Boehner's decision to step down is really, really monumental. My guess is that he will cram through a continuing resolution to keep the government open (maybe longer than December) and then drop the mic. Maybe he lets a few more bills move through his chamber towards the Senate. Some form of watered down immigration reform that could also pass the Senate would do small wonders for his party.
But the bigger question is who the next Speaker will be. Boehner rode an uneasy herd over a fractious, rebellious caucus. The fact is that there are about 50 legislative nihilists in the House for whom nothing will suffice except an overturn of the New Deal. They have the potential to hold the Speakership hostage. Or they could force a coalition of Democrats and moderates to elect a Speaker like Charlie Dent (I ain't holding my breath).
In some ways the fault lines exposed by Donald Trump are the same issue that's playing out here. The 30% of the Trumpenproletariat are the same 30% of the House GOP caucus who are just batshit insane or mind-numbingly stupid. Or in the case of Louis Goehmert, both.
I always had a glimmer of sympathy for Boehner, sometimes more than a glimmer. I still believe he wanted to be a deal-making macher who wielded enormous influence and left behind a conservative legislative legacy. Instead, he was assigned the unenviable task to presiding over the lunafication of the GOP.
I'm sure the millions he is about to earn on K Street will keep him in Pappy Van Winkle though.
No comments:
Post a Comment