Broken Promises
By Ernesto Cullari
If Republican Congressmen Chris Smith and Tom MacArthur vote for John Boehner (R-Ohio) to be the Speaker of the 114th Congress then they will both be breaking two foundational campaign promises: the first to defeat Obamacare and the second to end Obama’s policy of Executive Amnesty for Illegal Aliens. If they break either campaign promise both are certain face a mutiny at home by voters in two years.
On the issues of Amnesty and Obamacare, Speaker John Boehner has given Obama’s policies the Congressional stamp of approval. In the $1.1 trillion dollar spending bill that Boehner fought for and passed in December 2014, there were provisions that provided short term funding of Obama’s amnesty program.
Prior to the Republican Congress’s financial support, Obama was on shaky legal ground; however by providing funding for Executive Amnesty Boehner breathed new life into Obama’s strategy. The U.S. Supreme Court in Youngstown, a case dealing with the executive seizure of private property in the absence of congressional approval, established that, “Presidential authority is strongest when acting with the expressed or implied consent of Congress.” Through Boehner Congress has shown consent.
Executive Amnesty will likely have a much better chance now of surviving court challenges because of John Boehner’s actions; therefore, if either MacArthur or Smith vote to support Boehner for the Speaker of the House then neither lawmaker will maintain any credibility when they claim to want to defeat amnesty. A vote for Boehner is a vote for Obama’s amnesty program for illegal immigrants.
Voters overwhelming supported Republican candidates in 2014 for their opposition to Obamacare, a law that is undoubtedly breaking the back of the American worker and taxpayer. Yet Boehner’s passage of the $1.1 trillion Cromnibus bill fails to cut any spending from Obamacare, leaving it funded through September of 2015.
Speaker Boehner could have fought for and passed in the House a continuing resolution that funded the Federal Government until February of this year, which means the new Congress could have addressed both Amnesty for Illegal Aliens and Obamacare shortly after being sworn in, but he didn’t. His ineffective leadership has resulted in tying the hands of the new Congress until the end of fiscal 2015. American workers will be stuck paying for increased healthcare costs with little or no increase in access to health care. Many workers face reduced hours and cut wages as a result.
Voters expect more than lip service from elected officials. Contrary to what Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber said of voters, Americans aren’t stupid people. We understand that the term Immigration Reform is shorthand for Amnesty. We also understand that Congress does indeed have the power to defund Obamacare, but it needs the right GOP leadership to do so. John Boehner is not the right leader for the GOP.
Peter Schweizer in his book Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism that Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison, details the many ways John Boehner wields power. When Boehner was minority leader he had the means to solicit so-called ‘tollbooth’ contributions from various business executives, who would be motivated to give political contributions so that bills favorable to their given industries could be voted on.
In one such power move Boehner received $40,000 in campaign monies from mostly AT&T execs. This one example is just the tip of the iceberg. According to Breitbart News, “In Washingtonian’s biennial “best and worst” of Congress survey the magazine sends to congressional staffers, Cantor and Boehner placed first and second, respectively, in the “lobbyists’ best friend” category.”
That’s the kind of shady politics that Smith and MacArthur have the opportunity to vote against. They should distinguish themselves from Boehner.
I know Chris Smith. He is one of the nation’s most noble legislators. If Tom MacArthur is as honorable as he is loved by his wonderful family then he too will distinguish himself in the U.S. House of Representatives, but both men will endure many uphill battles without the aid of their constituents if either chooses to support John Boehner for Speaker of the People’s House.
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Personally, I would like to see term limits on Congressional leadership positions. That’s a great place to try term limits first 🙂
Boehner’s time has expired. We need better leadership. Louie Gohmert is one such leader that should be given a chance at the Speaker’s chair. Please call you representatives and ask them to vote for Rep Gohmert as Speaker!
it’s what i’ve been saying for years. term limits for the whole bunch of them. it was never intended for the house to be a career. they where to serve the people and go back to their farms . look at smith he voted for cap and trade. and when asked why he would vote for the tax scheming bill. he said he was for the trade not the cap. what the hell does that mean. we need people like jim and ernesto, statesman that will do the will of the people instead of looking for an angle to fill their pockets. we are in our last days as a great nation if we don’t start holding the leadership accountable, and start cleaning out the rino s. the republican party is our last chance. but we have to police our own and quit being democrat light.
and agree! either we stand for something, now, first day,or we will lose everything! Go, Louie G.-! a true patriot and defender of our Constitution!..
@ trouble
Seriously. If this was about me; stop it.
“we need people like jim and ernesto, statesman”
4 1/2 years ago when he was running for his first term in the 3rd Congressional District, Jon Runyan told South Jersey magazine: “The Constitution is my playbook.” Sounded good. I voted for him. Well, he only ran about half the plays correctly, achieving a 48% voting record with the Constitution on key votes. Check the stats here: http://www.thenewamerican.com/freedomindex/
What about the man Runyan replaced, long term congressman Jim Saxton before him? About 50%. Chris Smith? 44% John Bohener? 53%.
How Scott Garrett at 72% still manages party support is beyond me.
The point is, the Republican machine’s power brokers nationally and locally will almost always refuse to endorse strong Constitutionalists, and will run middle-of-the-road Republicans against them in the primaries, as they did against Ron Paul and have continued to do versus Rand Paul.
So I ask: Will term limits really solve anything if the party machine keeps propping up candidates who will vote half the time on key spending and foreign policy questions that deviate from the party line?
Only when a majority of voters understand that the Constitution was designed to limit the power of the federal government and to keep spending within its means — and only when enough people take to heart our first President’s warnings about the dangers of blind faith in one’s party and foreign interventionism — then enough outsider candidates who will live up to their oaths to uphold and protect the Constitution – such as a Murray Sabrin or a Jeff Bell – will win their Republican primaries and be party’s candidate come fall.
Then the Establishment will truly be shaken, as “We the People” will be educated enough in constitutional principles to elect men and women who will keep their oaths to uphold the Constitution, limit federal power, and ensure a sound currency: three things that have been eroded over the better part of the past century.
Correction: Republican Congressman for the 3rd District, Jon Runyan, actually succeeded the late Congressman John Adler (23%), who won the seat when long-term Republican Congressman Jim Saxton retired.
Also, apologies for the misspell of Speaker John Boehner’s name in my original post.