As the United States now is poised on the brink of what experts and non-talk-show-political-culture analysts (including establishment Republicans) say is a financial catastrophe, when House Majority Leader John Boehner walked away from negotiations over the debt ceiling limit with President Barack Obama, according to The Politico he gave House Republicans what they wanted. It’s yet another indication of the sheer partisanship and grudge match of American politics — even if the risk is national and global financial upheaval. Here’s part of the piece:
This is the Speaker John Boehner that House Republicans wanted.
The Ohio Republican accused President Barack Obama of demanding hundreds of billions in tax increases as part of a deal to raise the nation’s debt limit — a revenue boost the nation’s top Republican said he simply couldn’t accept.
Just minutes after a press conference where Obama accused the speaker of failing to lead House Republicans, Boehner countered sharply by trying to place any blame for the setback directly on Obama.
“I do trust him as a negotiator, but you have to understand, every step of this process was difficult,” Boehner said on Friday night. “Dealing with the White House is like dealing with a bowl of Jell-O.”
Boehner said several times that he had “an agreement” with Obama, only to portray the president as reneging on the framework for that compromise.
“Let me just say the White House moved the goal posts,” Boehner declared. “There was an agreement on some additional revenues until yesterday when the president demanded $400 billion more which was going to be nothing more than a tax increase on the American people.” Boehner said he was “very disappointed in this call for higher revenue.”
It’s a revelation that left Obama finger-wagging and mad, but a move that will likely put the speaker in good favor in his rightward leaning conference. They don’t trust the president or his administration and are wary of any potential deal ultimately cut with Democrats.
Towards the ending:
Boehner likely will be damaged in the eyes of the public. His approval ratings — which aides say means precious little to the speaker — are in the gutter. Many conservatives see him as the problem with Washington — a two-decade fixture in D.C. who is close to lobbyists and doesn’t apologize for it. His government funding measure, the right says, was nothing more than a bill of goods sold to political neophytes to avoid a government shut down.
To the chattering class, Boehner is an unmovable conservative who can’t say yes. A man who publicly shudders at tax increases and is controlled by the conservative right of his party.
But in the Capitol, that’s what Boehner needs.
His 240-person House Republican Conference wants to see Boehner walk away. GOP lawmakers certainly don’t want an agreement with the president, unless it’s on their terms. They’re unconcerned if Democrats vote for their plan, because its a sign of weakness. They want the rock-ribbed conservative Boehner who will stare down default – and Obama – unflinchingly, and only narrowly avoid calamity with a conservative plan.
So this is what governance has come to: all power politics. All playing to the Tea Party base.
Read THIS for more thoughts on what is occuring.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.