Posted on 01/07/2015 8:11:41 AM PST by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON, D.C. Representative Mick Mulvaney released the following statement:
There was an attempt to oust John Boehner as Speaker of the House today. I didnt participate in it. That may make some people back home angry. I understand that, but Ive got some experience with coup attempts against the Speaker, and what I learned two years ago factored heavily in my decision today not to join the mutiny.
First, I learned two years ago that people lie about how they are going to vote. And you cannot go into this kind of fight with people you do not trust. We walked onto the floor two years ago with signed pledges handwritten promises from more than enough people to deny Boehner his job. But when it came time to vote, almost half of those people changed their minds including some of those who voted against Boehner today. Fool me once, shame on you Today was even worse: there were never enough votes to oust Boehner to begin with. On top of that, some people who had publicly said in the past that they wouldnt vote for Boehner did just that. This was an effort driven as much by talk radio as by a thoughtful and principled effort to make a change. It was poorly considered and poorly executed, and I learned first-hand that is no way to fight a battle. This coup today was bound to fail. And in fact, it failed worse than I expected, falling 11 votes short of deposing the Speaker. At least two years ago we only failed by six.
I also learned that the Floor of the House is the wrong place to have this battle. The hard truth is that we had an election for Speaker in November just among Republicans. THAT was the time to fight. But not a single person ran against Boehner. Not one. If they had, we couldve had a secret ballot to find out what the true level of opposition to John Boehner was. In fact, we couldve done that as late as Monday night, on a vote of no confidence in the Speaker. But that didnt happen and at least one of the supposed challengers to Boehner today didnt even go to the meeting last night. That told me a lot.
Some people wrote me encouraging me to vote for Louie Gohmert. I like Louie, but lets be clear: Louie Gohmert was is never ever going to be Speaker of the House. I respect his passion, but he isnt a credible candidate. That was proved today by the fact that he got three votes, despite all the national media attention he managed to grab. My colleague who got the most anti-Boehner votes was Daniel Webster of Florida who got 12 votes. I like Daniel. He is a nice guy, and a good thinker but his lifetime Heritage Action score is 60 percent (by comparison, mine is 91 percent). And this was supposed to be the savior of the conservative movement? Would the House really have been more conservative if he had won?
The truth is, there was no conservative who could beat John Boehner. Period. People can ignore that, or they can wish it away, but that is reality.
Some people tried to argue that voting against Boehner would give conservatives leverage, or somehow force him to lead in a more conservative fashion, even if the coup attempt failed. All I can say to that is that the exact opposite happened two years ago: conservatives were marginalized, and Boehner was even freer to work with moderates and Democrats. My guess is that the exact same thing will happen again now. And I fail to see how that helps anything that conservatives know needs to be done in Washington.
I understand peoples frustration and anger over what is happening in Washington. And I also acknowledge that John Boehner may be partly to blame. But this was a fools errand. I am all for fighting, but I am more interested in fighting and winning than I am fighting an unwinnable battle.
Finally, the most troubling accusation I have heard regarding the Boehner vote is that I have sold out my conservative principles. All I can say is this: take a look at my voting record. It is one of the most conservative in Congress. And I was joined today by the likes of Jim Jordan, Raul Labrador, Trey Gowdy, Mark Sanford, Trent Franks, Tom McClintock, Matt Salmon, Tom Price, Sam Johnson, and Jeb Hensarling. If I sold out then I did so joined by some of the most tried and tested conservative voices in Washington.
I can say with 100 percent confidence that I have done exactly what I said I would do when I came to Washington: fight to cut spending, stop bad legislation, work to repeal Obamacare, and hold the President accountable for his actions. That will never change, and neither will I.
Sorry, but folks are living in fantasy land if they think their is going to be a coup against Boehnor in the next few years.
Boehnor and the votes for him are the GOP. This is what you get.
You mean “The Weeping Cheetoh”
(HT Lazamataz)
Proud of my SC representative, Jeff Duncan. He voted the RIGHT way! Waiting to hear Gowdy’s “excuse.” He needs to explain himself. He let a lot of constituents down.
Did this coward vote against the rule for the budget bill in December?
Of course, his observations merely add weight to my editorial position this written this morning: Men, Made of Sterner Stuff
The rest of the SC Rep whimps are on there too, even Trey Gowdy.
Hooray for Jeff Duncan, the only Rep with cojones.
South Carolina Ping
Send FReepmail to join or leave this list.
Keep up with what our Congresscritters (House and Senate) are doing. Sign up for the free MegaVote email service here.
Ping PS - Did you know SC is on the list of 25 states suing nobama over his amensty order? Read more here.
Such are the morals of most congresscritters!
.
Did the newly elected Freshmen get an opportunity to attend that meeting? Were the vanquished or retiring current representatives forbidden from attending that meeting? If the answer to either question is NO, how can it be said that there was an opportunity hear from the majority caucus?
What a =^..^=!
Hey Mickey, ESAD.
“I’m not peeing on your leg it’s raining!” He should have just said nothing rather than insult the people in his district with crap like “I didn’t trust the other conspirators.” Now he has sold himself to Bonehead for a Committee seat -disgusting.
Mia Love issued a pitiful statement, as well....
There were no qualified or notable campaigns for speaker within the Republican Party other than John Boehner, Love said. Casting a vote for a candidate who has not actively campaigned and does not have the support to be speaker is an indirect vote for Nancy Pelosi, and I will not vote for Nancy Pelosi.
Love also reminded voters that she is playing the long game when it comes to fighting for conservative principles.
Either Mia is lying, or she's not very smart.
She is not a liar and she is very smart, smart enough to hold her fire so her powder will be hot when the time comes to shoot. You could learn a thing or three from a smart woman like Mia. Don’t let how much we all despise John the weepy Cheeto Boehner ooze over into those who do not deserve the contempt.
Mia is stupid or lying.
There was no way Pelosi was going to get a majority of the 408 votes of those present.
That is how it works.
Boehner would have been denied the majority and a new vote taken.
For Pelosi to win almost 20 GOPers would have had to vote for her, and that was not going to happen.
Way to go Mia—you lasted less than one hour in congress as a conservative.
Vacuous, at best. Want to try again?
Ping,
“So glad he doesnt represent me. Proud of my Rep., Walter B. Jones!”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.