-By Warner Todd Huston
When I heard that Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio) was elected minority leader by his fellows in the House, I had a sick feeling in my stomach that he would not be interested in trying to halt earmark spending — or as most people simply term it: Pork Spending.
I think we can see one more example of his general disinterest in tackling earmarks and the obscene spending that Congressmen sneak into the budget to benefit their favorite constituents and causes.
Not only has Boehner kept a big pork spender on the Appropriations committee, Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) who allowed more than 13,000 spending earmarks in the 2005 budget, but he has retaliated against an earmark whistle blower from his own Party. Boehner has denied Representative Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) his spot on the Judiciary committee even though he ranks 6 other members there.
Naturally Boehner pretends that the assumption that he is punishing Flake is untrue. But his explanations are hard to believe.
In any case, what we have is a Republican Party that seems not to realize that they have anything to prove to the voters. It seems that they just assume that people will vote for them merely because they have assumed the title of “Republican” even as they act like Democrats otherwise.
Look for the 2008 election to see more GOP candidates lose their candidacies and incumbencies unless they begin to give Republicans, center righters and moderates a reason to vote for them. If they are going to act like Democrats, why not just vote for the ACTUAL Democrats running?
The 2006 debacle, the loss the GOP suffered, wasn’t just over a single issue. It wasn’t just the war. It was a whole package of failures by the GOP that caused voters to turn to the Democrats to give that Party a chance to “fix it”.
Republicans seemed indistinguishable from Democrats. They offered no reason to vote for them but allowed dozens to dissuade people from doing so.
In any case, the “new” Republican leadership in the House is just like the old. And it was the old that lost us majority status. Boehner is not salve, but salt in the wound.
Warner Todd Huston’s thoughtful commentary, sometimes irreverent often historically based, is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, men’snewsdaily.com and americandaily.com among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a guest on several radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston