Posted on 04/11/2013 5:23:04 PM PDT by Red Steel
This is exactly what you want to hear with bills on gun control and immigration in the pipeline.
Dude, I’m nervous.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) signaled Thursday that he may continue to bypass a House Republican rule [i.e. the "Hastert Rule"] that has required any legislation being voted upon to have the support of a majority of the GOP conference…
He said at a news conference Thursday that he will continue to try and follow it in spirit, but also suggested he might well violate it for upcoming votes on guns, immigration and the budget.
“Listen: It was never a rule to begin with,” Boehner said. “And certainly my prerogative – my intention is to always pass bills with strong Republican support.”
He’s violated the Hastert Rule several times on budgetary matters, most notably the fiscal-cliff deal (and as recently as two days ago), but caving on cultural hot-buttons like background checks and amnesty has the makings of a Category Five shinolastorm among the base. Some House conservatives are already warning him not to cross the line:
The effort is being led by Reps. Paul Broun, a Senate hopeful gunning for Georgia’s open seat, and Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican who gained notoriety earlier this year for inviting rocker/2nd Amendment-defender Ted Nugent to the State of the Union.
“We are writing to express our strong opposition to legislation requiring private sale background checks for firearms purchases,” the letter reads. “Under the precedents and traditions of the House, we would ask that no gun legislation be brought to the floor of the House unless it has the support of a majority of our caucus.”…
A spokesman for Rep. Stockman says more than 45 Republicans have signed the letter, although it’s doubtful a “Hastert majority” of the House GOP will endorse it.
Other House members are warning him to follow regular order on immigration and not try to rush the bill through. Could a bill even get through GOP-dominated House committees, though? The only way to get something passed might be to violate both the Hastert Rule and regular order: Bypass the committees, rush something to the floor, and then hope that a unanimous Democratic caucus and critical mass of 30 or so GOP squishes rams it through. The question is, what if that happens? Will the caucus, under the microscope of a shady amnesty vote, be forced to oust him as Speaker? Or is Jonathan Bernstein right that tea-party congressmen kind of like the idea of seeing popular legislation pass, which arguably helps the party in the aggregate, while being able to vote no on it, which helps them in their home districts? It’s certainly true that, for all of Boehner’s anti-Hastert-Rule heresies, there’s been no serious effort to depose him. But maybe on immigration and, especially, on guns, the caucus would have no choice. If a bad bill passes and they don’t dump him, conservatives back home might hold it against them regardless of whether they voted no on the bill itself.
ANY gun bill that has Obama’s support is a clear and present danger to freedom. Passing such a bill would obviously be stupid and treasonous. I wish that thought made me feel more secure that Boehner would not do it.
This man is a disgrace and should have been sent packing from the leadership. Funny that I am getting desensitized to this stuff anymore. Seriously comes as no surprise.
If Boehner screws this up, the only way for the Rs to even hold the House in 2014 would be dump him.
What the hell ever happened to a conference committee bill?
Come on. This is ridiculous.
Any one for TEA?
Puke PING! What Levin’s talking about...
rino’s - democrats.
gop elite leadership - democrats.
done with em. seriously done with em. they don’t do what we want and need one. let their precious moderates and liberals vote them in over opposing democrats. see how well that works.
once they’re out of power we can run real conservative candidates and get the seats back.
I’ll have some TEA!
They’re pushing the people of this Country to the brink. There is just one political party and it wants the people to revolt. It gives them cover to destroy the Republic.
Boehner- the Judas Goat
Can’t anything be done about this guy, or are we stuck with him forever?
We are Al Sharpton like victims and you GOpers must listen to us!
or we will cry.
wawwwwww!
“Boehner- the Judas Goat”
Yup.
Owned. By 0bama and the Left.
Boehner is no more likely to screw this up than Roberts is to mess up a basic constitutional law question like ObamaCare.
this man is in a position to prevent some of the terrible damage being done to America....
if only he would to to WallyMart and buy a can of courage...
(make that Costco and a CASELOAD of courage!)
They had a chance to replace but they all turned red coat and let him serve again. He promised and apologized and of course weeped and they gave into him.
I seriously believe Obama has something on Boehner. Does he have an affair in his closet or is he a closet gay. It’s the only thing that makes sense of why he thinks he is the all powerful Oz.
Hey, look . . . this guy gets to play golf with our pipe-stem armed illegal alien in the White House . . . do you?
He gets invited to super-dooper dinners in the White House . . . do you?
He's two steps from the White House if something happens to Obozo . . . are you?
And maybe be gets to fly around in Airfarce One with Obambibozo . . . do you?
So why don't you, and I, and everyone else just shut up and get back to work.
Bohner would become a national HERO if he would only do his job....
Well put, and the GOP lacks the will or maybe even the desire to replace him. Boehner has the power to lose the House in 2014 if he so desires. What would the Rats pay to gain control of the House?
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