Redstate

Posted at 10:53am on May 16, 2008 Present Instead of No

By Erick

Having blasted the House GOP this week, let me praise them today.

They got fed up with the Democrats playing games with the lives of our troops. The Democrats, in pushing their war supplemental, highlighted their real priorities. In order, they were tax increases on the entrepreneurial class, spending on liberal social programs, tying the hands of the Commander-in-Chief, and screwing the war criminals in Iraq troops.

The GOP did the only thing left they could do -- they refused to participate in the game. Instead of even voting no, they voted present. It had a lot of people scratching their heads, but these people paid attention and asked why.

And, again, the answer is simple: the Democrats are playing games with the lives of our soldiers in harm's way. They do not want to fund the troops, but they know they have to. So they are trying to fund everything else first and daring the President to veto the funding.

He will. He should. And the GOP continues to be the party that stands up for the troops. Here's Roy Blunt on the matter:

the bottom line on this week's bill was it was never designed to fund the troops. The Democrats knew that this would not be a bill signed into law. It was designed to be a package that used the troops to do other spending that they know they can't get done without the troops.

Republican members voted present on that section of the bill. We then demonstrated we had the veto-sustaining strength that everybody knew we had on the other two sections of the bill.

Posted in Congress | John Boehner | Playing Games with the Troops | Present | War — Comments (10)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:52am on May 14, 2008 Going Old Testament on the House GOP

Their Deserved Walk in the Wilderness

By Erick

"Not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times - not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.

"So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.' "

Numbers 14:22-23, 28-34

We've talked a lot here about the GOP being in the wilderness. That metaphor comes from this Old Testament passage. The Lord sent the Israelites into the promised land and the Israelite scouts reported back with fear and trembling that they'd never be able to defeat the occupants of the land. The Lord had provided many signs and wonders, yet the Israelites doubted.

In punishment, the Lord said the Israelites would wander for forty years until all the present generation of sinners who doubted him had died off. And here we find a parallel of the Republican Party and why I yet again must advocate bloody purges.

Read on . . .

Posted in 2008 | house republicans | John Boehner | Roy Blunt | Tom Cole — Comments (54)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:32pm on Apr. 1, 2008 Rep. McDermott Bravely Loses Millions for Free Speech

That's what he keeps telling himself anyways . . .

By Kevin Holtsberry

Good thing Jim McDermott got Saddam to pay for his trip to Iraq, because it turns out he owes House Minority Leader John Boehner a lot of money:

A federal judge says House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, can collect more than $1 million in his lawsuit against Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington state.

The decision was issued in a decade-long dispute over an illegally taped telephone call. In the 1996 call, Republican leaders discussed an ethics case against then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. A Florida couple recorded the cell phone call on a radio scanner and McDermott leaked the tape to two newspapers.

Boehner sued and a federal court found that McDermott had no right to release the calls. The Supreme Court decided in December not to revisit the case.

McDermott claims that his losing and owing over a million dollars is a good thing:

McDermott called the court fight with Boehner “a long and costly battle,” but said the million-dollar judgment was “a small price to pay in defense of so fundamental a principle, and freedom, as the First Amendment.”

Because of the protracted legal challenge, “the First Amendment is stronger today, and shielded by new case law that will buttress its capacity to protect the publication of truthful information on matters of public importance long into the future,” McDermott said in a statement Tuesday. “ Knowing this, I am proud of my role in defense of the First Amendment.”

Rep. McDermott, however, didn't have much luck rallying free speech defenders to his righteous cause:

McDermott has created a legal defense trust fund to cover expenses related to the lawsuit. A report filed with the House clerk shows the trust fund took in about $56,000 in the final three months of last year, for a full-year total of just over $100,000.

Dan McLaughlin summed this case up well a few years ago:

So, if you are keeping score at home, that would be one House Democrat to zero current Congressional or White House Republicans who have been found by a court of law to have participated in illegal domestic surveillance of political opponents.

Remember this next time the Democrats begin spouting off about the rule of law and the culture of corruption, etc.

Posted in Congress | Culture of Corruption | John Boehner — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:57pm on Feb. 14, 2008 House Republicans Aren't Serious About Earmark Reform

Steering Committee Puts Rep. Jo Bonner on Appropriations

By Bluey

Just when it appeared House Republicans had turned the corner on earmark reform, party leaders did the unthinkable. They picked Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) for the vacant seat on the Appropriations Committee, bypassing conservative Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and the opportunity to show they were committed to real reform.

Bonner may talk a good game when it comes to earmark reform. However, his record is abysmal. The three-term Republican scored just 2% on the Club for Growth's 2007 RePORK Card, meaning he voted for just one of the 50 anti-pork amendments offered by conservatives. Andy Roth notes that's the same score as liberal Reps. Steny Hoyer, Bill Jefferson and James Moran. Flake, on the other hand, not only supported all 50, but he introduced many himself.

The National Taxpayers Union scorecard paints an even worse picture. While Flake was earning A's consistently, Bonner was receiving B's and C's. Flake scored 92% in 2006, whereas Bonner had a pathetic 55% on NTU's scorecard for all tax, spending, trade and regulatory votes.

Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips called it "a huge missed opportunity for true earmark reform and for the Republican Party."

Of course, Bonner's record didn't stop Minority Leader John Boehner from trying to spin this as a victory for earmark reformers.

Jo Bonner was chosen because he symbolizes the changing perspective in the House Republican ranks on the role of earmarks, and the emerging consensus among Republicans on the need to fundamentally change Washington’s broken spending process.

Boehner should be smarter than to feed us this line of bull. Even though Flake demonstrated his commitment to reform by taking tough votes year after year, the House Republican Steering Committee decided Bonner's convenient change in rhetoric was enough to pacify taxpayers.

We cannot let the Steering Committee get away with this sham. Below is a list of the Steering Committee. Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and make your voice heard.

Continued on the jump...

Posted in Congress | Earmarks | Jo Bonner | John Boehner | Pork-Barrel Politics — Comments (21)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:28pm on Feb. 6, 2008 Boehner's Solid Pick for Civil Rights Commission

By Bluey

House Minority Leader John Boehner appointed Todd Gaziano to fill the vacant seat on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights today, adding another strong and thoughtful defender of equal rights to the commission.

For the past decade, Todd has played an instrumental role in advancing the true guarantee of equal protection for all Americans -- one free of unconstitutional quotas and preferences. I've witnessed his work firsthand; he's a colleague of mine at The Heritage Foundation, where he serves as a senior legal fellow and director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.

As a commissioner, Todd will help lead the agency in analyzing civil rights issues in America and studying the enforcement of civil rights laws. Former Attorney General Ed Meese praised Boehner's appointment: "Todd has shown great leadership on civil rights issues. His effectiveness is enhanced by his energy and new thinking that values results over partisan squabbling."

I had an opportunity to talk to Todd shortly after the appointment was announced. Below is a short Q&A about his new role as a commissioner and the issues he'll be confronting on the commission.

Read the interview ...

Posted in Civil Rights | John Boehner | Law — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:59am on Dec. 7, 2007 John Boehner Misses A Great Opportunity

a few words from Jacques Chirac to the wise

By streiff

Yesterday House Minority Leader John Boehner missed a couple of great opportunities.

In the hotly contested primary in MD-1, Mr Boehner endorsed the candidacy of the incumbent, Wayne Gilchrest.

Why Mr. Boehner felt it necessary to weigh in on the primary in a safe Republican district borders on the inexplicable. This is not the case of a Arlen Specter v. Pat Toomey race where the incumbent was viewed as the only way to retain a seat. Selling out principle for power can be a disgusting act to watch but rarely does it leave one scratching their butt in wonderment. MD-1, absent an Act of God, is going to have a Republican representative.

We documented repeatedly on Wayne Gilchrest's dubious claim to being a member of the Republican caucus. He is the only Republican to have voted to override all five of President Bush's vetoes. He has resolutely pursued defeat in Iraq even to the extent of supporting the odious John Murtha's attempts to defund the war while leaving the troops in combat. He votes for every bit of pork that comes down the pike. What is notable about his support of pork is that none of it arrives in Mr. Gilchrest's stronghold in the economically depressed Eastern Shore of Maryland, though Mr. Gilchrest has a pattern of showing up in even numbered years and promising to build this wharf or dredge that channel, promises which never seem to materialize.

Mr. Boehner, himself, is well acquainted with the inconstancy and pliable loyalty of Mr. Gilchrest. In the race for House Minority Leader Mr Gilchrest promised his support to Mr. Boehner then jumped ship to support Representative Roy Blunt.

The best choice for Mr. Boehner would have been to take a bit of advice from Jacques Chirac. It would have cost him nothing and had the added virtue of being the right thing to do. If he couldn't do that then the next best would have been to endorse one of the two conservative challengers in the race and try to create a more cohesive Republican caucus.

Why he couldn't restrain himself or, failing that, act to strengthen the party is a mystery.

Posted in John Boehner | Maryland | Republicans | Wayne Gilchrest — Comments (14)/ Email this page » / Read More »