Posted on 12/18/2013 6:36:52 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
The GOP divide over the role of outside groups is heating up in the Senate, just days, after Speaker John Boehner railed that conservative organizations had “lost all credibility.”
Several prominent GOP senators on Tuesday echoed Boehner’s (R-Ohio) frustration with those organizations, agreeing that outfits like Heritage Action and the Senate Conservatives Fund were out only for themselves and are hurting Republican efforts to take over both chambers of Congress.
“I’ve said for a long time that there are some outside groups who do what they do solely to raise money,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). “I’m glad that people are wising up.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), whose primary challenger in 2012 was supported by FreedomWorks, the Tea Party-linked group, added that those organizations “aren’t really for building a conservative coalition.”
“I don’t have a desire to stick it to anybody, but I’ve got to say: I’m as concerned as anybody about people who split our party so we stay a permanent minority,” Hatch told The Hill.
But conservative firebrands said Tuesday that Boehner’s comments last week were off base. The Speaker also insisted that the outside groups were “using our members, and they’re using the American people,” while accusing the organizations of pushing Republicans into a losing government shutdown fight this fall.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said those grassroots groups, which also include Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity, were “the lifeblood and spirit” of the Republican Party.
“You talk to the grassroots folks around the country, they’re worried about the future of the country,” Paul told reporters Tuesday while sporting a Heritage Foundation tie.
“I don’t think he fully appreciates where people are, and how worried people are about the precarious situation we have because of $17 trillion debt,” Paul, a potential 2016 candidate for president, added about Boehner.
Boehner’s frustration with Heritage Action and the other conservative groups boiled over last week after those organizations began lobbying against the budget deal struck by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) before the agreement was even finalized.
In many ways, Boehner’s outburst was a long time coming. Those groups have opposed practically every significant fiscal deal struck during Boehner’s tenure, and GOP leaders have long been uneasy about the significant sway the groups have among conservative lawmakers.
“John obviously feels very strongly about that,” said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), a close Boehner ally who is not running for reelection and who has picked his own fights with outside groups.
“They’re always going to do their thing. I would just hope that they would take a position that there’s a consensus we want to retake the Senate,” he said. “They will play a key role in it if they’re willing to be supportive.”
In fact, Senate Republicans have also, for two straight cycles, blamed those groups for backing insurgent candidates who have lost winnable races, costing the GOP a chance at controlling both chambers.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose primary challenger is backed by the Senate Conservatives Fund, has lashed out at that group, calling their efforts counterproductive. On Tuesday, Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), also facing a primary next year, said he sympathized with Boehner.
“I understand that he’s got to find a way to bring Republicans together, and we’ve seen the consequences of what happens when Republicans are divided,” Cornyn said. “I understand his frustration.”
Meanwhile, those groups have not taken Boehner’s tongue-lashing lying down. Matt Hoskins of the Senate Conservatives Fund said this week that Boehner declared war against conservatives, and the Speaker and McConnell were “using their power to discriminate against people they see as a political threat” — just like the IRS.
Still, even Senate Republicans who voted against the budget agreement crafted by Ryan and Murray sounded tired of the influence of outside groups.
“I want to solve problems. Any group that gets in the way of that — then I don’t have any patience for them,” said Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who was elected to the Senate during the Tea Party wave of 2010 but has adopted a pragmatic role as a lawmaker. She voted “no” on the budget deal.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the dozen Senate Republicans who helped the budget deal clear the procedural hurdle Tuesday, added that October’s shutdown debacle was the final straw for many Republicans in the chamber.
“I think he made it clear in those remarks he made that that’s not going to be the way he operates in the future,” McCain said about Boehner on Tuesday. “When they shut down the government, that was the end as far as a lot of us were concerned. That was a seminal moment over here.”
At the same time, other Senate Republicans declined to publicly criticize the outside groups, underscoring how delicate the situation is for many in the GOP. Ryan and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Texas), a former member of House Republican leadership, have both suggested that Boehner should have kept his criticisms private.
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said outside groups had every right to make their viewpoint known, and their perspective should “definitely” be acknowledged.
“We need the whole spectrum there,” he said. “At the end of the day, we all want the same things.”
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also declined to take a swipe at organizations that will clearly play a role in what sort of candidates the GOP has on the ballot in November 2014.
“I welcome their input. It’s just one of many factors we ought to be considering,” said Moran, who added that he disagreed with Boehner’s assertions that groups like Heritage Action have lost credibility.
Still other GOP senators didn’t want to touch the issue at all.
“No comment. That’s a House issue,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who served six terms in the House before being elected to the Senate last year.
One of Boner’s BUTT BUDDIES “runnin” for the HILLS:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20131217/NEWS/131218887/1707#tom-latham-s-decision-to-retire-from-u-s-house-comes-as-bombshell-to-many
I BLANKIN” DESPISE RINOS/GOP-es/BACKSTABBERS!
I can’t wait to work for Corker’s political defeat.
Boehner or anti Boehner:
Either one. Bring back jobs to America.
Whichever side moves first to bring back jobs to America, will lead.
How about it?
For example this is their answer to veterans:
Apparently Congress failing to make sure military death benefits for families of soldiers killed overseas would be paid out during the government shut wasn't a big enough disgrace for lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Here we are two months later and Democrats have blocked an amendment that would restore $6 billion in cuts to military retirement pensions over the next 10 years.
If they are raising money it’s obvious that people support the movement you ninnies.
I'll be sure to 'splain my decision to the next telemarketer from The National Republican Senatorial Committee who has the misfortune of calling me.
The Democrats are just loving this. It’s almost as if Boehner would rather help the Rats than represent the conservative base that won the Republican majority...
Don’t count on politicians to bring back jobs to America. The only jobs that politicians create are government jobs. They do that by borrowing from your grandchildren.
If you need a job, either get one yourself, or create one yourself. Don’t count on any government help.
As bad as our economy is, there are still plenty of jobs for people who are willing to do them.
Bonehead and his collegues are quick to point out their perceived problems with the arguments raised by the Tea Party and like groups. Now then, how about they tell us about their agenda and what it is they believe in. Ask that question and you get crickets.
You're correct.
You don't see Harry Reid/Nancy Pelosi kicking dirt in the faces of trial lawyers or teacher unions.
America needs to protect American jobs, and to bring them back to America.
China is now exporting more than America.
China has five times, American’s population.
I’m a bit early to this from a national perspective, but only from the perspective that our system is now set-up to tear down everything which made our nation the finest in the entire world.
America needs to wake up and bring back jobs right here. Now.
What good is it going to do to have a majority in the Senate if they vote in line with what the Chamber of Commerce wants, i.e. total amnesty?
Almost all of them have contributed equally to the rise in the federal debt.
IMHO, for every Ted Cruz we send to Washington, I can live with 2-3 "unviable candidates" that send incumbents back to private life.
That would essentially mean taking out the EPA, the corporate income tax and the unions.
But first kill all the lawyers.
First, the American People, need to remove that cigar store injun, a.k.a., John Boehner, and then the rest of the GOP-E.
Yes, I did write that, and I mean it about Boehner.
Gee lets look at some of the other things those deals had in common.
Progressive republicans mouthing off and exposing their democrat ideology.
Run the flaky b*stards out and let the party stand for something again.
The Democrats are just loving this. It’s almost as if Boehner would rather help the Rats than represent the conservative base that won the Republican majority...
The Dems are loving it because their game plan for 2014 since the day after the kenyan won has been to divide the GOP. It was a widely reported strategy yet the lazy goobers in the beltway GOP continue to gift the Dems exactly what they want.
You and your GOP-E pals have done a good job of that yourselves, Orrin.
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