Tag: boehner
Sharp 2014 Growth Proves Right-Wing Predictions Flat Wrong

Sharp 2014 Growth Proves Right-Wing Predictions Flat Wrong

As 2015 commences, America is moving steadily toward full employment for the first time since a Democrat last occupied the White House, during the Clinton presidency. The past 12 months marked the single strongest year of job increases since 1999, with unemployment down from 7 percent to 5.8 percent. The national economy is currently growing at an annual rate well above 4 percent, the Dow Jones average has surged above 18,000, and consumer confidence has reached its highest level since 2007 – before the onset of the Great Recession.

Although too many Americans remain unemployed or underemployed, and wages have not yet begun to reap the share of productivity that workers deserve, the economic news is nevertheless encouraging – except to the right-wing politicians and pundits whose predictions of recession, joblessness, and generalized doom have been proved entirely wrong.

For years now, the most prominent figures on the American right – from John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to Rush Limbaugh, George Will, and Sean Hannity, along with every right-wing think tank and media outlet – have warned the public that the tax, health care, and spending policies of the Obama administration were killing jobs and wrecking the economy.

Meanwhile, their own agenda of political obstruction and austerity policies did much to harm the economy and employment, especially when they drove debate over the budget and debt ceiling toward the brink of default – and insisted on enormous cuts in spending by the federal, state, and local governments. As recently as last spring, the Republican line recited by Will and Limbaugh — and parroted by Boehner and McConnell — was that Obamacare would surely destroy at least 2 million jobs.

Last February, Boehner’s office tweeted that the Affordable Care Act is “expected to destroy 2.3 million jobs.” On the radio, Limbaugh barked that the implementation of health care reform would cost “2.5 million jobs, minimum,” which he called “a literal tragedy for the country.” In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal agreed that Obamacare is “a job destroyer.” And on Fox News, Charles Krauthammer gloated that this White House unemployment debacle would be “emblazoned on the tombstone of liberalism.”

Overblown rhetoric aside, the 2 million-plus figure came from a Congressional Budget Office report, which the Republicans then distorted beyond recognition to scare and depress the public. But that episode was only one example among many of partisan trash-talking about the economy — a tactic that dates back at least to the first Clinton budget in 1993, when congressional Republicans predicted a severe recession or worse. (They were totally wrong then, too.)

In fact, the deep thinkers at the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute made similarly frightening predictions when President Obama and the Democrats in Congress insisted on letting the Bush tax cuts expire and limiting deductions for the wealthiest taxpayers. A Heritage tax expert said ominously that “we’re going to have a slower-growing economy, we’re going to have fewer jobs, less opportunity for Americans of all income levels.”

Yet while the right-wing doomsaying about Obama and Obamacare continued to amplify right through the midterm elections — with little salutary contradiction from mainstream media — the economy has kept improving until the facts can no longer be ignored. So far, the president has 12 million jobs to his credit and a string of additional accomplishments, including millions of American families now enjoying health insurance — without any detectable damaging impact on prices, growth, or employment.

The question that the country now faces is whether Republican control of both the Senate and the House will encourage still more right-wing debt brinksmanship – or whether McConnell and Boehner can enforce a newfound moderation on their most addled members. Perhaps this time, if Republican mischief hinders full recovery, the public will understand where to lay blame.

The Boehner-McConnell Relationship: Mutual Respect, Low Drama

The Boehner-McConnell Relationship: Mutual Respect, Low Drama

By Matt Fuller, CQ Roll Call (MCT)

WASHINGTON — John A. Boehner and Mitch McConnell have never been best friends.

But they aren’t enemies, either. Far from it, say staffers and sources who know both lawmakers. The speaker and the Senate’s presumptive new majority leader have built, over the years, a solid professional relationship based on a sturdy sense of mutual respect.

That relationship is in the spotlight now more than ever, with Republicans emboldened in the wake of Tuesday’s wave election that saw the GOP pick up at least eight seats in the Senate and more than a dozen in the House.

Sources told CQ Roll Call that Boehner and McConnell don’t have to be close personally to get things done.

“While they’ve never played horseshoes on the speaker’s lawn, they spend a lot of time together, speak regularly and have demonstrated an unprecedented working relationship between the leaders of the House and Senate,” Don Stewart, a McConnell spokesman, told CQ Roll Call.

Their staffs also report that Boehner and McConnell meet almost every week the House and Senate are in session, unofficially alternating whose office they meet in. (Aides note their relationship isn’t so rigid that they have to ensure office meeting parity.)

Aides also acknowledge that while they have slightly different styles, they’re on the same page when it comes to substance. A former senior GOP aide familiar with both McConnell and Boehner said they are “two adults in a room that is usually lacking in adults.”

Both are establishment Republicans with pro-business, anti-drama leanings.

Their Capitol offices are separated by a short stroll across the Rotunda, just as their states are separated by the Ohio River. Boehner’s Cincinnati-suburbs district is about 20 miles north of Kentucky — a fact President Barack Obama has occasionally tried to use as leverage against the GOP leaders, dinging them for their opposition to a jobs bill in 2011 that could have provided money to improve the Brent Spence Bridge.

But even though there’s history to the Boehner-McConnell relationship, Tuesday’s elections inevitably alter the dynamic — and raise the stakes enormously for both men.

McConnell has spent much of the past four years bailing Boehner and his Republican Conference out of jams. (Remember the fiscal cliff?) But now, McConnell may need Boehner to return the favor.

While Republican gains in the Senate were greater than many expected, McConnell’s majority is still thin — too thin to beat a Democratic filibuster — and the 2016 elections already loom over McConnell’s delicate majority.

Boehner, on the other hand, has the largest GOP House majority since March of 1929. Finally, he will have the legislative room to ignore some of the untamed conservatives in his own conference without having to beg Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for votes.

Of course, what the House sends the Senate will have to take into account the fragile– and possibly fleeting– Republican majority in the upper chamber. With 24 Republican senators (and only 10 Democrats) facing voters again in two years, Boehner and the House have to be conscious of the votes they force on the vulnerable GOP majority.

That’s where the relationship will be tested. That’s where communication will be key.

But those who know Boehner and McConnell well don’t anticipate problems.

One of Boehner’s most frequent dinner companions, Sen. Richard M. Burr, (R-NC), told CQ Roll Call this week that Boehner and McConnell have worked together “religiously” for years.

And while it may seem like Burr would be a natural intermediary for Boehner and McConnell, he doesn’t think that’ll be necessary.

“I don’t think they need a go-between,” Burr said.

Of those potential, but perhaps unnecessary, go-betweens, House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers of Kentucky would also seem like a natural fit.

But in a recent interview with CQ Roll Call, Rogers said that while he was “very hopeful and anxious that Mitch take over the majority leader’s slot,” he wants to see a renewed focus on passing and conferencing appropriations bills “the old-fashioned way.”

He’s more interested in restoring the appropriations process than in serving as an intercessor between the speaker and McConnell.

As Burr said of the legislative relationship between the leaders, “Nobody needs to be involved in that other than the two leaders and their staffs.”

Burr looked at the Republican majorities in both chambers as opportunities for Boehner and McConnell to govern. And while he agreed the House would have to be mindful of what it sends to the Senate, he thought it was more important that Republicans produce legislative results — specifically mentioning a tax overhaul, a repeal of the medical devices tax and legislation forcing the implementation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

“We have two years for Republicans in Congress to prove to Americans that they can govern,” he said.

The day after the election, Boehner and McConnell were already trying to present a united front, co-authoring a Wall Street Journal op-ed that laid out the contours of a preliminary agenda in the 114th.

“The skeptics say nothing will be accomplished in the next two years. As elected servants of the people, we will make it our job to prove the skeptics wrong,” they wrote.

Of course, Obama still occupies the White House. And anything passed by the House and Senate will still need the president’s signature.

While that prevents Congress from achieving conservative fantasies such as repealing Obamacare, it leaves plenty of smaller items on the margins that Republicans can pressure Democrats and the president with — all the while drawing stark contrasts in advance of the perpetual next election.

Photo: Peter Stevens via Flickr

New Republicans Will Strengthen Boehner’s Hand In 114th Congress

New Republicans Will Strengthen Boehner’s Hand In 114th Congress

By Emma Dumain, CQ Roll Call

Republican gains in the House Tuesday aren’t expected to top what the party was able to accomplish in 2010, but even modest inroads will change the status quo on Capitol Hill.
Here’s a rundown of how the 114th Congress will be different if House Republicans, as expected, expand their majority.

— Bragging rights. Republicans will have them. They might have been surpassed by Democrats in fundraising and spending, but none of that matters if, on Wednesday morning, the GOP wakes up with an even bigger hold on the chamber.

— A more diverse conference. The midterms are likely to give the House GOP the demographics boost it’s been craving, especially heading into a presidential election cycle. Two of the current 19 House Republican women aren’t returning in the 114th, but the party is poised to make up for that number or even surpass it. There’s a likelihood of the House GOP gaining up to three Latinos, possibly two African-Americans (one the first black Republican woman to ever serve in Congress) and, in another party milestone, the first Republican to run for office as an openly gay candidate.

— More wildcards. A few of the new Republicans have already indicated they have no intention of supporting John Boehner and the GOP establishment in Washington. They could vote against him for speaker, latch onto the “Hell No” caucus or attend Sen. Ted Cruz’s occasional pizza parties.

— A stronger Boehner.The anti-Boehner wing may land a few new recruits, but most of the new members joining the GOP caucus are more conventional Republicans than the tea party crowd of 2010. That could make it easier for Boehner and his lieutenants to shore up support for legislation on the House floor and more members to work with on big-ticket items that have been nail-biters in the past four years. Getting to 218 might still be a struggle, but it will be easier to find support without having to rely on Democrats. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and company are likely to be less inclined to lend a hand, especially if the Republicans win control of the Senate and the stakes for failure to pass something such as a government funding bill become higher.

— Another vote to repeal Obamacare? House Republicans have voted more than 40 times to dismantle different pieces of the Affordable Care Act, but they have only taken a few stand-alone votes to fully strike down the 2010 health care law. One was scheduled within the first six months of the 113th Congress to give new members a chance to go on the record as opposing the act. If there are enough new GOP lawmakers in the 114th Congress, leaders could be persuaded to schedule another symbolic vote.

— More Republican job opportunities. When a party suffers an electoral loss, the staffer unemployment rate goes up; the opposite, of course, happens when a party enjoys a big win. If House Republicans win a slew of seats, the cafeteria of the Longworth House Office Building becomes a hot spot for GOP job interviews with current aides looking for promotions in new member offices. Republican-minded men and women who have long waited for their chance to snag a coveted Hill job are also in luck.

— More freshmen to wrangle on orientation week. Exactly one week after Election Day, freshly elected members-to-be will descend on Capitol Hill for freshmen orientation, a crash course in how to be a member of Congress. The Committee on House Administration organizes the schedule of activities down to the most minute details, but seminars on chamber ethics rules and tours of the Capitol complex compete with future lawmakers’ eagerness to rub shoulders with new colleagues, court chairmen for committee assignments and in turn be courted for their votes in leadership elections that also take place that week. The more Republicans who win on Tuesday, the more tenuous the headcounts during orientation events — and the more chaotic the lottery for office assignments.

AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm

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