John, What Were You Thinking?

Another Open Letter to House Majority Leader John Boehner

Mr. Boehner, WTF??? Really. what happened? You commit to Obama's original unkept pledge to trim $100 billion from the lack of budget. Then you pro-rate it down to $61 Billion. Then you go into intense negotiations with Obama and Reid and claim a victory at $38.5 billion in cuts. Then we find out that the total includes the past cuts from the CRs and some smoke and mirrors. So it's really more like $12 billion. So not only did you walk away virtually empty handed, you took a victory lap while lying about it.

You remember me John. My name is Joe, and I am the angry voice of TPP. I don't like the designation much, but some people just do not respond to reason. Like you apparently. 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 long- term strategy through the maze of arcane House rules and have replaced the Democrats as majority in the House. You have poised the GOP for bigger gains in 2012 and possibly retaking the Senate. 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 electric tan, or the chain-smoking. Those things are grudgingly endearing.. We're talking about your brain going to mush with the finish line in sight.

It's not like I haven't come at you about this before. There was the talk about redoing the 14th amendment. 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. Like maybe enforcing those laws.

You hinted in advance at accepting Obama's offer of a 2 year extension of the Bush tax cuts, which effectively ended any meaningful negotiation. You don't play poker much, do you John? And what did Obama announce in his "deficit" speech today? That he's intent on wiggling out of the great deal for the American people that you negotiated.

Now we have this current farce over finalizing the 2011 budget. You do realize John, that the reason there was no 2011 budget is because the Democratic majority never submitted one. Completely abdicated their Constitutional responsibility. They left you with the hot potato that they didn't want, and then you blew the opportunity to lead.

America understands that $100 billion dollars is chump change in DC. We get that. Depending on who you ask it represents 3 to 6 days of interest on that $14 trillion dollar debt. Maybe you thought it wasn't that big a deal. Maybe you and Obama had a good laugh at how insignificant an amount it was, but you guys had to put on a show. So what was the deal?

Did Obama toss you a bone so that you could bring something back to the Freshmen and say it was the best you could do? If that was the case, you should have come out with the truth that Obama boned you and you only got $12 billion. That would have pissed off the Tea Partiers. By inflating the numbers you've managed to piss off the rest of us as well. Losers whine about doing their best, winners get the job done. Great job, John.

What's that John? You didn't want to shut down the government? Why not? It's not like anyone would really notice, because you weren't shutting down the government. All that would shut down is non-essential services. Non-essential means not necessary. And while I have you here John, why are we spending money on non-essential services? I only want my tax dollars spent on necessary services. You and Paul Ryan might want to look over that list of services and get rid of them. That would cut a hell of a lot more than $100 billion out of the budget.

So, seriously John, we are less impressed with you every day. You're the one who said that you would be doing the will of the people. You aren't. We sent a very clear message as to what we wanted by giving you 85 conservative freshman, most of whom honored the interests of their constituents. You did not. You did not lead, You did not negotiate. You got your butt kicked, and want us all to tell you how pretty the bruise is.

It's not just you John, but you are the face out there in front of the cameras every day. This goes out to 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 talking the talk but not walking the walk. Not good enough. It is fair to say that they care more about personal power within the system, than a systematic effort at solving the nations problems. It's why the Tea Party candidates are replacing you one at a time in primaries all over the country. That trend will continue in 2012.

That is because the Tea Partiers engage the electorate, listen, craft practical ideas based in the real world and the Constitution, and promise 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. 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. Or being lied to about the numbers.

The American people see the GOP establishment as the Republican equivalent of 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 power because the American people have loaned it to you. This is a second chance for the Republican party to redeem itself after abandoning it's principles. There will not be a third. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. You have a year and a half left to make good on your promises and you are not off to a good start. It's time to up your game and deliver.

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
 

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Comments

  • 4/14/2011 6:51 AM Micheal wrote:
    WAY too one-sided. let's get some objectivity, eh?
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 9:28 AM madhatr wrote:
    Congressional Budget Office is reporting actual cuts coming from this "deal" is not 38 billion or even 12 billion. It's 352 million. That's a lot of troble to go through for no payout. Boehner is either a liar or a fool. Either way he needs to go.
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 9:38 AM sandstormer wrote:
    Million? Are you sure? That would be less than 1% of what they announced the deal to be.
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 9:51 AM madhatr wrote:
    There are a lot of budget gimmicks. The CBO translates the reported numbers with the actual outlays of money. The numbers say 37.7 billion, but the actual outlay for the rest of the 2011 fiscal yesr is $352 million. This article has some good analysis:
    http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Boehner-I-ll-get-there-on-budget-1336117.php
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 12:07 PM valerie wrote:
    Hey madhatr - we finally agree. Boehner is a moron. There's still room over here - we accept converts.
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 12:39 PM largelife wrote:
    Give John a break guys. He's been in Washington for so long he forgot that he was fighting a battle over nothing. Millions and billions do nothing to help us out. We need trillions to do anything significant with regard to the debt and deficit. The only way we get there is some massive entitlement reform. I'm looking to Ryan for that. Let Boehner be the Speaker, but have Ryan do the work. I'm sure that he's really inspired since Obama dissed him to his face on camera yesterday.
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 1:02 PM crackerjack wrote:
    Just get me to 2012 so that we can lose the next bunch of RINOs. Boehner is top of the list.
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 1:24 PM Harley Dave wrote:
    I can buy that Boehner's best possibledeal was what he wound up with. Obama has never shown any desire to compromise if he doesn't have to, and Boehner well, he didn't bring his best game. What I can't believe is that he would try to dress it up as some great victory. He really would have done better with saying Obama won't budge, so I caved. Or to shut down the government to force a better deal. Now he has no credibility, and Obama knows that he can roll him.
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 1:38 PM tripledindc wrote:
    Yeah, he screwed the pooch in every way possible on this one. The CBO numbers aren't helping him either. The 352 million is the low projection. The high projection is 688 millon. I'm sure that he's spending the day in his office chain-smoking with a bottle of scotch. Maybe it will help.
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 1:46 PM sandstormer wrote:
    House voted to pass the CR, with 59 Republicans voting no. That means that 26 Tea Party Reps defected. Gotta get a list of names...
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 7:14 PM john wrote:
    OK, seriously, this fight was a BS PR match from day one. This 100 billion dollar cut was like throwing a paper towel at an open fire hydrant. The real test will be on the 2012 budget. What Boehner and the House do there is what's important - not this silly fight over nothing.
    Reply to this
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