Posted on 01/02/2013 1:50:21 PM PST by SeekAndFind
There's just one hitch. It's a terrible, thankless job and no one else wants it.
American Majority Action spokesman Ron Meyer told Breitbart News late Tuesday that enough House Republicans have banded together in an effort to unseat House Speaker John Boehner from his position -- they just need a leader to take up the mantle.
“At least 20 House Republican members have gotten together, discussed this and want to unseat Speaker Boehner --- and are willing to do what it takes to do it,” Meyer said. “That’s more than enough to get the job done, but the one problem these guys face is they need a leader to coalesce behind.”
There's no Speaker until someone has a majority of votes from the entire House, so if 17 Republicans flatly refuse to vote for Boehner then he’ll be effectively blocked — unless a few Democrats decide to cross the aisle to get to 218. Could that happen? Dave Weigel says nope but I’m not sure. There’s no conceivable way that a Democrat gets elected tomorrow, so if you’re a tea-party-hating liberal backbencher, why not use your vote to spite conservatives instead? The Dems could sit back and let the drama play out for a few rounds: On the first ballot Boehner gets a heavy plurality of the GOP caucus but is blocked from a majority, on the second ballot a conservative challenger (Cantor or Jordan) pulls even but Boehner loyalists refuse to back down, on the third ballot a compromise candidate (Ryan?) enters the fray and the vote splits three ways. Then Democrats could swoop in and humiliate their enemies by voting en masse for Boehner. Not only would it deepen the fracture in the Republican caucus that Obama’s worked so hard to cause — imagine a GOP majority having to serve under a Speaker whom they knew was elected by the other side — but Democrats could spin it as a show of bipartisanship for the media. Depending upon how badly Boehner wants to keep the job, they might even be able to extract some concessions from him. Imagine this guy having to negotiate with Obama on the debt ceiling and the sequester knowing that he’s in that position chiefly because of Democratic support. Just one problem with this goofy yet fun hypothetical: Would Boehner or any other Republican agree to be Speaker without the backing of a majority of his own caucus? The job would be even more terrible and thankless than it is now. You’d need a truly self-aggrandizing, quasi-independent RINO to accept an arrangement like that. Hmmmmmm.
Ah well. A member of Boehner’s team tells NRO they’re in touch with caucus members and not worried about the vote. Read Joel Pollak’s piece at Breitbart last week to see why. When push comes to shove, there’s no reason to think anyone else would do a better job of uniting moderates and tea partiers or getting Obama to agree to serious deficit reduction except maybe Paul Ryan, and he’s the last person who wants Boehner’s job now.
Update: Don’t wander away from your computer tonight:
GOP caucusing from 5-7 pm tonight. Topic: Future of House GOP leadership. Hear Boehner may resign there.
— Matthew Boyle (@mboyle1) January 2, 2013
Incoming GOP Rep. Steve Stockman said today that he’ll vote against Boehner tomorrow. That’s one. Are 16 more out there?
Update: Or not:
Boehner is not resigning tonight. His office says its made up.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 2, 2013
Or a republican either obviously.
It looks like the only internecine battles we can expect this year among Republicans will be between John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to see who can cave in first to Obama’s policies.
Many dictatorships have legislatures that exist simply for show, and now America will have one, too, if the Republicans in Congress are unable to choose House and Senate leaders who will oppose Obama rather than rubber stamp his policies in the manner of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell.
Let’s hope there are at least SOME Republican Congressman who will speak out publicly against the Obama/Boehner policies rather than submit to serving as mere extras in the new government of Obama, by Obama, and for Obama.
Not quite. Imagine Boehner having to lead a Republican caucus knowing HE was elected by the other side.
I got it, and thank you very, very much. I didn’t sign-in until last night. I’ve been sick with a nagging cold. A much belated Merry Christmas to you and yours!
That suggest something like forty testicles and I don’t think the republicans in congress could come up with that many.
She could do as good a job.
Maybe better.
Gingrich!
Only one question is relevant the next 2 months.
Is Boehner willing to cause a US Government default?
If the answer is no, how can he negotiate debt ceiling issues?
Is there anyone for whom the answer would be yes? If you cause a default . . . what happens, and don’t limit yourself only to the good things.
However, there is no time in US History of which I am aware, in which any state, or even colonial legislature for that matter, elected a non-member of their chamber to be their Speaker. So until it actually happens, it is only a theoretical possibility.
However, I would point out that if the House were able to elect a non-Representative to be their Speaker, then the Speaker would not have a vote in the Chamber since only elected Representatives are constitutionally allowed to be members of the Chamber as indicated by Art. I Sec.2 Par. 1 and 2 of the US Constitution which reads:
"The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
The problem with Boehner is he let Obama totally control the narrative. He’s also an ass who should have been talking to Obama regularly instead of letting this thing go OT and then he punted.
Dmbfk
That is exactly the type of man we need.
He got Clinton to dance and even let him take credit for it and no one cared.
The result was all that mattered and Newt was a bigger man for letting Clinton take credit for The Contract with America because it was the right thing for The country.
Boehner is just looking for someone to mount him while he puts his lipstick on.
I am sorry that you have been under the weather... my prayers for a speedy recovery! I am fighting a cold or whatever this is... headaches, congestion, cough etc... but I am winning!
LLS
The speaker of the house does not have to be a member of that body.
Is Boehner willing to cause a US Government default?
Shutting down the government does not translate to a default.
If, for some reason, your household was unable to borrow anymore money, would you not prioritize your spending? And would not your first priority be to pay your debts, so as to avoid defaulting? And, in this event, would you not eliminate non-essential spending.
Government can do the same thing. They can lay off those "non-essential employees" who get to stay home on snow days. And they can continue to pay their creditors and commitments (like Social Security) and essential employees (like the military).
Anything short of that is either a.) incompetency or b.) dishonesty.
Exactly. The American people have never been UNDER taxed. Taxes are a problem only because they're too high, but that's for another time.
The Fiscal Cliff was about government growth and spending - period. Nothing more. Why bother with anything else until this spending problem gets corrected first? The fiscal cliff bill SPENT and TAXED - the very thing that got us into this mess in the first place!! Spending cuts didn't even hit the table!
How is changing the face of the party screwing us going to change anything?
And I guess you don't read your replies..........
It's plainly clear what could happen. But most probably won't.............Because the Pubbies have all had ballectomies....
“The job of the Speakership is not dependent on being a sitting representative. It can be from within the ranks or outside the ranks.”
No one believes that the Chief Justice of the United States can be someone other than a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and, until a few years ago (when a couple of Republicans upset at Newt Gingrich voted for retired Republicans for Speaker) no one other than a sitting Representative had even received a vote for Speaker. I think the theory of the non-member of the House serving as Speaker is an interesting exercise in constitutional analysis, as is the theory that the Governor of New York could be in the line of succession to the presidency (a governor is, after all, an “officer”), but having a non-member serve as Speaker ultimately would be a distortion of the Framers’ original intent.
Here, you might enjoy this:
(Vanity) How I Spent My Winter Vacation (classic Dave Barry article, applied to my real life)
Cheers!
Oh, I do read the replies. Post #38 above describes it best, I think.
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