For God's Sake John, Sit Down
An Open Letter to House Minority Leader John Boehner
Mr. Boehner, sit down. Really. I mean you. My name is Joe, and I am the angry voice of TPP. I don't like the designation much, but when no one listens to reasonable debate, it gets frustrating, so I speak my truth - bluntly. Here comes yours:
For such a capable and savvy politician, you have been running off the rails like that other great John (McCain) as his Straight Talk Express lost control and crashed into history. You have taken the Republican Party and lifted it out of it's dark days following the election and inauguration of President Obama. You worked a strategy through the labyrinth of legislative process which threatens to displace the Democrats as majority party in one if not both houses. Well done, sir.
Then, just like the villain in a James Bond movie, you screw up the plan. On the cusp of victory, you make every mistake in the world to contribute to your own destruction. We don't mean your slightly-off George Hamilton tan, or the chain-smoking, those things actually made you seem like that flawed hero that is so admired by America. We're talking about your brain going to mush with the finish line in sight.
I'm talking about ideas, or the lack thereof. First there was the ploy of tinkering with the 14th Amendment to address the issue of anchor babies. Really????? How did you expect that to help? The Republican Party professes to support the Constitution as the sacred compact we base our system on, one subject to literal or originalist thinking. Now, in the quest for political points you morph it into a living document in this one instance? To remove what is understood, however questionably, as a fundamental right? It's not like we didn't do our homework, you can get filled in at: Amending 14
This stunt only got you painted in the stripes of racism and ignorance rather than your usual orange tone. There are ways to make a stand on our illegal immigration problem without picking on the babies of people who are only here because we don't enforce our existing laws. How about proposing enforcing those laws, standing in support of Arizona, and working on a real solution? Instead you toss out a curve ball that was thrown back at you in disgust.
Hinting at accepting Obama's offer on the Bush tax cuts isn't helping you either. It smacks of a Reid /Pelosi backroom deal being made. Principles are important this year, more-so than ever. Principles. A basic tenet of conservatism (which the Republican Party is nominally supposed to represent) is limited government and low taxes. For everyone.
Economics 101A teaches you that if you give the middle class a tax cut, it gets spent. If you give the wealthy a tax cut it gets invested. Investments creates wealth. Wealth creates jobs and MORE TAX REVENUE (see the Bush 43, Reagan and JFK tax cuts for examples). The government is looking for BOTH. Half a loaf is not better than a whole loaf in this case. Baking more loaves is the correct solution.
Now we have the "Pledge to America". Frankly John, we were hoping for better. It is not Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America".
You remember the Contract. Ten bullet points. Mr. Gingrich posted it, anyone could understand it. Ten clear legislative goals. Mr. Gingrich said in essence, "This is what we promise to do. If we don't do it, fire us." Nine out of ten goals were accomplished. Slam dunk. It was the start of a 12 year majority. Unfortunately, the last real accomplishment of that Republican majority was the Welfare Reform Act of 1998. We're not giving any credit for balanced budgets that were based on accounting gimmicks. We start removing points for the drunken spending spree that the Republicans went on in the Bush 43 era.
The "Pledge" is 21 pages of well worded air. If you are going to spend the time to create 21 pages of regurgitated ideas it might be good to do 210 and get into the mechanics of how you plan to get all of this by Obama's veto pen. Better yet, do it like the Contract - 10 points, if we pass them we get reelected, if we don't fire us. At least Gingrich had stones. He also understood that unlike a very few people in this country who have too much time on their hands (mostly unemployed people), the average American is working too hard to keep ahead of the economy to sift through a high school term paper of platitudes for the one or two golden nuggets hidden in it.
And it's not that there aren't golden nuggets - they are there. But it's up to you to communicate them, not for working families on the edge to research them out and see why they should vote for you over the current set of nitwits in charge. Do you think that we all have a staff to read this crap and brief us? Get out in the real world John.
It's not just you John, but you are the face out there in front of the cameras every day. This goes out to Michael Steele and all of the Establishment Republicans (Country Club, Blue Blood or Career Politician, pick your favorite label). The party structure have been castigated over and over for not having ideas. They have been accused of being the Party of No, and running on the platform of "We're not them!". Not good enough. It's why the Tea Party candidates are replacing you one at a time in primaries all over the country.
The Tea Party candidates are engaging the electorate, listening, crafting practical ideas based in the real world, and promising to follow through on those ideas. They speak truth to the electorate, and they respect the electorate. There have been some gaffes, but that is what you get when you don't have a staff of handlers spinning your screw ups for you. At least they are genuine.
They are taking on the mantle of Newt and Reagan, not tossing out some meandering, bland pablum of tired talking points. The American voter is far smarter than you give him credit for. He understands the difference between actual policy, and having smoke blown up his behind.
The reason that establishment candidates from Murkowski to Castle have been defeated is their total disconnect with what concerns the voters. It is fair to say that they care more about personal power within the system, than a systematic effort at solving the nations problems. You may say that calling their motives into question is unfair. How unfair is it when neither Murkowski or Castle will support the party's nominee, and are indeed undermining them?
How about that paragon of Republicanism, Charlie Crist jumping ship to run as an independent against party nominee Marco Rubio. Then there's always Arlen Specter, a closet Democrat for years, who finally came out. It is the entrenched, beltway mentality of career politicians who have held their seat for thirty years that fuel the arguments for term limits.
The American people cannot see the difference between any of these examples and Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi. All are viewed as corrupt members of an arrogant, patronizing ruling class who thinks itself better than the unwashed masses that it lords over. We're tired of it. If we wanted our lives managed by politicians and bureaucrats with a disdain for ordinary Americans we would move to France.
You hold your seat because we allow it - not because you deserve it. You, and every Republican are going to have to do better or you will not gain the majority, or the Speakership. Give us leadership, give us ideas, tell us your plan. The Pledge is platitudes, not a plan. It is useful only if printed on soft paper and left in the bathroom.
You need to address us as adults. Adults who know that you don't read what you vote on. By the way, you need to read and know those bills - and yes, I know it's in the Pledge. I read it. All of it. Pelosi called for transparent government and that didn't happen either. If it's too complicated we can find someone else willing to do it. Just ask the Murkowskis and Castles how willing we are to do this.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way. You have 6 weeks to make your case and you haven't made it yet. You need to make it to me, and every other voter who doesn't think anything good comes out of Washington. We don't trust the Democrats and we don't trust you. My name is Joe, I'm angry, and I vote. What you do over the next six weeks determines how.
Joe
Joe has become our house curmudgeon, speaking out more plainly than we normally would here. We like to think of him as our man out on the front lines. He gives the everyman perspective to what many of us are actually experiencing as we try to make sense of our government. You can find his other articles here: Economic Reality: A voice in the Crowd and A Recap From Joe
Mr. Boehner, sit down. Really. I mean you. My name is Joe, and I am the angry voice of TPP. I don't like the designation much, but when no one listens to reasonable debate, it gets frustrating, so I speak my truth - bluntly. Here comes yours:
For such a capable and savvy politician, you have been running off the rails like that other great John (McCain) as his Straight Talk Express lost control and crashed into history. You have taken the Republican Party and lifted it out of it's dark days following the election and inauguration of President Obama. You worked a strategy through the labyrinth of legislative process which threatens to displace the Democrats as majority party in one if not both houses. Well done, sir.
Then, just like the villain in a James Bond movie, you screw up the plan. On the cusp of victory, you make every mistake in the world to contribute to your own destruction. We don't mean your slightly-off George Hamilton tan, or the chain-smoking, those things actually made you seem like that flawed hero that is so admired by America. We're talking about your brain going to mush with the finish line in sight.
I'm talking about ideas, or the lack thereof. First there was the ploy of tinkering with the 14th Amendment to address the issue of anchor babies. Really????? How did you expect that to help? The Republican Party professes to support the Constitution as the sacred compact we base our system on, one subject to literal or originalist thinking. Now, in the quest for political points you morph it into a living document in this one instance? To remove what is understood, however questionably, as a fundamental right? It's not like we didn't do our homework, you can get filled in at: Amending 14
This stunt only got you painted in the stripes of racism and ignorance rather than your usual orange tone. There are ways to make a stand on our illegal immigration problem without picking on the babies of people who are only here because we don't enforce our existing laws. How about proposing enforcing those laws, standing in support of Arizona, and working on a real solution? Instead you toss out a curve ball that was thrown back at you in disgust.
Hinting at accepting Obama's offer on the Bush tax cuts isn't helping you either. It smacks of a Reid /Pelosi backroom deal being made. Principles are important this year, more-so than ever. Principles. A basic tenet of conservatism (which the Republican Party is nominally supposed to represent) is limited government and low taxes. For everyone.
Economics 101A teaches you that if you give the middle class a tax cut, it gets spent. If you give the wealthy a tax cut it gets invested. Investments creates wealth. Wealth creates jobs and MORE TAX REVENUE (see the Bush 43, Reagan and JFK tax cuts for examples). The government is looking for BOTH. Half a loaf is not better than a whole loaf in this case. Baking more loaves is the correct solution.
Now we have the "Pledge to America". Frankly John, we were hoping for better. It is not Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America".
You remember the Contract. Ten bullet points. Mr. Gingrich posted it, anyone could understand it. Ten clear legislative goals. Mr. Gingrich said in essence, "This is what we promise to do. If we don't do it, fire us." Nine out of ten goals were accomplished. Slam dunk. It was the start of a 12 year majority. Unfortunately, the last real accomplishment of that Republican majority was the Welfare Reform Act of 1998. We're not giving any credit for balanced budgets that were based on accounting gimmicks. We start removing points for the drunken spending spree that the Republicans went on in the Bush 43 era.
The "Pledge" is 21 pages of well worded air. If you are going to spend the time to create 21 pages of regurgitated ideas it might be good to do 210 and get into the mechanics of how you plan to get all of this by Obama's veto pen. Better yet, do it like the Contract - 10 points, if we pass them we get reelected, if we don't fire us. At least Gingrich had stones. He also understood that unlike a very few people in this country who have too much time on their hands (mostly unemployed people), the average American is working too hard to keep ahead of the economy to sift through a high school term paper of platitudes for the one or two golden nuggets hidden in it.
And it's not that there aren't golden nuggets - they are there. But it's up to you to communicate them, not for working families on the edge to research them out and see why they should vote for you over the current set of nitwits in charge. Do you think that we all have a staff to read this crap and brief us? Get out in the real world John.
It's not just you John, but you are the face out there in front of the cameras every day. This goes out to Michael Steele and all of the Establishment Republicans (Country Club, Blue Blood or Career Politician, pick your favorite label). The party structure have been castigated over and over for not having ideas. They have been accused of being the Party of No, and running on the platform of "We're not them!". Not good enough. It's why the Tea Party candidates are replacing you one at a time in primaries all over the country.
The Tea Party candidates are engaging the electorate, listening, crafting practical ideas based in the real world, and promising to follow through on those ideas. They speak truth to the electorate, and they respect the electorate. There have been some gaffes, but that is what you get when you don't have a staff of handlers spinning your screw ups for you. At least they are genuine.
They are taking on the mantle of Newt and Reagan, not tossing out some meandering, bland pablum of tired talking points. The American voter is far smarter than you give him credit for. He understands the difference between actual policy, and having smoke blown up his behind.
The reason that establishment candidates from Murkowski to Castle have been defeated is their total disconnect with what concerns the voters. It is fair to say that they care more about personal power within the system, than a systematic effort at solving the nations problems. You may say that calling their motives into question is unfair. How unfair is it when neither Murkowski or Castle will support the party's nominee, and are indeed undermining them?
How about that paragon of Republicanism, Charlie Crist jumping ship to run as an independent against party nominee Marco Rubio. Then there's always Arlen Specter, a closet Democrat for years, who finally came out. It is the entrenched, beltway mentality of career politicians who have held their seat for thirty years that fuel the arguments for term limits.
The American people cannot see the difference between any of these examples and Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi. All are viewed as corrupt members of an arrogant, patronizing ruling class who thinks itself better than the unwashed masses that it lords over. We're tired of it. If we wanted our lives managed by politicians and bureaucrats with a disdain for ordinary Americans we would move to France.
You hold your seat because we allow it - not because you deserve it. You, and every Republican are going to have to do better or you will not gain the majority, or the Speakership. Give us leadership, give us ideas, tell us your plan. The Pledge is platitudes, not a plan. It is useful only if printed on soft paper and left in the bathroom.
You need to address us as adults. Adults who know that you don't read what you vote on. By the way, you need to read and know those bills - and yes, I know it's in the Pledge. I read it. All of it. Pelosi called for transparent government and that didn't happen either. If it's too complicated we can find someone else willing to do it. Just ask the Murkowskis and Castles how willing we are to do this.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way. You have 6 weeks to make your case and you haven't made it yet. You need to make it to me, and every other voter who doesn't think anything good comes out of Washington. We don't trust the Democrats and we don't trust you. My name is Joe, I'm angry, and I vote. What you do over the next six weeks determines how.
Joe
Joe has become our house curmudgeon, speaking out more plainly than we normally would here. We like to think of him as our man out on the front lines. He gives the everyman perspective to what many of us are actually experiencing as we try to make sense of our government. You can find his other articles here: Economic Reality: A voice in the Crowd and A Recap From Joe
Posted by The Thomas Paine Project at 9/24/2010 5:03 PM 
Categories: political leadership, Partisan Politics
Tags: RNC elections political leadership
Categories: political leadership, Partisan Politics
Tags: RNC elections political leadership
I couldn't have said it better. The establishment Republicans have been running around lately like their heads are on fire. They are so used to us just going along they don't know how to deal with us when we disagree. I know the answer doesn't lie with the Democrats, but if a republican wants me to keep voting for him, he needs to represent and to respect me.
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Nice to see Mr. Electric Beach getting slapped around by the conservatives for a change. I made the effort to read the pledge, and I don't see anything there that wasn't always there. Nice to see you guys catching on that the Republicans don't have any answers except business as usual.
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There's plenty of answers on the conservative side. We just haven't had a whole lot of luck with the people we send to Washington carrying them out. While it's great that we are sitting as a unified block right now, I fear that once we get majority it is going to go back to the farce that we had under Bush 2. The wars were necessary, but he abandoned Social Security and Medicare reform. On top of that they approved that brand new prescription benefit that Obama is adding to in his health care package. Bush might have been a social conservative, but not a fiscal one. As to the Republican members of congress - they never met a dollar that they couldn't spend. It's hard to believe that all of a sudden they have religion. That's why I went Tea Party, and voted that way.
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Boehner is making it easier to support someone else for Speaker if they do take the majority. Newt was a young gun in 1994 and he did a lot of good til he got in the pissing contest with Clinton. Maybe we should go in the same direction and tap Paul Ryan. He's a solid conservative, part of the new generation, and has the support of most of the party in what he is trying to do agenda wise.
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Hey Joe - tell us how you REALLY feel. Gotta agree with you though. I'm out there at rallies and campaign stops all the time. The mood that you are in is widespread and runs deep. It's almost like the Tea Partiers say, a revolutionary moment in history. The Dems are in trouble, but the GOP primaries tell the story. People are looking for genuine conservatism on the fiscal side. They are rewarding people of either party who display that. This is the first time I've been to a number of GOP events with no social conservatism. Looks like the country understands what's important this time.
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I feel your pain Joe. I don't have the luxury of changing history. My guy in congress is a solid conservative so I'm sending him back. Don't need the Tea Party, but I'm happy they are doing what they are doing. We have a chance to lose a few Blue Bloods this time around. Hopefully we can keep up the momentum for 2012 and 2014. It would be great to rid the party of Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe among others. It's a shame cleaning house takes so long.
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Come on, lighten up a bit. Boehner is as solid a conservative as exists anywhere. He just has reached the limits of his talents. He is an excellent legislator with a long track record of accomplishments. He knows the legislative process better than anyone. He has managed to keep the Obama agenda from runaway train status, and has convinced a majority of the country that the liberals are not the answer. Of course, the liberals helped a lot on that. Is he the most eloquent guy in the house? Maybe not. Does he have the occasional bad idea? Yeah, but look at Joe Biden. Let's get out and vote, and set about the work of getting the country back on track.
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Harley - have you had a conversion or something? I would have taken you for liberal from your other writings.
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I'm one of the middle of the roaders. I don't agree with all of conservatism, but the fiscal stuff makes sense. I am not comfortable with the way the government seems to be pushing in on my life. The pushing is in the wrong direction too. I see every day how federal policy is hurting people rather than helping. and I'd like to see that reversed.
I went to a congressional debate last night. The Republican made some good arguments. The Democrat showed up unprepared and took a real attitude with some of the questions. I guess you could call it arrogance. The Republican just seems to be more in line with how I think, at least for this election. We'll see how it goes from here.
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Welcome aboard for however long you stay. Keep your mind open and you'll hear more and more that makes sense to you.
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Go to France - now that's funny. Sad that it's also true. Methinks the GOP is taking it's victory lap a little early. I took the time to read the pledge too. I agree with everything, but yeah, how do they plan on pulling any of it off? Over-riding a veto takes 2/3 of both houses, right? It would have to be a hell of an election day to get those numbers.
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While I share some conservative views, I am uncomfortable with the Republican approach. It seems to inclined to favor the wealthy, and not so inclined to raise up the poor. George Bush talked a good game on education and compassionate conservatism, but at the end of the day, minorities and the poor were still lagging far behind. I agree tat Obama's economic policies haven't worked ideally, but I don't see Mr. Boehner doing a better job.
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Tell it Joe. If you can't be specific be brief. The pledge is good stuff, but it could have been done on 1 page if there weren't going to be any specific action plans included.
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Ok, it's fun to let the right wingers have a rant, but if you're going to give a platform to someone that right wing, you really need to balance it out with someone from our side. Of course, we think Boehner is a bonehead too.
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No harm, no foul then...
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Does there really need to be an "our side" and "their side". That's the biggest problem...we should all be on the same side!!
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I'm pretty amazed at the sore losers. Really, you run, you lost, fall in line behind the elected nominee. Isn't that how party politics works? The party is supposed to come before the individual? I know that George Washington's ideal was no parties, but it's a little late to turn back to that. So what gives with these independent runs?
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I think Boehner has shown his colors well enough this past month that the Republicans need a new face in front of the cameras. The guy is a genius strategy wise, but it hurts my ears to listen to him on the TV. He's only hurting himself prancing in front of the media. Keep to your strengths John.
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The Boehner / McCain analogy works for me. They both get as close to the goal as humanly possible (Pres nomination / speaker)and then go into crazy old man mode. You can understand McCain - he is a crazy old man. But Boehner seeemed pretty solid up until lately. Maybe it is just choking at the last minute. I'll vote Republican, but just to stop the bleeding. With the exception of a few up and comers, it just looks like the same old boys switching chairs again.
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You realize that this is just Charlie Brown, Lucy and the football again. We say ok to the Republicans and as soon as they get in power they snatch tohe football away just like the Democrats. We know tha's true. We just came off of a 6 year Republican majority under Bush. The Democrats are going to tax us to death and spend our money. The Republicans are going to borrow us into the next century and spend our money, and the Chinese money. They are all abunch of thieves and whores. The system is corrupt, and I'm not sure that it can be fixed anymore. Good luck to the tea party people, but I get the feeling that any of them that get elected will just get swallowed up by the beast anyway. The only real answer is to start from scratch.
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Melonhead has a good point. The Republicans did a good job under Clinton when they weren't trying to impeach him for the crime of the month. Once Bush got elected, that started to unravel and the Democrats took the majority on 2006. On the plus side, at least we got 4, maybe 6 years of productivity out of the Republicans before they went off the reservation. The Dems started off as loons and just got worse. It takes a special talent to do an instant meltdown. At this point it's hard to believe either party.
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I would like to think that people go to Washington to serve. It's getting harder and harder to believe that. All any of them seems to do is to try to get one up on each other. On top of that, they are having me pay for the fun and games. I went to a Tea Party meeting last week. It was a lot of people just like me, frustrated and angry that no one seems to be trying to fix anything. Maybe they can't and that's fine. Then they can stop making a bigger mess as they make money for the lobbyists. I know that we've done it this way for over 200 years, but I can never remember having such self-absorbed people just trying to profit on the misery of the country. It makes it hard to get motivated to vote.
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Nice to see you guys figuring out that Boehner doesn't have anything new to offer. That pledge is the same tired old stuff the Republicans have been putting out for years. You said it yourself, when the get into office they ignore the promises anyway. At least Obama is doing what he said he was going to do. The Republicans should try that sometime.
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Well, Cngress is adjourned and all the rats are coming home to ak for our votes. At least they won't be in Washington screwing things up worse. If we could figure out a way to get Obama to take a five week vacation, maybe the country would start to fix itself.
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You're right, it's not the Contract, but it is at least a coherent message. It outlines Republican principles, and it does give some specifics with regard to health care, taxes, unemployment and regulation. The Republicans can't really give a strategy because they don't know how good a hand they hold yet. I have to say, if they push the agenda listed in the Pledge, I'm comfortable voting for any Republican over any Democrat.
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It comes down really simply. If you agree with the direction the country is going, vote Democrat. If you don't your only choice is Republican. Everybody is complaining that you can't trust the Republicans to do what they say. Well, that's true. Newt had an answer to that in 1994 after the Contract came out. He said that you should NEVER trust anyone you lend power to. You should watch them like a hawk and vote them out if they don't fulfill the promises that they make to you. I'd love to have nothing but perfect candidates. Instead we have two really imperfect parties. Ir's R or D, and nothing else has mattered since 1860.
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Boehner is good at strategy, but he's chasing Biden for who can make the biggest gaffe. Eric Cantor or Paul Ryan would be better choices for Speaker.
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I find it hard to believe that congress is going to make very many changes in the next 6 weeks. Once a person reaches a certain level of arrogance, they view their position as an absolute. Getting voted out might not have occurred to them just yet.
Candace
Indiana health insurance
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When will the SHEOPLE wake up? Are you waiting for the social communists to come and kick your door in? They are already doing that in many states...
I am truly beginning to think there is not one true SOVEREIGN in all of the REPUBLICS. I called John Boehner right from the beginning. I warned people not
to put too much faith in what I saw as just another traitor, an "enemy combatant" of the people. I see no sense in wasting a lot of energy on this post, then what I already have... they sit on the commode too long; it will cave in with them on it....
POLI - MEANING MANY
TICS - BLOOD SUCKERS
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