding Planned Parenthood. People got angry with me. I said at the end of the post, “Here’s hoping that in the Congressional address tomorrow, our modern holocaust gets more than a passing...

While delivering the first address from a pontiff to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday, Pope Francis touched on topics ranging from the plight of immigrants to climate change and the death penalty. Many of his comments were lightly delivered and unlikely to elicit much controversy, though the reaction might be different if they were given by another world leader. Case in point: Toward the beginning of his address, Francis alluded to religious extremism, noting that "no religion is immune" from it. His full quote as prepared for delivery: "Our world is increasingly a place of violent conflict, hatred...

Pope Francis on Thursday gave an historic address to a joint meeting of Congress that delivered big applause lines for Democrats on issues like the need to end armed conflict, welcoming immigrants, and taking steps to stop climate change. And while Republicans have spent the week reminding people that the pope agrees with the GOP on issues like family and abortion, the pontiff only gave a few brief nods to those issues, and in far less specific terms. For example, he stressed that the "Golden Rule" reminds people of their "responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage...

Believe it or not, the one line he devoted to abortion was one line more than he devoted to the subject of Jesus, who wasn’t mentioned at all in this morning’s speech according to the transcript. Maybe that was a deliberate choice made by Francis, to stick to politics and universal principles before a domestic television audience with many millions of non-Christians. (He did mention Moses.) Or maybe he just had more important things that he wanted to talk about, like the environment.This is exactly right: The Holy Father's politics, as w/his predecessors, defy easy right-left categorization. Not sure...

Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of Congress, Dear Friends, I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in "the land of the free and the home of the brave". I would like to think that the reason for this is that I too am a son of this great continent, from which we have all received so much and toward which we share a common responsibility. Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility. Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this...

Pope Francis was not afraid to critique Congress in his historic address on Capitol Hill, calling on the body to do better in several areas of political debate. In a speech of about 40 minutes made in front of a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday, the pope commended positions supported by both parties. He nodded to the plight of immigrants and refugees, also noting the sanctity of human life "at every stage of its development" and hinting that Congress should take action to address these problems. And, as he did on Wednesday from the White House, he explicitly called...

Here is the text of Pope Francis’ address to a Joint Session of the United States Congress at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. * * * Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of Congress, Dear Friends, I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. I would like to think that the reason for this is that I too am a son of this great continent, from which we have all received so much and toward which we share a common responsibility. Each...

Pope Francis delivered a stinging blow to nativist conservatives bent on keeping illegal immigrants and Middle Eastern refugees out of the United States, saying Thursday in a landmark address to Congress that Americans should show compassion to immigrants of all stripes.

September 24, 2015: Pope Francis becomes the first Pope to address a joint session of Congress.

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