I am an agnostic when it comes to the fiscal
cliff/slope/curb/grassy knoll deal. I’m not sure that I like it BUT I am also
sick and tired of the teahadists in the House taking the economy hostage as if it were an
Embassy or something. I’m waiting to see what happens when the next round
starts before shooting from the lip, hip or any other orifice. No instant
analysis from me this time around, unless Nancy Smash starts fretting publicly
about what comes next.
I am, however, fascinated by the maneuvering and intercine strife
on the GOP side. Majority Malaka Cantor seems to be erasing the entries marked Boner on his
dance card. I’m not sure if he’s coup plotting but he’s keeping his distance
from the weakest Speaker in recent memory. Speakers such as Carl Albert, John McCormack, and
Denny Hastert were not exactly dynamic and charismatic but they
had helpful chairmen, majority leaders, and whips. Speaker Boner has the
weaselly Cantor instead.
Cantor may not be ready to plunge the dagger all
the way up to the hilt BUT he *has* inflicted a series of cuts this week that,
at the very least, have Boehner bleeding and as pale as a guy who uses too much spray tan
can be. We all know that Cantor wouldn’t carry the Speaker’s tune of the
cliff/slope/curb bill but he’s also pointing a boney finger of
blame at Boner for the
Hurricane Sandy aid bill fiasco:
At a press conference in New York, Sen.
Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters Wednesday that he’s “distraught” and
“angry” over the House’s failure to hold a vote, blaming it on a House GOP “leadership
squabble.” He said Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has been “truly helpful”
in piecing together the package and blamed Boehner.“Cantor has been very much for us, but Speaker Boehner … pulled
the rug out from under us,” Schumer said. “It’s a Boehner betrayal.”A Cantor aide affirmed that the majority leader has been pushing for the
package.“Majority Leader Cantor is committed to ensuring
the urgent needs of New York and New Jersey residents are met, and he has been
working tirelessly toward that goal,” the aide told TPM.
So, will the Boehner betrayal
lead to a Cantor coup? I think the odds are 50-50 but if Cantor is as snakily shrewd as
he seems, he’ll let Boner bleed slowly to death instead of moving immediately. Who
the hell would want to be in charge of the fractious and ideologically idiotic
House GOP caucus, after all?
Since I’ve used a lot of bloody imagery, I’ll let
the Rolling Stones have the last word, since we all need someone we can bleed on:
make him cry.
Cantor pushing for disaster relief? Didn’t he demand budget cuts to offset disaster relief in Missouri after the tornado?
But I guess Missouri made the mistake of having its disaster at the wrong time for a palace coup…
@MichaelF – I’ve got to wonder if part is revenge for Christie saying Obama was handling the disaster well. Somewhat related is Christie has reportedly said of/to Boehner “You Disgust Me” after the house hasn’t voted on a relief bill yet plus the bill floating around the House is only 27 vs 60 something bill.
What gets me is that both national and state congress is always talking about how govt workers are lazy, inept, etc. Yet if anyone behaved anything like congress (in either public or private sector), sat around like churlish brats, waited till the deadline and then put an inferior product together at the last minute and handed it in late – they would be fired on the spot.
And of course, who is Grover Norquist? Who elected him to effectively lead the house? What has he done that we celebrate his name? And could the dysfunctional, obstructionist house be an attempt to prove Norquist?
@MichaelF – It should be interesting how the disaster aid to the NE will develop. Even if it goes through without a hitch, a lot of the damage I saw looked like pre-flood-insurance era buildings without sufficient protection from the elements (such as they used to built without any setback from the beach). To be in line with current guidelines, there are a lot of prior home owners whose reconstruction will be curtailed.
If it develops at all like Gulf Coast aid, it’s not going to be a pretty sight, that’s for sure. And what makes that all the more frustrating is the snags down here are mostly right wing politics, as I’m sure you know.
Boehner is their cats paw and fall guy. That is why they chose him as Speaker, and why they will keep him to take the blame when he does what they tell him to. He has performed as expected.