Stuffit Max.
Posted on 01/08/2015 3:27:46 AM PST by Timber Rattler
ank-and-file Republicans are fuming at what they see as the heavy-handed tactics of Republican leaders, one day after a divisive vote that narrowly handed Speaker John Boehner the gavel for another term.
Members who opposed Boehner on the floor are frustrated that two rebels have already been stripped of committee assignments, while the speaker's allies, angered by an embarrassingly close vote that played out on national television, warn darkly of more punishment to come. And some conservatives who backed Boehner complain that they are now facing a different kind of retribution—from the Right.
(snip)
Retribution is not being enacted simply against those who participated in the attempted coup, and members are using that fact in a plea for leniency for their colleagues. Members who have often butted heads with the speaker but who voted for him on Tuesday said leadership should understand they are facing consequences from the Right for supporting Boehner in the face of an onslaught of people demanding they depose him.
Rep. Raul Labrador rose in front of his colleagues at Wednesday's Conference meeting and said he has already drawn a primary challenge over his vote for Boehner. Labrador read from his smartphone from the more than 4,000 comments people had posted on his Facebook page, including one calling him a "scumbag asshole" for supporting Boehner—and joked that it's all true. Conservative talk-radio host Mark Levin had specifically directed listeners to target Labrador for his vote, he noted.
Other members spent Wednesday afternoon defending their vote for Boehner to local press, and some said that after December's omnibus vote and Tuesday's display on the House floor, they have never been under more pressure from constituents.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...
Hubba, Hubba........ love how you think! I always liked Newt. HE was the best and the GOPe tossed him overboard. Sickening. He is one sharp cookie.
Keep the faith and let’s keep up the pressure.
I would expect that supporters of the Whigs said about the same thing at one point.
Rumors were in 2010 when we had the big Tea Party victory only a handful of those elected as tea party candidates managed to stay and hold their conservative values they were elected on.
Biggest problems; lobbyists,re-electing funding and who controls it and corruption that has been going on for a long, long time on both sides. We need to elect reps who will tell the powers that be to go to hell and let everyone know what is going on,all the backyard threats and bribes and absolute power that the higher ups wield regardless of whether or not they get relelected. That's what is needed. I don't see any of those folks around right now.
When a new member of Congress is told by leadership that he has to do what they say or else he will not get any good committee assignments,or money and they will set up opposition to oppose him and fund them to the hilt it changes the way they see dc and really quick.
Something is seriously wrong.
dramatic understatement.
Revealing what goes on in Congress is near impossible. Plus someone has to print it as well..
IMHO both(Boehner,Roberts) are compromised and Boehner is probably the most ruthless speaker we have ever had with the possible exception of piglosi.
If this is Boehner’s last term and it well could be, we might have a long shot at improving things in the house.
Very true. The frist thing we need to acknowledge is that there are no 100% conservatives. They do not exist.No one is 100%.
Great post! We really do have to out-think and out-perform both sides the rionos and the hard left.The history of third parties is not good.
I’m not in Labrador’s district, I’m in Mike Simpson’s the other Jerk’s district, but I called both congress critters’ offices and raised hell.
I told them the one thing they all fear: I will never vote for you again and I will financially support your opponent.
What I’m saying is it’s OUR party as a call to battle. Conservatives can claim it and take it. Why surrender it to the GOPe?
“The GOP views conservatives like those of us on this site as the enemy.”
No. Some members of the GOP view conservatives as the enemy just as we view them as the enemy. Why should we surrender the GOP to the moderate/centrists? Run from the battle? No. Engage the enemy and beat him!
It would be nice to have a 2nd party, a party of opposition for a change. You talk of a 3rd party, where’s the 2nd? Uniparty is what we have now. The only difference between the democrats and the republicans are the $$$ and who controls it.
That’s not how elections work. Parties always adjust to the center of power.
Always.
Elections are always close contests as a result. The winners aren’t who have the best ideology, but who have best gamed how far to adjust to win.
The DNC takes the black vote for granted, because they can, and that allows them to adjust their ideas further left, by 8-10% of the electorate. It takes the right of center that many votes just to break even.
That 8-10% should be more than offset by the GOP conservative base of 30% of the vote! But it isn’t. It isn’t because the GOP factors differently. The GOP listens to its donors over its base, and taking its conservative base for granted ALSO allows them to adjust leftward, ideology-wise, to appease their donors.
The result is a steady drift in this nation far more left than the electorate being represented.
Your position that we must vote GOP in order to correct this flaw in current electoral math isn’t holding the line against the current drift leftward. It’s not the solution.
It’s the cause.
I think many FReepers are third party folks to start with, and they want Republican conservatives to abandon the battle (within the GOP) in the hope of bolstering their own marginal parties. That said, there are other Republicans on the site who are fed up. I understand the anger, but I don’t understand how we make things better by walking away. The party is ours to claim if we stay unified.
I also don’t understand the mentality of many who write off otherwise good representatives (who have proven conservative track records) over this one vote. Have they not read some of the explanations? We know which ones are RINOs who support the party over principle every time, but what about many others who are pretty darned solid but simply didn’t vote with us and have—I think—pretty good explanations for why they did so.
Labrador is going to lose his seat over this, not that Boehner cares remotely now that he has his vote. Labrador stepped in it and he knows it.
Labrador read from his smartphone from the more than 4,000 comments people had posted on his Facebook page, including one calling him a "scumbag a**hole" for supporting Boehner—and joked that it's all true.
It wasn't a joke. Enjoy your retirement, Raul.
Stuffit Max.
Can't keep something you never had.
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