John Boehner closes the deal to avoid government shutdown

This post is dedicated to those in the House and those on the outside that said that John Boehner would not be an effective speaker. I don't know anyone else who could have gotten so many cuts out of the Democrats and avoided a Government shutdown. Some of the loudest voices need to realize that their agenda is not the only one in Congress. Cannot believe some of the statements I read from so-called 'conservatives' that are attacking this bill from the right. I understand the left being mad but once again some members of the right don't know when to stand down and quit expecting everything they want. Like some Democrats they don't seem to care who gets hurt in the process as long as they have 100% victory.

The person who founded the Tea Party Nation wants to run someone against John Boehner because of this agreement. He needs to just that and my old Ohio Congressional District will show him what they think of him and his Tea Party Nation when they return John Boehner to the House in big numbers. The man would rather oust Boehner than Democrats. Says a lot about the Tea Party Nation and its founder.

John Boehner closes the deal to avoid government shutdown 


'It’s a big deal. It shows a great deal of leadership,' said Dave Camp of John Boehner.
AP Photo

By JOHN BRESNAHAN & JAKE SHERMAN | 4/9/11 2:35 AM EDT
They gathered in HC-5 all week talking — sometimes complaining loudly — about where the party was headed in the budget crisis. Many said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) didn’t share enough information. Others were peeved he wasn’t pushing for deep enough cuts. Some were ready for a government shutdown.

And on Friday night, Boehner himself was unsure what would happen. Halfway through a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, an aide approached Boehner, slipped him a piece a paper, which he read and quickly pocketed.

He then stepped to the podium, and announced what everyone had been waiting for.

“We have a deal,” the Ohio Republican said around 10:30 p.m.

And with that, Boehner had something more — a defining moment in his speakership and a chance to set aside questions about his ability to manage an unwieldy caucus of conservatives, at least for now.

The 61-year-old, swept into the speaker’s chair during last November’s GOP landslide, faced down two Democrats — Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) — and answered doubts from the conservative movement about whether he was a true believer.

His colleagues stood and cheered at his announcement of a deal, knowing Boehner secured more than $38.5 billion in cuts, a far higher figure than many of them expected just days before. Boehner still has to get the votes next week for the long-term budget deal, and he’s got a huge sales job ahead on raising the debt limit, not to mention debating the entire 2012 budget.

“It’s a big deal. It shows a great deal of leadership,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), a Boehner ally. “It’s a big win for the speaker.”

In a larger sense, Boehner has achieved more than just a short-term budget victory — in his first three months as speaker, he’s helped turn the entire Washington dialogue into a debate about the size and scope of government. He started the year by getting rid of earmarks, he’s pushing through some of the deepest spending cuts in American history, and he’ll now try to get most of the GOP Conference on board with Rep. Paul Ryan’s fiscal 2012 budget — one of the most audacious long-term spending plans in recent memory.

All this came together from a politician who was kicked out of leadership 12 years ago and came to the speaker’s job with serious question marks from the right about how he would go about dealmaking with a Democratic president while corralling the 87-strong group of GOP freshmen.

There were only a few wayward critics in the wee hours of Saturday morning — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) criticized the deal, as well as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who chairs the conservative Republican Study Committee. One tea party leader, Judson Phillips, the founder of Tea Party Nation, tweeted Friday that Boehner is “selling us out” and he threatened to put up a primary candidate against Boehner.

But several lawmakers and aides noted that when things get heated, Boehner’s demeanor stayed unshakably even. Asked whether he was optimistic as the budget talks stretched into Friday night, Boehner said, “You know me, I was born with the glass half full.”

Boehner also benefited from continuity of message: he said all along that he didn’t want to shut down the government, and he didn’t. He said $33 billion in cuts was too little, despite Obama and Reid saying he had agreed to that number only to renege, and in the final deal he scored nearly $6 billion more in reductions than that. Boehner said policy riders would have to be a part of a final package, and indeed they were.

Excerpt: Read more: Politico.com

Anyone who knows me is well aware of my opinions about some of the national Tea Party leaders -- they have become arrogant and part of the 'my way or no way' crowd which I have always disliked. For once, the Tea Party Express was correct when they said they didn't want a shutdown.

The premise of Americans getting involved in what is going on in Government that started the Tea Party was a great idea but that idea has been co opted by people who want to use for their agenda like running for President. That is just flat out wrong. People need to be encouraged to get involved by honest brokers not people looking to use the Tea Party for their own agenda. We will have more about that in the days ahead as we encourage everyone to get involved in what is happening to try and bring some common sense to the discussion.