Word: boehner
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...general and Obama in particular--but in modern Washington nothing is too important for partisan politics, especially a month before an election. Members in tight races don't think a lot about statesmanship; they think about survival. Even if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House minority leader John Boehner wanted to unite their caucuses behind a bill they thought the country needed, they don't have the power of a Sam Rayburn or a Tom DeLay to ramrod their members into line. In fact, with dozens of Republicans facing stiffer-than-normal challenges this year and House Democrats enjoying...
Last Friday, House Republicans greeted their leader, John Boehner, with a standing ovation. The reason for this outpouring of adulation: a day earlier Boehner, backed by John McCain, had shocked a meeting at the White House by standing up to Democrats and the Bush Administration and refusing to support the $700 billion emergency plan to rescue the economy. Boehner should have savored that moment, because it may be the most love the Ohio Representative will get for a long, long time...
...After the compromise bill he subsequently helped craft went down to defeat in the House on Monday, sparking a stock market meltdown, Boehner fully expected to be attacked by Democrats. But he has quickly found himself the target of harsh criticism from within his own party. Some members derided Boehner's own (albeit grudging) support of the unpopular bill as a betrayal of conservative free-market principles, while others called him incompetent for letting such a high-profile piece of legislation fail...
...other leading House Republicans have had no time to lick their wounds. With the Senate passing a newer version of the financial stabilization bill Wednesday night - bailout is all but a banned word on Capitol Hill now - the uncomfortable spotlight is once again focused on Boehner's ability to deliver enough Republicans. The sweeteners added to the basic plan - including an extension of popular energy and business tax cuts and an increase to $250,000 in the amount in individual bank accounts that the FDIC will insure - should help. But if Boehner is once again unable to deliver the necessary...
...Boehner is in a no-win situation: none of his members really want to vote for this bill, and with just five weeks left before the election, they aren't thinking about much beyond their own self-preservation. Still, now that Monday's stock market free fall has generated phone calls from concerned constituents to go along with the angry ones opposing any rescue package, most GOP House members do want to see something passed - only they'd prefer that it be done without their votes. Worse yet, there is precious little that President Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson...