Quote of the Day - Speaker Boehner Edition Part 2

"The president has known for 16 months that this sequester was looming out there when the super committee failed to come to an agreement, and so for 16 months, the president has been traveling all over the country holding rallies instead of sitting down with Senate leaders in order to try to forge an agreement over there in order to move a bill. We have moved a bill in the House twice. We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something,"

Sadly he forgot to mention that sequester was the idea of the President.  Which is important since the media is not covering the outright dishonesty of the president on this topic.  

Quote of the Day - Jake Sherman Edition

But in the Post’s version of events, Obama is portrayed as worrying he would face a backlash from the left if he pulled the trigger. And former Obama chief of staff Bill Daley provided surprising, on-the-record support of the GOP’s insistence that the president deserves blame for losing his nerve.

Politico Reporter, Jake Sherman 

Quote of the Day - Speaker Boehner Edition

“Mr. President, why have you given up on the country and decided to campaign full-time?”

Speaker Boehner today at the Washington Ideas Forum. 

Yeah, I would like an answer to that question too. 

I bet so would she. 

Portrait of a Jackass - "Tea Party" Candidate David Lewis

John Boehner is far from perfect.  But a socialist?  I don't think so.  One of the things that I really admire about what Speaker Boehner has done is that he has given more power to the committee's in the house, and by doing so he is giving more voice to the individual congress member.  Which in turn gives more voice to the people in the districts they are representing.  He has ceded some of the power that when Nancy Pelosi was speaker grabbed away from the members.  She only allowed a few people to make all the decisions.  That is not representative government. 

Get A Grip Beck

Glenn Beck is all up in arms that the House Ethics Committee has barred some members of congress from going to his rally in Israel later this month.



On the air, Beck said he‘d heard it was Boehner’s office that was not approving members of Congress to attend the event, with 35 representatives at one point planning to attend before being told they’d been rejected by the House and would have to self-fund the trip if they wanted to go.


Beck wondered whether the congressmen were barred because “it is me as someone who holds the Republicans’ feet to the fire” or as retribution for voting against the debt ceiling deal.


I am unable to find a list of the 35 that wanted to attend so I don’t know if any of them voted for the debt ceiling or not. But, what I do know is that if it was indeed Speaker Boehner who stopped this trip, I want to shake his hand.


It is about frickin’ time that someone stand up to these congressman (and ladies too) and say hell no, if you want to jet all over the world you have to pay for it yourself. You see they are not being barred from attending, they are being barred by taking an all expensive paid trip to Israel. The charity that was planning on footing the bill is indeed a 501 (c)3. But what Beck doesn’t fully explain is that they don’t get called lobbyists when they are legally allowed to “educate” people on their particular issue. Whatever that issue may happen to be. For instance, they can hold seminars on the say global warming (a topic that Beck has spoken out against time and again), and give out all kinds of literature on that topic. That literature legally will be allowed to contain which legislation affects their topic. As long as they don’t tell someone directly to contact an elected official or try to contact that official themselves directly on that topic, they are in compliance with the law will be allowed to keep their non-profit tax exempt status. But they can take them on little junkets to the other side of the world and that is perfectly fine. That doesn’t sound a tad like lobbying to you?


I have seen quite a few conservatives all up in arms and calling Boehner a traitor. Seriously? They are legally allowed to indirectly lobby and by paying for this trip to Israel that is exactly what they were trying to do. The trip would have been so short that they wouldn’t have had time to have any meetings with Israeli officials. Basically they would have gotten off the plane, gone to Beck’s rally spent the night in I would presume a pretty expensive hotel room and got back on a plane the next day and flown home. Conservatives have a problem that Boehner put his foot down and said no?


Speaker Boehner let me be the first to shake your hand. They make $174K per year. They can afford a ticket to Israel. We need to take away as many people trying to influence the government as possible. This is why government officials don’t want to leave their jobs. These are exactly the type of perks that average Joe’s don’t get and make being a professional politician so lucrative. Enough already.


Get a grip Beck. This is exactly the type of thing you would be all over if the democrats did it. Is this hypocrisy on your part Glenn or just plain arrogance?

A Nice Little Ditty

http://www.thebigdc.com/mediaplayer/?station=WBIG-FM&action=ondemand&item=21298758

I don't know how to copy it straight over, but it is pretty funny. 

Enjoy

If Not Now, When Mr. Speaker?

Dear Mr. Speaker:

I am writing to you in regards to the debt ceiling vote taken in the house yesterday. As a concerned citizen and a member of The Tea Party I am more than a tad disappointed. I am not writing to call you a traitor or some of the other names I have heard bandied about in the conservative blogosphere. I understand the position that you are in. I understand that there is a difference between campaigning and governing. I also get that in the real world governing requires compromise. I also realize that this was probably the best you could get with the current make up of the senate and the white house. My question is if not now when? When we will get our spending under control?


I get that many in this country don't see the seriousness of the problem and how our spending is totally out of control. My disappointment, Mr. Speaker, in you comes from the lack of messaging on your part. The job you have done with this debate is poor. The masses in America must be made to understand that not raising the debt ceiling meant default. We would only default if we didn't pay the massive interest on our debt. Money comes into the treasury monthly we could have paid our debt. Not paying the debt would be a choice. A choice made treasury and to some degree the president. You did not get this message across.


Where has the GOP been in discussing this? Why have you not found a charismatic spokesperson to be out front of this problem and explain the truth of what is going on? Where was the GOP to explain that President Obama was flat-out lying when he said he wasn't sure that there would be enough to mail social security checks? Social Security is not bound by the debt ceiling. There is enough money coming into the treasury to pay it monthly without it affecting the debt at all. Also where was someone calling out the hypocrisy of the left always saying that Social Security is not broke? If it isn't broke and has money the issue of not making the monthly payments never should have come up.


Where you have been to explain to the American people that China has sold most of our debt? Where have you been to explain that Japan is not in a position to pick up the slack? Where have you been to explain that China is now having its own debt problems? Our options are becoming more and more limited everyday. Why don't most Americans understand this? It is up to you to explain it to them.


I get that media isn't going to help all that much to get this message out. That just makes all the more important that you do.


Mr. Speaker I am not naive enough to believe that one election was going to stop the out of control spending spree this country has been on for far too long. But I had hoped that you would have started the building blocks for the larger discussion this country must have. The U.S. is running out of viable financial options.


The only hope we have of turning this around is to make the masses understand that they can no longer elect people who are not 100% committed to getting our financial house in order.


This is where my disappointment lies Mr. Speaker. I get the bill, I just don't get your lack of messaging. I want you to succeed Mr. Speaker. I did my part in the last election cycle; I made the phone calls, I gave the money in donations, I knocked on doors. It is now your turn to get the truth out there. America is broke - we must deal with it now.


Regards,




Just a Conservative Girl

That Was Quite A Speech There Mr. Speaker

I am really liking this speech.  The American people need to be fully aware, THE ONLY reason we are having this discussion is because the republicans are listening to the Tea Party.  We MUST cut our debt. 

Quote of the Day - Renee Ellmers Edition

“appeal to [Obama’s] ego because its 'bigger than the deficit."”

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers

Reportedly from closed door meeting of Congressional Republicans with Speaker Boehner. 

Gotta love her. 

Boehner on Budget and Over Spending

In his first TV interview since the deal was announced.  I agree with him, this was a start.  We have a long way to go and there is only so much they can do until we get the senate back. 

Speaker Boehner Won Tonight

There seems to be some consternation on the deal made between Speaker Boehner, Reid and President Obama.  Many on the right seem to be unhappy about this and are saying that Boehner caved.  Really?  I don't think so. 

While the cuts were less than the right was hoping for, there is great deal to be happy about with this deal. 

There will be an up or down vote on appealing Obamacare on the Senate floor.  23 dem senators are up for re-election next year.  Some of those come from states that are very much against Obamacare.  Clare McCaskill, Ben Nelson, and Joe Manchin just to name three.  They will have to go on the record with a vote.  During his campaign, Manchin repeatedly said he was against Obamacare on the federal level.  He will now have to put his money where is mouth is.  Missouri voted in the last election against mandates and McCaskill has since admitted that the bill needs to be improved.  We all remember what an uproar Nelson caused with his vote for Obamacare.  I am sure none of these people are happy to find out that they are going to have to make this vote.  If they vote yes, they lose their base, if they vote no they lose the independents.  It is a no win vote for them and great fundraising material for their opponents. 

The additional IRS agents that were to be hired to implement Obamacare have been defunded.  This is huge win for the right. 

No public funds for abortion in D.C. 

An up or down vote for funding of Planned Parenthood on the senate floor.  Again, no chance of becoming law, but it will get them on the record. 

The reality is that polls were moving towards the dems favor, almost 40% of the country would have blamed the GOP for the shutdown.  The left was winning the argument when it was framed that they were holding out over funding for Planned Parenthood.  While the majority of the country is now Pro-life they still feel that abortion shouldn't not be illegal.  They are personally against abortion.  People did not want to see the military not getting paid over a very small amount of money in the federal budget that goes to organization that many people do believe offer more services than abortion. 

The GOP has the wiggle room to allow many of the tea party members to vote nay and it still pass comfortably.  Which will help Boehner keep the caucus together. 

The press today coming from the left was full of vitriol with all the comments:

“This is probably one of the worst times we’ve seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus,” Slaughter said. “In ’94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they’re here to kill women.”



“There is actually a war on women,” the California Democrat said Thursday in Washington, taking aim at House Republicans’ efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and restrict access to abortions, among other measures.



We are absolutely outraged. This is the functional equivalent of bombing innocent civilians,” she said.

“It’s time that the District of Columbia told the Congress to go straight to hell!”

Thank you Speaker Boehner.  You did your job and set the groundwork for the real battles; the debt ceiling and the 12 budget. 
 
Read more here.

DC Scholarship Program One Step Closer to Reinstatement

Today the house passed a bill to reinstate the DC Voucher program.  It gained very little democratic support.  Shocker, I know.  The dems actually had the nerve to say:

Democrats opposed it as an inappropriate use of federal funds and an unwelcome intrusion into local affairs.

If the dems really felt that education was a local affair why do we still have the Department of Education.  That is an intrusion into local affairs.  They then go into the mantra that it will adversely affect public school funding.  The problem is that is wrong.  This funding will only give 1/3 of the funding for the bill to go to the voucher program.  $100 Million going to vouchers and $200 Million to the public/charter school system.  For those that are not aware, the school system in DC is federally funded.  The reality is that the vouchers for high school students is 12K per year as opposed to the 28K that is paid for the public school system.  It is actually cheaper to send the kids to private school and the graduation rates are significantly higher and does have higher rates for reading comprehension.  Read an additional report here.  You can also read a letter from a parent who talks about the change not only in her daughter's life but her own. 

Its lead author, Patrick J. Wolf, told a Senate committee last month that the program was good for students

But, why would the democrats let facts get in the way when they have the unions to protect? 

Here is Speaker Boehner on the topic today on the floor of the house.  There is hope in the house.  Sen. Lieberman is a sponsor of the bill and there has been Dem support for vouchers when it passed several years ago.  It then falls onto to President Obama.  Will he veto a bill that will give under privileged students access to the same school his two daughters attend.  I have said this before, Obama knows that vouchers is part of the solution, does he have the backbone to stand up to the unions?   

And here is one of my favorite congressman.

Welcome Speaker Boehner

Yesterday the 112th Congress started off with the election of Speaker John Boehner. I had the opportunity to attend a viewing party given by the NRCC, so of course I took advantage of the invite and went. The room was packed with guests from all over the country. Even with some relatives of new members that couldn't get a seat inside the chamber.



Afterwards there were receptions being held by many of the new members. Some offices were much more full than others. Tim Scott's office was so packed it spilled out into the hallway. I actually came about his office by accident because the updated office listings were not to be posted until today. So, I got to have a little chat with him. My local tea party has decided to welcome the new tea party fav's with some baking, and I went around today finding out about baked goods requests. Although, that was not all I did, but it was part of my assignment. We want the new members to feel welcome, yet we also want them to understand that we are watching.


I also went to a few other tea party favorites to say hello. Senator Rubio wins the prize for worst ever senate office. It is no better than a cubicle. It is literally across the hall from the senate stationary office in the basement. Rand Paul has not fared much better, but it is still a step up from Rubio.  I do hope that they get better digs soon.  Those offices are shameful. 


I happen to run into Congressman Pence during my travels as well. I explained to him that while I realize that he was looking for the office of Governor, we really need him to be president. I asked him nicely and even said pretty please. So I figure he will be announcing for president any day now!! In all seriousness, he would make an amazing president. If you have not read his speech given on the limits of the executive branch you should.

Without proper adherence to the role contemplated in the Constitution for the presidency, the checks and balances in the constitutional plan become weakened. This has been most obvious in recent years when the three branches of government have been subject to the tutelage of a single party. Under either party, presidents have often forgotten that they are intended to restrain the Congress at times, and that the Congress is independent of their desires. And thus fused in unholy unity, the political class has raged forward in a drunken expansion of powers and prerogatives, mistakenly assuming that to exercise power is by default to do good.

I also paid a visit to Congressman (I really like the sound of that) West, Congresswoman Bachmann, and to the new Speaker. I had an interesting run in with Congressman Sandy Levin. For those who are not aware, some of the elevators in all the congressional buildings are for "members only". Sandy must have forgotten where he was, because he wouldn't let this lady get on the elevator with him, but he was on the public elevator. I guess he didn't want to mix with the "people" who were there to support the new republican class. There was a large group of people who were all stunned by his actions. I also ran into Congresswoman Waters and she didn't seem all that pleased with all the hustle and bustle around the new republican class offices. Oh well, she will get over it.



It was a very nice day filled with way too much food and more cake than I should have allowed myself to eat. My night ended with a dinner that was given by Americans For Prosperity. There were some very interesting people there, such as Terri Christoph; one of the founders of Smart Girls Politics, Stacy McCain of The Other McCain, and some writers from Townhall.


Sadly, I didn't make it to every party that I had an invite to, but it was still a very full and happy day. The only question that I have is why did Nanny Pelosi enter the chamber after Boehner? Did she not realize that her time has now passed?

In case you missed the speech: