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.”
Trey Gowdy ping!
The gay mafia shake hands.
McConnell needs to go. He is a darn wimp!
Thanks for posting this. I love to bash Boehner at every opportunity, but the Senate and the Wall Street Journal and Fox News left Boehner on an island - and we all know he doesn’t have the stones to man an island all by himself.
I take everything any politician says with a grain of salt. Mr. Gowdy says McConnell and the GOP senators should stand on principle. I ask Mr. Gowdy “Why didn’t you object yesterday and force a full vote?” He should have stood on “principle”.
Mark Levin plays the audio sometimes of McConnell saying, “I don’t want to be in a regional party,” after Obama was sworn in in 2009. McConnell was pushing to have the party not be as right wing.
Mitch McConnell he played the aliens in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension and with no makeup
I do not follow your logic at all — splain please.
and said they were botching the politics by picking the wrong fight threatening the establishment's future by doing what they were elected to do: be fiscally responsible and stop the bleeding.
It will be a very cold day in Cowboy Hell before I vote for another RINO again. That includes Mitt Romney and both Georgia Senators, in fact. My Congressman is the only one I’d even consider voting for.....so, if Mitt’s there, it’s down-ticket below Senator for me....(yeah, I know the answers —— Obama will win - you have to stand somewhere)
At least the Tea Party oriented freshmen are getting it - let’s hope for a boatload more of them in both Houses. Maybe the Tea Party can make its motto “House Cleaning” - run ads like the old Avon doorbell ringing one, only display a voting touchscreen and use the motto as a reminder of the real job that needs done.
Agreed. Rep. Gowdy is my Congressman and I appretiate what his work...but he didn’t do anything to stop this bill. Still he is better than SC’s one Democrat Congress(Critter) Clyburn!
And by the way, Mr. Gowdy. Mitch and John called. They said “Sit down and shut up, boy. We run things around here and we hate you tea partiers as much as the democrats hate you.”
The tea party congress people should resign en masse from the GOP as soon as they come back from the holidays. Split the congress into three so we can have TWO parties.
Republicans continue to ignore the fact that they control only the House, but that Democrats control both the Senate and Presidency.
Do I think passing a 2 month extension is silly? Yep. Does my opinion overcome reality of democrat control of the legislative process? Nope.
I don’t even think that “payroll taxes” are even taxes, so republicans are dumb to even agree to call them taxes. Since they are payments returned at a later date, they should be called installments or something.
The only things they’ll get passed over the objections of the democrats are laws that every single American believes is in their best interest. IOW, they need an American consensus behind their plan before they try to twist arms. The dems need to know that they are flying directly into the face of what the people want and know that they want.
So...he just did what he was told, got his a$$ in line, and agreed to unanimous consent, eh?
And where was Bachmann and Paul? Hiding somewhere?
If one congress person had objected to the unanimous consent every one of them would have had to come back to D.C. to vote. He could have stood on principle.
When you have fossilized leadership it means that possibly 2 generations will never get a chance to lead. When these coots go they will be replaced by men who are 40 years younger. 2 generations screwed.
This is funny. What is a freshman congress person capable of doing?
Don’t go and bring logic and common sense into this. Too many folks are having fun blaming a single tea party freshman for not doing enough. Don’t spoil their self righteous party.
This is the same GOP who betrayed Newt, and threw him under the Bus. We had Clinton as good as impeached and criminalized and Lott caved in to the Senate Democrats walk-out protest, so the spineless Republican’ts dropped the charges.
Imagine a President Romney at the head of these losers!?
Speak up and not go along with unanimous consent?
Trey...what did you do to stop this?...oh wait a minute...you contributed to the unanimous consent.
Shut up...you phony.
>> If one congress person had objected to the unanimous consent every one of them would have had to come back to D.C. to vote. He could have stood on principle. >>
Yep, and a kami kaze pilot could decide to end his life in an attempt to sink a single row boat too. I guess you never really understood the concept of “picking the right hill to die on.”
This was not the right hill to die on. It was the right hill to fire a few shots at, which he did.
Besides making you feel better, what would that have accomplished?
It’s a free country, perhaps you should consider a run for office.
Hmmmm...no unanimous consent = stopping the Senate bill in its tracks.
I could not believe Republican congress people are so out of touch in being media savvy ! We got obama right where we wanted by making him accept Keystone pipe line and within the next 24 hrs, we just screwed it so bad that, republicans are perceived as the party which says no to the tax cuts!
They better go home and come with plans where they have alternate strategy for every scenario thrown by Obama and the senate democrats ! Because of these screw ups, I don’t want to see Obama getting reelected for lack of leadership from republican congress
No, it just meant that all the folks would have come back in from home, at the tax payers expense, and voted the same damned result - and this congressman’s career would be over.
But go ahead, continue to criticize the good because he doesn’t match your idea of perfection. Go ahead.
It might make him look like less of an empty suit. Look if you stand by and let something happen...you can’t try to curry favor with those who oppose it.
Fine...the GOP lost this one...but don’t jump out and say I didn’t want to support something....when you did.
I was wondering about that too.
now the theory that he wanted to support it is totally different. In other words, you are calling him a liar. Maybe you are right, but that’s an entirely different conversation and I would submit to you that the burden of proof for that is ALL ON YOU for this situation.
Every time I hear a member of the "old guard" Republican establishment complain about Newt I become surer and surer that I will vote for him. They seem to be in a full-court press to take him out of the game, and I don't think it's because he's too liberal for their taste!
Because he would have lost the vote. FWIW, the democrats need only 25 rino votes to win a vote in the house. And there are at least 25 rino's who would have voted against this and not threatened their seats at all because they are in rino districts.
It would have been a major defeat, in public, for record, and he knew it.
The dems control Senate and presidency and are only 25 votes away in the House.
They are taxes. They go into the same pot as income taxes, excise taxes, and the rest.
Like all taxes, some get some back, some don't.
I live and vote in Kentucky, and I do hope the Tea Party here can mount a significant challenge, but in lieu of the last statewide elections, stupidity seems to be winning out. We can’t even defeat leftwing Democrats in an otherwise deep red state during an extremely unpoplar Democrat president’s rein let alone uproot an entrenched Republican like McConnell.
Makes me wonder if a hill exists that any of them would die on.
They just passed a bill ripping the Constitution to pieces by allowing the Military to arrest an American and put him away with no trial and no rights whatsoever. If ever there was a hill that was it.
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.
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