HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WILL GET NOTHING DONE BEFORE 2016 ELECTIONS

…US House of Representatives.

 

America will see what happens when an unruly mob takes over the House.

 

I have to say that the foundation of our American democracy is in trouble in a way that hasn’t happened perhaps since before the US Civil War.

 

The crux of this problem today is centered in the US House of Representatives.

 

For the first time in decades, the conservatives in the House have the numbers and the power to raise holy hell and to cause major destruction as to how the chamber is supposed to function.

 

Based on the latest discussions about who should be the next Speaker of the House, Republican comments have been emerging as to what a new Speaker should make happen.  “Defaulting on the federal debt? That should not be a problem. Shutting down the government to defund Planned Parenthood? Why not?”

 

So, just where do comments like this come from?

 

Well, there were many conservatives in the House that do not feel that the prior “Speaker-in-Waiting”, Kevin McCarthy was qualified to be Speaker.  Nor that he would be strong enough to lead the conservatives in the House.  Rep. Tom Massie (R-KY) had declared that “there is absolutely no way that I think you could vote for McCarthy and go back home and tell your constituents you did the best thing for them.”

 

Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-ID) (one of the most vocal representatives) had questions about whether McCarthy, “was prepared for such a high office.”

 

Another issue was that McCarthy was the hand-picked choice of John Boehner for House Majority Leader.  And many of those in the House that have been against Boehner’s more moderate approach to his role as Speaker, were not comfortable about picking Boehner’s right-hand man to take the Speaker’s position.”

 

Now that McCarthy has dropped out of running for Speaker, the party is in turmoil and nobody has a clue what’s going to happen.

 

The reality is that whoever is finally chosen as the Speaker, they will not be expected to “lead” the House.  They will instead be required to follow that same group of conservatives who finally badgered Boehner into an early retirement.   And many of these super-conservatives already have it out for any would-be successor.

 

All of this became very clear when a riled-up group of conservatives got together last week at a monthly luncheon sponsored by the Heritage Foundation.  A meeting that was, by-the-way, catered by Chick-Fil-A, the fast-food chain owned by super religious conservatives.

 

This mostly GOP get-together was called, “Conversations with Conservatives”.

 

The discussion group consisted of extreme members of the Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee, the Tea Party Caucus and other conservative factions.  One political columnist wrote that this group is considered the, “Politburo of the new conservative order in the House”.

 

It is appearing that whatever problems that John Boehner had in keeping his group in order will be considered child’s play.  Especially when compared to whatever the next Speaker will have to deal with in his trying to go forward.

 

One of the comments that came out of the Chick-Fil-A catered get-together was, “The marginalizing of conservatives that’s taken place over the last nine months is just not going to be tolerated anymore,” declared Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD).

 

And these people are not kidding.

 

“We have an opportunity to completely change what’s happening,” stated Raul Labrador. “Whoever wins will have three weeks to make those changes, and [they must] present them to the conference before we even vote on the floor.”

 

But the Republicans have no clue as to who to support as the next House Speaker.

 

So, as I said, whomever the winner is, they will be required to follow the House conservatives, not to lead them.

 

There are about 35 die-hard conservatives in their caucus, but as Boehner learned the hard way, if they withhold their votes, they will deny any Republican House leader a majority.

 

The question was later properly asked as to “Why doesn’t one of the conservative hard-liners run for the speakership himself?”

 

Raul Labrador’s answer sincerely showed what cowards these so called hard-line conservatives are: “When you’re leading the revolution, you also upset a lot of people,” he said. “It’s very difficult to make the change we have been trying to make and also build a coalition.”

 

So, all Americans will continue to be assaulted by the super-conservative philosophies, but please don’t ask for any of them to have the cojones to stand up and take the responsibility for what they want to foist upon the American public.  They will instead install a Republican lackey that will follow the lead of the conservative House by basic "mob rule".

 

It appears that we Americans had better hold on to our asses as the public’s ride with the US government for the next few years is going to get pretty rough.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2015