Posted on 12/23/2011 11:59:40 AM PST by rabscuttle385
Freshman Tea Party Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) is incensed that Republicans caved in the payroll-tax debate, and is putting the blame squarely on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“I don’t think there’s a revolt with respect to Speaker Boehner,” Gowdy said Thursday night on Fox’s "Your World With Neil Cavuto." "I think the license tag of the truck that just ran over us has Kentucky license tags. For the life of me, I cannot understand when the Senate is going to find something they care enough about to stand on policy and principle.”
Last week, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to extend the payroll tax cut for two months to give Republicans and Democrats additional time to negotiate how to pay for a full-year extension, which both sides say they want. McConnell seemed to have an understanding with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that the bill would pass the House.
However, House Republicans, led by some freshman representatives who were voted into office on the strength of the Tea Party movement, revolted against the Senate-passed bill, saying the negotiation over a full-year tax cut should happen now.
But the conservative establishment, led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Wall Street Journal editorial board and former Bush adviser Karl Rove, turned strongly against House Republicans and said they were botching the politics by picking the wrong fight.
On Thursday, McConnell dropped a lifeline to Boehner, saying publicly that the House should pass the bill if Democrats agreed to name conferees to negotiate the full-year extension early next year.
The bill passed the House Friday morning by unaninimous consent.
“We can blame Speaker Boehner if we want to, but we were fighting an uphill battle,” Gowdy continued. “To have the Senate pass a two-month extension with the number of Republican votes that they got — I’ve taken naps that lasted longer than two months.”
Some have speculated that the payroll tax debate has irreparably harmed Boehner’s Speakership, and that he has lost control of his caucus to a Tea Party faction.
Gowdy did not dispute that notion, and he paused for a few seconds before answering Cavuto’s question as to whether Boehner should maintain his Speakership.
“We didn’t have a comment section to our conference call,” Gowdy said, referring to a Thursday conference call in which Boehner informed Republicans they should concede to the Senate-passed bill. “We typically do, where we can ask questions and register complaints. That wasn’t an option this afternoon. It probably means we’d still be on the phone call, if he’d opened it up to questions.”
Since they passed this by “unanimous consent”...ANY congressman or senator could have said no and forced a vote or stopped it in either body. Don’t blame anyone but your selves, you weak-kneed losers. Vote them OUT!
Treason Greetings!
Sorry for the misunderstanding...but I’m saying he did nothing to stop it when he could...the vote or unanimous consent is...by saying nothing you implicitly are supporting.
Its called consent...therefore he consented.
I’m not saying he isn’t pissed off and right on this issue. All I am saying is don’t jump up and down and try to gain favor...when he did nothing to stop it....in fact he consented.
The only thing harming Boehner's speakership is his astonishing incompetence. He's been working against the Republican side for a couple years now (though, honestly, not as hard as McConnell has). Sooner or later people are going to get tired of that.
The first time was his idiotic "Super Committee" compromise that he worked out behind closed doors with his close personal friend Harry Reid, which pulled the rug out from under Cut, Cap, and Blance.
Hey, young people, thanks for letting me spend your future now. I think I’ll go buy some cheap beer now ($40 worth)in celebration.
Fine by me! Force the vote, get everyone on the record, and if voting for McConnell's deal costs them their seat, then so be it!
Would some please explain to me why I’m supposed to support Tea Party Opposition to the two month extension, when their intent is to pass a year long extension either way? I don’t think they should pass an extension at all, but i certainly don’t think we should be expending any political capital whatseover to avoid kicking the can a few weeks on something I don’t want to happen in the first place.
This whole debate has been political idiocy from the start. Once Boehner and McConnell agreed to a 2 month deal, this round was over. If House Republicans wanted to hold the line, then Boehner should’ve told McConnell in time to hold the 2 month bill up in the senate.
We can’t claim that another innocuous kick-the-can bill is so horrible and objectionable that it’s worth waging war over and impacting taxpayers’ budgets after 40 Republican senators have already happily signed on to it. I’m with the Tea Party House members any time they have a plan, but this was nonsensical.
So what? They should have forced the vote and got EVERYONE on the record, and then let the chips fall where they may.
But the House controls the MONEY! Don't you get that?
Not to mention, the House blinked on the class warfare card...for nothing. Same thing next time. Boehner should have walked away.
Can we ever quit posting this cry baby response. Grow a pair, they control the money which is what they are all there for anyway.
Year after year after year the establishment tells us its the wrong fight. Just when is the right fight. I assume, for McCain, it was even the wrong fight running against Obama in '08 since he never even stepped in the ring.
But like the House, the establishment knows most voters will cave and hold their noses once again like every other year. I am no longer among them. If there is no suitable Conservative candidate, I will write one in.
But, here's Boehner, letting McConnell dictate what the House is going to do, and thereby handing Obama a major political victory and giving him the freedom to jet off to Hawaii now to party like there's no tomorrow.
The GOP-E needs to be scoured, and if it can't be done, then it needs to be broken up and replaced by a true Conservative Party. I'm just sick of all this fecklessness that amounts to overall GOP political strategy.
I agree and sometimes, we need to let some things go ! We got some leverage with Keystone and we should have let this go! As keystone provision was there, people in left where mad and the media was trying hard to defend it. Today, no one talks about keystone ! They talk about Obama’s middle class tax cut win and Republicans U—turn ! Narrative has been set and we better don’t repeat this in 2012 legislative session!
c. Edmund Wright graduate of the Neville Chamberlain institute for policy research.
Were the roles reversed, do you think Dems would think that way? Hardly. They would try and roadblock Pubs any way possible and Senate Dems would be lockstep with House Dems. Seriously, Pubs have no spine and I honestly think most care more for their cushy lifestyle than this country. Sick of all of em am I.
I think we need 4 more years of the Kenyan to purge the Republican Party.
No Romney.
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