Let's forget that Boehner went back on the GOP's promise to cut $100 billion from the budget, then $61 billion, finally telling us that they got Obama and the Democrats to "come up" to $38.5 billion. The reality is this: Boehner lied through his teeth. He lied to the country. Worse, he lied to the ones who put him where he is - the Tea Party and conservatives.
The first sign that something was wrong was when stories started to trickle out, starting with Mark Levin being interviewed by Neil Cavuto, that accounting tricks put the cuts at much less than the $38.5 billion being touted, starting with $10 billion carried over from the previous continuing resolution touted on this resolution. Worse, almost none of these cuts are included in the current fiscal year, which ends September 30, and will amount to only $352 million! For Boehner to go out and claim victory is a slap in the face to every American. This is the kind of crap we expect from Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and the Democrats. It's in their DNA. But, when the GOP is this tone-deaf to what the voters said in November, it shows that there are a lot of Republicans that need to be shown the door in 2012, as well.
What Happened?
Boehner may be the worst poker player in the world. No trip to to Vegas and the World Series Of Poker for this guy. He would get cleaned out at the neighborhood nickle-ante game. Who takes the only hole card that they have and throws it face up on the table? This is what Boehner did when he told Obama, the Democrats, and the rest of the world that the Republicans would not shut down the government. This was the only leverage that he had. He folded his hand before the game even started.
The supposed negotiations with Obama and Reid were apparently strategy meeting to see how much of the status quo could be maintained, how they could cook the books, and to come up with a statement that Boehner could deliver with a straight face to the public.
Boehner and House Whip Eric Cantor are not doing what the Tea Party, conservatives and millions of other Americans asked them to do when they sent Republicans to sweeping victories in November, and which gave Boehner and Cantor their respective positions. They are not solving the budget problems that they were entrusted with. They are now part of the problem.
GOP House and Senate leaders have not only been weak, but some have been hostile to the voters that put them there, joining Democrats in calling them "extreme". Well, some of them may find out how extreme we really are come 2012 - when they find themselves out on their asses.
