Posted on 01/02/2013 2:25:55 PM PST by jazusamo
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is signaling that at least one thing will change about his leadership during the 113th Congress: He’s telling Republicans he is done with private, one-on-one negotiations with President Obama.
During both 2011 and 2012, the Speaker spent weeks shuttling between the Capitol and the White House for meetings with the president in the hopes of striking a grand bargain on the deficit.
Those efforts ended in failure, leaving Boehner feeling burned by Obama and, at times, isolated within his conference.
In closed-door meetings since leaving the “fiscal cliff” talks two weeks ago, lawmakers and aides say the Speaker has indicated he is abandoning that approach for good and will return fully to the normal legislative process in 2013 — seeking to pass bills through the House that can then be adopted, amended or reconciled by the Senate.
"He is recommitting himself and the House to what we've done, which is working through regular order and letting the House work its will,” an aide to the Speaker told The Hill.
The shift could have immediate ramifications as Congress heads into its next showdown over raising the debt ceiling and replacing steep automatic cuts to defense and domestic spending that are now set to take effect in March. It will also impact other presidential priorities like immigration reform and gun control.
Republican lawmakers say they expect the House majority to draft and pass its own debt-ceiling proposal, which would then add pressure on the Democratic leadership in the Senate.
For Boehner in particular, it will be easier said than done.
The Speaker is ending his first term weaker than at any point during his two years with the gavel. He was unable to win enough Republican votes for his own fiscal cliff fallback plan last month, and in the final hours of the 112th Congress, watched as more than half of his conference — including his two top lieutenants in leadership — voted against the Senate’s tax compromise. Earlier Tuesday, party leaders failed to garner enough GOP support to amend the Senate bill.
And on Wednesday, he faced withering criticism from Republican House members and Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) over his decision to scrap a vote on legislation providing relief to states damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
Republicans in both the House and Senate are determined to confront Obama over the debt ceiling, despite the president’s repeated vows not to negotiate with Congress over increasing the nation’s borrowing authority.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a statement Wednesday making it clear that Republicans view the debt ceiling increase as an “immediate opportunity” to achieve significant spending cuts.
When Obama told Boehner in November that he wanted an increase in the debt ceiling as part of the fiscal cliff package, the Speaker replied: “Things that you want in life tend to come with a cost.”
Boehner and his aides have said the Speaker remains committed to a principle he first articulated in 2011 — that any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by spending cuts and reforms that exceed the amount of new borrowing authority.
The Speaker is also expected to resist Obama’s push for another increase in taxes to offset the restoration of spending cuts from sequestration. “As far as we're concerned, the tax issue is off the table,” the Boehner aide said.
Conservatives, however, are likely to want even more.
“I’m looking for dramatic and drastic spending reductions,” Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) said Wednesday.
The influential editorial page of the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday urged Boehner to “from now on cease all backdoor negotiations and pursue regular legislative order.” Linking to the article, a top adviser to Boehner posted on Twitter: “That’s the plan.”
Another aide cautioned that Boehner is not cutting off all contact with the president. "It doesn't mean the Speaker isn't going to meet with the president or talk to the president" when appropriate, the aide said.
Duncan said he was encouraged by Boehner’s commitment in recent days to return to “regular order,” saying it was imperative that the House not simply accept bills driven by Democrats in the White House and the Senate.
“We have a Republican majority. We need to pass Republican bills out of the House,” Duncan said.
Me to John Boehner: Go F yourself.
Why would they print such a baldfaced lie?
It's been proved beyond a doubt that the Republican leadership are simply Obama's lackeys. They will do exactly as Obama orders them. It's disgusting and heart wrenching, but it can't be denied Boehner and McConnell are Obama and the Democrats tax collectors.
translation: his Speakership is in more trouble than we knew.
LLS
“Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is signaling that at least one thing will change about his leadership during the 113th Congress: He’s telling Republicans he is done with private, one-on-one negotiations”
I was not aware that these were negotiations. Apparently, neither was he.
Neither did the GOP-e, nor the Democrats.
That's how he got pushed out of Congress, with the Fraudulent vote-counting in St. Lucie County.
When the writing was on the wall, he withdrew his Complaint about the Fraud....the Courts are OWNED by the Progressives, too, and the Fight would NOT have over-turned the Fraud (it NEVER does).
This is the best laugh I've had all week.
Apparently we all missed the $2.4+ Trillion in spending cuts that Boehner got from Obama in exchange for previously raising the debt limit that amount.
Naive people have no business dealing with Democrats. Bohner I supported you for a time but your leadership has failed America. Go away.
Shut your trap boner. One on one or alone-—you’re an epic fail.
Agree.
Tomorrow I will be finding out how I change my party affiliation to Independent, as contrasted with the R-INcOmpetent.
RunGo Away!
Screw this. The congressional house controls the purse strings. Zero out funding for Secret Service protection and Air Force One.
Let Buckwheat hire gangbangers who engage their enemies holding their glocks upside down and let Buckwheat take vacation trips on North Korean ox carts.
Starve Buckwheat of cash.
And when the he11 is the house going to indict that racist, nazi pig Holder for mass murder in fast & furious?
.......came first. Boner followed like a good little puppy.
They BOTH sold out the "non-union class" (which is how Oboma came up with $250K. Below that hurts the unions, i.e., democrat campaign contributions ).
Yep, it’s a laugh that’s not the least bit funny.
I believe this deal was $1 in spending cuts for every $41 in tax increases, his debt ceiling pledge is a farce and will be very little different.
Too late!
Too late!
Like Andy Reed , he’s a good guy. But, like Andy Reed, he’s gone stale. Time for new blood....
If all he has to offer his caucus after one of the biggest routs of a
majority party in history is he is not going one on one with Zero,
he indeed is in trouble, and delusional, as well.
Between #1, #2, and #3, hard to say if ANY of them are actually qualified or capable for the office, but at least Obama has fumbled his way through so far and the country’s still here (sort of).
And they say that our system doesn’t work anymore...
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