Boehner Gets it Right on Earmarks
January 17th, 2008 at 06:57am Mark Noonan
Via NRO’s The Corner:
Boehner Says House GOP Must Draw Line On Earmarks Or Prepare For Permanent Minority.
House Minority Leader John Boehner used the first House GOP Conference meeting of 2008 to draw a very hard line on congressional earmarks. Boehner, who is one of the few Members of Congress who does not earmark, told his colleagues that if they cannot break out of that habit, they will not regain the majority. According to a knowledgeable source, Boehner told the Conference this morning, “Washington is broken. We need to show the American people we’re ready to fix it,” adding, “We aren’t going to earn the majority back until we do something serious about earmarks. If we don’t get serious about it, and get serious soon, we’re going nowhere.” The source said Boehner concluded by saying, “I have no interest in being minority leader just to be minority leader. I took this job to lead an effort to earn back our majority — this year. Not next year or the year after that. This year.”
These are the exact right words - now we’ll have to see if they are matched by deeds, and if a majority of the GOP caucus will show the necessary backbone to go along.
There were lots of reasons we lost our Congressional majority in 2006 but not least among these reasons is that we ceased to be the GOP, and started being Democrat-lite. This didn’t so much turn people towards the Democrats, but it did turn GOPers away from the GOP. We GOPers have to give people a reason for returning us to the majority - and that means we have to show that we are in deadly ernest in changing the way DC does business. Earmarks are not the only thing wrong in DC, but they are the perfect symbol of that confluence of money and influence-peddling which turns the stomach of all honest citizens. The Democrats will not - and cannot - clean up DC as their power is based largely upon appropriating government swag for favored groups, but we GOPers are supposed to be better than that. And we’ll have to be better than that, if we ever want to have our majority back.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Congress, Corruption, Republicans
7 Comments
1. Bigfoot | January 17th, 2008 at 7:51 am
The GOP had 12 years to do something about pork, er, uh, earmarks - and let them proliferate even worse than their Dem predecessors did. I agree with Boehmer in principle, but the GOP’s track record doesn’t give me much room for optimism.
2. Eric T | January 17th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Boehner did a better job than Nancy Pelosi we got to put him back.
3. SteaM | January 17th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I agree with Beohner’s words but I don’t think his actions or his parties actions will speak any louder.
I also think that the GOP won’t gain a majority again until they back away from so much warmongering, fearmongering, and shoving religion down our throats. The Fundamentalist and Evangelical South cannot effectively run our government. People recognize this now finally. Even Clinton was a Southern Baptist.
4. Sunny | January 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Eric T | January 17th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Boehner did a better job than Nancy Pelosi we got to put him back.
When was Boehner Speaker of the House? I must have slept through his term.
5. Eric T | January 17th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Majority leader, sorry there sunshine.
6. Joe | January 17th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Eric T,
Better based on what???
7. Web Smith | January 18th, 2008 at 12:08 am
The GOP is looking a real opportunity in the face.
Change was wanted and a Democratic Congress was put in place and nothing changed. The Democrats have, as a result, disenfranchised their constituents.
Almost half of the Republican Senatorial seats are going to be up for grabs. If the GOP can present a fresh set of faces offering lower taxes, less spending, and smaller government they stand to easily reclaim the Senate and the Congress. If they can get over this war thing, it’s a lock.