One of my favorite TV shows was one that only lasted a summer was Mister Sterling, with Josh Brolin as a newly appointed US Senator (the son of a politician played superbly by Josh Brolin) who has his own agenda: Do what he thinks is right. Here‘s more info about it. (I could not find it on You Tube! RATS!)
There was a scene where a senior Senator was showing the new senator around and the committee chairman solemnly warned Senator Sterling something to the effect “You’ll never disagree with me on committee nor even in our mark-up session if you want anything done – do you understand?” Sterling quietly accepted it. I was appalled. I would have hoped to have the courage to have said: “I respect you as the chairman and will try to avoid overt confrontation but I will do what’s right regardless of whether it disagrees with you in committee or even in mark-up. Do YOU understand?”
That is what this Speaker Boehner thing looks like to me: Retribution for not following the party line. Here is The Hill’s take on it:
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) warned his conference on Wednesday that leaders are “watching” how the rank and file vote to determine committee assignments, according to sources in a closed-door meeting.
Apparently at least one other Representative actually AGREED with Boehner:
A veteran Republican lawmaker, speaking on background last year, told The Hill, “You can’t talk tough to somebody and there be no consequences … people need to be made an example in some way.”
I will probably never be a congressman, but if I did, I’d be clear: I’ll vote and speak as a please. I will try to work with the chairs of committees but I will not sacrifice principle to do it. And if it looks like you’ll retaliate against my district, I’ll scream loud and long.
All four of these representatives are libertarian darlings of the Ron Paul wing of the GOP:
Amash votes his principles more consistently than most politicians do, including being one of two Republicans to vote against the House Budget Committee’s 2013 budget, aka the Ryan Budget, while a member of that committee.
Fast forward to this week when we learned — before Justin Amash did — that he had been removed from the Budget Committee along with Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), who was the only other Republican to vote against the Ryan budget in committee. Two other Republicans, Dave Schweikert (R-AZ) and Walter Jones (R-NC), who along with Amash and Huelskamp opposed the Budget Control Act, were removed from the Financial Services Committee.
And:
Fans of Republican Congressman Ron Paul suffered another defeat in their quest for acceptance in the GOP this week, with House Speaker John Boehner’s decision to remove four libertarian-friendly Republican Congressmen from top congressional committees.
If Speaker Boehner wants to purge independent, bold conservatives—I think it’s time he gets fired as Speaker. Not only for the purge. He has failed to effectively win negotiations with President Obama and appointed moderate committee chairs. To the public, Boehner may appear radical but in reality he proposes milquetoast policies, like the tax-hikes he proposed this week.
***The House rules demand that a Speaker receive a majority—218 votes—to be elected speaker. If no nominee for speaker receives 218, the House remains speakerless—as it did during parts of the Civil War.
If 16 House Republicans were to abstain from voting for Speaker, Boehner would only receive 217 votes.
Once we depose Boehner and cause a firestorm, the Republican caucus will get the memo: Pick someone else! These 16 Republicans only need to hold out until the caucus chooses a new leader.
I’ll also tell you that based on the reaction at the Mechanicsville Tea Party meeting I went to last Wednesday, they too are furious on the purge. I am sure it was not alone throughout the country.
So I say, go ahead! Justin Amash would make a great Speaker. If the Dems were smart, they vote for Amash, too. Nothing like a row in the opposition camp as the Kingfish would say.
Article written by: Elwood "Sandy" Sanders
