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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

An Interesting Observation

And a bit of history of the conservative movement.

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 29th, 2011 at 09:39 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

As I wrap up what turned out to be 7 hours of radio and 3 of television, let me leave you with an interesting observation from a very wise conservative sage:

John Boehner’s flailing performance may actually have a silver lining to conservatives’ advantage. When his plan and the end game blow up in the House Republicans’ face as it surely will, a lot of the new conservatives who decided to get on the team, get their asses in line, and side with the Speaker will be permanently against him and for conservatism.

Let’s not forget that one young congressmen stood up for the team and loyalty and voted for No Child Left Behind to help his President. Then when he realized he’d been betrayed and NCLB stank as bad as conservatives had said it would, Jim DeMint left his old ways and became the champion of the right.

Boehner should have remembered his history. Or at least Barry Jackson should have. It’s part of his legacy.

Barry Jackson, for those who don’t know, is John Boehner’s Chief of Staff and was a key player in getting No Child Left Behind passed.

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  • runner12

    Thanks, Erick. That is encouraging to me.

    If any good can come out of this, I hope those new GOP members learned their lesson to never trust the establishment leadership too much. Stick to principles.

    May I also add, God bless Sen. Jim DeMint and all of the SC delegation for standing on principle today.

  • atlracer35

    GA can be proud of Paul Broun and Tom Graves today for having a spine and not caving in. Extremely disappointed in Tom Price but was not surprised. A few months back at a Cobb Republican breakfast he was already talking compromise.

    I don’t think the Republicans realize that there is a ground swell of conservatives starting to brew who are more focused on cleansing their own party in 2012 than worrying about the libs. Today’s vote identifies who gets support and $.

    At least you know where the libs stand and they don’t back down. But it’s getting down right sickening to hear our reps talk about conservatism and then abandon it when push comes to shove!

  • lineholder

    coming to grips with the reality that you’ve been flat out deceived to change a person’s perspective. What’ more, when that happens, there is no going back either.

  • GregInFla

    The US Constitution states (paraphrasing here) that all revenue/spending bills must originate in the House. That makes he two houses unequal, and gives the House more power. He needs to use that power, and make sure everyone understands why. Folks need to know that the People’s House controls the purse strings, and the Senate needs to deal with that.

  • http://www.barrypopik.com barrypopik

    “As I wrap up what turned out to be 7 hours of radio and 3 of television…”

    I enjoyed you filling in for Neal Boortz. Neal came back onThursday, then left again on Friday? It was a bit strange not to listen to you on Thursday on Austin’s KLBJ.

    [OT: I've suspended my MNBC Watch (it's just too tough to wach). However, for laughs, check out online Rachel Maddow's sub, liberal partisan hack Melissa Harris-Perry, who interviewed Marxist Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) on today's actions in Congress. Harris-Perry treats Crazy Lee like some great hero. Whenever Harris-Perry mentions a Republican, she tilts her head or gives a smirk.]

  • d_lamar

    As I’ve repeated in a couple of recent post, the framers of the Constitution granted the House of Representatives (the people’s house) an absolute veto over the Executive branch’s spending. If the House doesn’t approve it, then it can’t be spent.

    That’s why it’s so frustrating that all these useless programs and departments are still funded:

    1. EPA
    2. Energy
    3. NPR
    4. Commerce
    5. Education
    6. NLRB
    7. Planned Parenthood
    8. Acorn
    9. Csars
    10. First Lady’s staff
    11. Congressional and Executive health care and retirement programs.

    Why, Mr. Boehner, do you support this spending?

  • reedsofrunnymede

    What does it take? This guy wouldn’t balance the budget with 300 Republicans in the House, 70 in the Senate and Jim DeMint as President.

  • dontell

    My Republican Rep out of Illinois for voting no. Lots of guts.

  • Bill S

    Johnson is usually on the wrong side of those votes. Not sure what got into him.

    (I used to live in central IL and he was my rep, so I used to watch his moves pretty closely. In fact, my kid used to play basketball against his son and we were often in the stands together, watching the games…)

  • dontell

    He’s been on the right side…the next DeMint???

  • Bill S

    I haven’t tracked his votes near as closely as before, but I have noticed he’s been on the wrong side (IMO) of a few over the last few years. His last two ACU ratings (unfortunately the only weather vane I have to use) are around 80%, which is quite a bit higher than his lifetime sub-70 number.

  • dajeeps

    While it would be nice if it could “fix” itself, the probably of it turning out to be an enduring solution is pretty low, Republicans are being set up for the exact same predicament as the Democrats are in now, and unless we win big in ’12, we’re going to have lasting economic problems as a result of not being able to get much done in the Senate.

    It just seems to me that we are having a problem wrapping our heads around the idea that while gov’t has usurped power from the states, and is highly inefficient and dysfunctional as a result, it does not mean that they are poweless to clean up this mess. I don’t endorse a BBA as a solution because there are too many other places to bury the bodies and maintain a monolitic tyranny over us, but if that’s what we seem to be set on we can get it regardless of how much power Harry Reid thinks he has. He has power only because the states have acquiesed to usurpation of power over the last several decades, power that he and his party are now abusing. But they can, and rightfully should, take it back.

    I am not suggesting that we should abandon pressure on congress, but that perhaps we should expand our horizons and exert pressure on our state houses to resist and or call a convention to straighten out the huge mess in DC from way too much power being concentrated there. If we really want our constitution back, and to bring some sanity to DC, that is like the only way it is going to happen where it cannot be undone.

  • 6eorge Jetson

    What a frustrating week.

    I feel like a football player, at best coming off the field after punting on 4th & 1 at the 50, at worst after fumbling the ball away.

    But you still keep playing hard. Somewhere.

  • RDCook

    Newly elected Conservatives in Congress are aware that dealing with the devil will no longer be accepted by the American public. When will the rest realize the Washington politics as usual must end?

    Bi partisan compromise = When the RINOs and Democrats agree to slightly remove their fondling hands from each other?s front pockets so they can reach further with their left to fleece the public.

  • lvjohnston

    Rep Johnson’s district was just revised from this (the yellow district in East central IL):
    http://www.iqrealestate.com/CongressionalMaps/IL2.gif
    …to this (the pale blue district in the middle of the state):
    http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kwmu/files/201107/ILSenCongressionalRedistrictingMap2passedsmaller.jpg

    He no longer has name recognition in the new district and past votes will definitely hurt his re-election bid.

    He has a real fight come next election and must stand for something – folks will not stand for wishy-washy any longer. This is more of that pesky history similar to that mentioned by Eric.

  • Donald Ayotte

    Mitch McConnell say, “This bill sets a template for the future. I’m comfortable we’re not going to raise taxes. This was the best we could get, controlling one-third of the government..”
    All I can say is go back and try again. We’re paying you guys and gals a lot of money to sell us down the river!!!

  • GregInFla

    I will burst a vein and obtain a pre-existing condition.