ANOTHER ACT OF PURE POLITICAL COWARDICE BY OUR HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP…

I guess this is the manner in which our stellar ‘leadership team’ chooses to lead by example? If so, I’m thinking that Boehner needs to go out and get himself a new white flag, because the one he has now must be pretty wore out. As Speaker, Boehner has been an unmitigated disaster, and has demonstrated time and again that he is simply in way over his head. He’s become somewhat of an embarrassment. We did not provide the Republicans with their current House majority, and therefore Boehner his Speakership, so that they could then turn around and assist Barry in spending another $3 Trillion over that very same period of time.

And the other members of the Republican leadership team, Cantor and McCarthy, are no better than Boehner when it comes to standing up for the country. Sadly who we seem to have in charge over there in the House are "The Three Stooges" who continually have their assess handed to them by the Democrats. And it’s getting more than just a little frustrating. And I’m worried that these boobs are starting to believe the drivel now heard coming from the likes of Karl Rove and that other sleazy little shit, Dick Morris, that they now have things so wrapped up regarding the next election that it’d be almost impossible to screw it up.

But our leadership seems to be going above and beyond in their desire to put that little theory to the test. It seems to me that our side is quite determined to demonstrate to the American people that they are completely oblivious to peril that our country has been placed in by Barry and his devoted followers, and are simply not interested in solving the country’s fiscal problems. I’m afraid that what they’re doing here is to do nothing more than to put the cart before the horse by using this November’s elections as a gauge for their agenda. And that’s something that could very well prove to be fatal to their congressional aspirations.

And so without further ado, here are the 28 Republican turncoats in the House of Representatives who voted on Tuesday to INCREASE the debt ceiling:

House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Va.
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, Calif.

Chairman of House Ways and Means Committee, Dave Camp, Mich.
Chairman of House Oversight Committee, Darrell Issa, Calif.
Chairman of House Appropriations Committee, Hal Rogers, Ky.
Chairman of House Armed Services Committee, Buck McKeon, Calif.
Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce, Calif.
Chairman of House Natural Resources Committee Doc Hastings, Wash.

Rep. Ken Calvert, Calif.
Rep. Howard Coble, N.C.
Rep. Chris Collins, N.Y.
Rep. Charlie Dent, Pa.
Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, Pa.
Rep. Michael Grimm, N.Y.
Rep. Richard Hanna, N.Y.
Rep. Peter King, N.Y.
Rep. Frank LoBiondo, N.J.
Rep. Pat Meehan, Pa.
Rep. Gary Miller, Calif.
Rep. Devin Nunes, Calif.
Rep. Dave Reichert, Wash.
Rep. Peter Roskam, Ill.
Rep. Jon Runyan, N.J.
Rep. John Shimkus, Ill.
Rep. Chris Smith, N.J.
Rep. David Valadao, Calif.
Rep. Frank Wolf, Va.

These are the names of those who should now be placed at the top of everyone’s list when considering those who must, at the very least, be made to face a primary challenge from a worthy conservative opponent. And even if we are unable to get rid of them, courtesy of this primary process, I think it’s important that they be made to feel some level of heat as a consequence for a decision that was obviously based far more on politics than on any concern for the welfare of our country. This type of behavior cannot be allowed to go unchallenged and without being responded to in some very forceful manner.

Now having said that, make no mistake here, I am not, in any way, advocating that we should simply cut all these people loose. We, the voters, also need to act in a responsible manner. So if they are victorious in their primary contest, we should then support them in the general election that follows. To do otherwise, I think, would be rather reckless on our part, and in the end accomplish nothing more than our choosing to bite our nose to spite our face. It makes no sense. As well, I am by no means calling for the formation of a third party, that would prove to be nothing more than an act of pure electoral suicide.

WE ARE DESPERATE FOR ‘REAL’ LEADERSHIP…

Well now, here’s something that should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who’s the least bit familiar with the courage of our GOP House leadership. And I use the term ‘leadership’ very loosely here. You see, as the fall’s fiscal drama nears, there is a group of conservative lawmakers who are urging our stellar Republican leaders to use Obamacare as a bargaining chip. Behind the scenes, they’re warning Speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell that unless the president’s signature law is defunded, they won’t support a "continuing resolution" to fund the federal government. But as is usually the case, our limp-wristed, cowardly and impotent leadership would rather do just about anything than fight. Maybe I’m just not as smart as they are, but rarely, anymore, to I understand the logic of their decisions. Everything seems to be based around surrender.

This budget debate is said to have caused some tension within the ranks since many Republicans are uncomfortable, to put it mildly, with any talk about a shutdown. It was in recent interview that House majority leader Eric Cantor clarified what he sees as being the House’s strategy. "No one is advocating a government shutdown," he said. He also proceeded to throw a little cold water on the "defund or shutdown" rallying cry. Cantor said, "In order to avoid a government shutdown, we need 60 votes in the Senate and 218 votes in the House to pass a continuing resolution." And proceeded to further explain, "To get 60 votes in the Senate, you need at least 14 Democrats to join Republicans and pass a CR that defunds Obamacare. Right now, I am not aware of a single Democrat in the Senate who would join us. If and when defunding has 60 votes in the Senate, we will absolutely deliver more than 218 votes in the House."

And as he was trying harder to convince himself than he was the rest of us, Cantor said, "Repealing Obamacare remains the goal." He continued, "as is doing everything we can to protect people from its harmful effects here and now, like delaying the mandate for people, not just big business." But apparently, at least for the moment, connecting government funding to that effort isn’t likely part of his plan. And why not? Just once I wish the guys on our team would decide to play this game the same way that the Democrats do. You can’t make nice and hope to achieve your goal of ridding Americans of the Obamacare albatross that has been placed around their neck. You have to FIGHT using every tool at you’re disposal, and if you’re afraid to do that, well then, maybe you ain’t the guys for the job! Our leadership teams appears to be nothing more than a bunch of eunuchs in need of a healthy dose of testosterone.

GOP SUFFERING FROM A 'REAL' LEADERSHIP DROUGHT...

Well, might we have now been witness to yet another demonstration of what, these days, has come to be easily recognized as being the rather squishy brand of leadership that has become what's to be expected from our congressional Republicans? And once again it was Eric Cantor who again put on quite the display of talking without really saying anything, when he stated in an interview on "Fox News Sunday," that House Republicans could be amenable to a sequester deal if cuts to entitlement programs are part of the package, reports the Hill. I mean, haven’t we been down this road, and far too many times, already?

Cantor said, "What we need to have happen is leadership on the part of this president and the White House, to come to the table finally and say 'we're going to fix the underlying problem that's driving our deficit." Cantor went on to say, "We know that is the entitlement programs and the unfunded liability that they are leaving on this generation and the next." But if there is anything that we should have learned by now it's that that bothers the Democrats very little. And we also know that, as they have demonstrated far too many times to count, Democrats have zero interest in imposing ANY cuts in spending, no matter how small.

Let's not forget, now, that this entire sequester scheme was totally of Barry's making. It went into effect earlier this year and imposed what was really a rather paltry $44 Billion in across-the-board spending cuts but left entitlement programs such as social security and Medicare virtually untouched. Cantor said, "This fall is going to give us a great opportunity, I think, to all come together and try and tackle the real problem, which is the entitlements." Look, I don't know if he's naïve or simply stupid, but I think it safe to say that neither Barry, nor the Democrats in Congress, have any interest whatsoever in actually coming together to do anything.

Now according to the Huffington Post, which as we all know is a less than reliable source whenever discussing the Republican Party, Cantor believes spending cuts will only come about through direct bipartisan talks and not the heavy-handed implementation of sequester. "We've always said sequester is not the best way to go about spending reductions," Cantor said. "It was, as you know, a default mechanism, because Congress couldn't do the job it was supposed to a couple of years ago." Heavy-handed implementation of sequester? We're only talking about $44 Billion! I always get nervous when I hear such talk.

I'm nervous because whenever anyone of our 'leaders' start talking like this I get the rather uneasy feeling that I'm about to get screwed. That I'm in the midst of another one of those efforts designed to prepare us all for another vintage cave by our less than stellar group of supposed leaders. I just get so tired of being played for a fool by these guys in their $1000 suits who are supposed to be there to act on our behalf, not theirs. And we can only assume that they must think that we're stupid enough to fall for their antics. So, perhaps next November might just provide to us the perfect opportunity to demonstrate to them, that we're NOT!

WE NEED NEW GOP CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP…

Boehner and Cantor may talk a good line, but the sad fact of the matter is that they have been quite a major disappointment to many. Because since the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which took office little over a year ago, in January 2011, it has enacted federal spending bills under which the national debt has increased more in less than one term of Congress than in the first 97 Congresses combined. In the fifteen months that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives--led by Speaker John Boehner--has effectively enjoyed a constitutional veto over federal spending, the federal government’s debt has still increased by over $1.5 trillion. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the same Constitution that these two are so fond of referring to, says, and I quote, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” A law appropriating money cannot be enacted unless it is approved by the House. We all had high hopes back in November of 2010, well at least I did, that finally we would be getting some adult supervision back into Congress. I guess I was pretty naïve.

The approximately $1.59 trillion in new debt that has been accumulated since the Republican-controlled House gained what we all hoped would be an effective veto over federal spending legislation, is more than the total increase in the federal debt between 1789, when the first Congress convened, and October 1984, when the 98th Congress was nearing the end of its second session. Under Rep. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, who served as speaker in the first Congress the total debt of the federal government was about $75.5 million. Rep. Tip O’Neill of Massachusetts served his third term as speaker in the 98th Congress, by then the total national debt was up to approximately $1,572,266,000,000.00. When Boehner became speaker on Jan. 5, 2011, the federal government was operating under a continuing resolution that had been passed on Dec. 21, 2010 by a lame-duck Congress. That CR expired on March 4, 2011. On March 1, 2011, Boehner agreed to a new short-term spending deal with Barry and Democratic congressional leaders to keep the government running past the March 4, 2011 expiration of the old CR.

Since that March date, federal expenditures have been carried out under a series of CRs approved by both the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate and signed into law by Barry “Almighty”. At the close of business on March 4, 2011, the total federal debt sat at $14,182,627,184,881.03, that according to the Treasury Department's Bureau of the Public Debt. At the close of business on May 31, 2012, it was now at $15,770,685,085,364.14. That is an increase of $1,588,057,900,483.11—in just 15 months! All of the debt accumulated by the federal government throughout the history of the country did not exceed $1.588 trillion until October 1984. Under the Republican-controlled House, the federal debt has been steadily increasing at an average pace of about $105.9 billion per month. This is simply unacceptable. How can anyone in their right mind think that this is a good idea? To say that I am disappointed in both Mr. Boehner and Mr. Cantor is an understatement. But I know many of you would be telling that I shouldn’t be surprised. And I guess you’d be right. We seem to be intent on digging our own grave.