John Boehner's Failure

Boehner has no power as Speaker because of a tremendous error he went along with at the beginning of the 112th Congress ... the elimination of earmarks. With earmarks a Speaker can barter votes with members of Congress. Earmarks are the grease of the political gears, for they impact each member of Congress directly in their districts and translate into votes from their constituents. Dispense with the idea that members of Congress are somehow the United State's best and brightest ... most are self-serving shlums who simply wish to keep their jobs come next election cycle. With earmarks, the Speaker of the House builds consensus, it's not by deep intellectual discourse. Remember some of the people sitting in Congress, to call them intelelctuals is laughable.



When Speaker Boehner agreed to the elimination of earmarks he disarmed himself, and empowered outside interests who became the guarantors of re-election for the Republican caucus. Speaker Boehner surrendered his carrot and stick with the elimination of earmarks and turned control of his caucus over to the Koch Brothers, Karl Rove, and Grover Norquist.



If eliminating earmarks was a virtue, that one act assured Boehner's term as Speaker would resolve as an impotent failure.
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