Before British prime minister David Cameron went into his fateful European Union negotiations regarding the euro earlier this month, it is said he used the "full bladder technique". To concentrate the mind on the task at hand he remained "desperate for a pee" throughout both the formal dinner and talks. When it came to sealing the deal he subsequently went and pissed Britain's bargaining position up the wall.
One can only guess what John Boehner's strategy has been during the past week over the payroll tax cuts. But it looks like he employed the "full bowel technique" with equal success. His Tea Party caucus kept stuffing him with rhetorical bran muffins so that every time he went to a microphone he was full of it. Then, when crunch time arrived, the Republican establishment, the White House and Democrats in Congress teamed up and beat the crap out of him.
The Republican party's internal division and public humiliation this week felt like a moment that was such a long time coming it seemed as though it would never arrive. But the ramifications are not limited to Congress. The very mayhem that has been evident in Washington DC this week has been playing out in Iowa and New Hampshire these past few months, and will continue through the coming presidential year. Adrenalin could keep the Tea Party going only so long outside the fetid ecosystem of Fox News, talk radio and the internet, before reality intervened and forced some kind of reckoning. They can't have everything they want, and won't take the considerable amount they can get. So they cast around from crisis to crisis and candidate to candidate exploding with rage and imploding with contradictions until there's very little left but the venom.
This most recent debacle was perhaps the most spectacular unraveling yet – the congressional equivalent of Rick Perry's oops moment. Republicans in the Senate had reached an agreement with the Democrats to extend the temporary payroll tax cut for a further two months while the two sides hammer out the details for a longer-term resolution on how to pay for it. To an average family this means about $80 a month more coming into their bank accounts as they come out of the Christmas season. Most assumed it would fly through the Republican-controlled House. After all, it's a tax cut. Republicans like tax cuts. Indeed, sometimes it seems that's all they like. The Senate went home. But the Republicans in the House decided it wasn't enough. They wanted more. And so Boehner had to go out and demand more. He talked tough. But he also talked nonsense. In the name of smaller government he was insisting on higher taxes. Even his Republican colleagues in the Senate would not buy it; the Democrats wouldn't wear it; the country couldn't afford it. He marched them up to the top of the hill, where they were shot at by their own troops, and then he marched them down again. Oops.
Threats of government shutdowns and legislative crises have become so routine since the Republicans took over the House and the Tea Party took over the Republicans that it's become difficult to take them seriously. Whether it's budget talks or the debt ceiling, the impasse follows a predictable pattern. Both Obama and the Republicans stake out a position. Obama then caves in on pretty much everything in return for letting it look as though he is running the country. Then the Republicans come back and ask for more. Obama draws a line in the sand. "Eric, don't call my bluff," he told House majority leader, Eric Cantor, during the budget talks. "This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this." Eric called his buff. Obama yielded. The line is washed away and the president lives to capitulate another day.
But this time there was nothing more to yield. Obama had already caved to the Senate Republicans, by abandoning his demand that the cuts be funded by raising taxes on millionaires. What House Republicans were rejecting was already a bipartisan agreement between an overpliant White House and an overreaching GOP. What Boehner demanded was a tripartisan agreement between the Republicans, the Democrats and the Tea Party. This time that was not possible.
Having put a gun to the head of the economy several times unless millionaires kept their tax cuts, this time Boehner was holding middle-class families hostage and threatening them with tax hikes unless … and there was the problem. No one really understood what he wanted – apart from to have his own way. It was not until he found himself in the crosshairs of the entire political class that he realized he'd already shot himself in the foot.
This reflects the confusion that is taking place in the primary race. The Tea Party keeps thrashing around for someone, anyone, in whom they can invest their zeal and who the rest of their party (never mind the rest of the country) can live with. They've pretty much been through the pack and just when you think they've hit bottom they plumb new depths. It turns out there is no one who both makes sense to the Tea Party and the rest of the world, let alone their fellow Republicans. These are the people who have been dictating the pace and shape of economic reform for the last year. These are the birthers who believe in death panels, hate government intrusion unless it involves a woman's uterus and love wars and tax cuts but hate budget deficits. They are also the people who have re-energised the Republican party from its post-McCain torpor and revitalized its fortunes in 2010. They are the reason Obama still has a shot at the presidency and why Romney is still struggling for the nomination. They are the muffin peddlers; and they think with their gut.
Comments
23 December 2011 3:04PM
Well, it's been a year since all those people won their House seats, so now they're beginning to think they're creations of their own intelligence and rectitude - not to mention providence and all that.
In other words, hubris, laziness and stupidity have begun to set in. Always happens.
23 December 2011 3:10PM
I have often wondered what the US would look like if the Republicans had their every wish.
What does utopia look like to them?
23 December 2011 3:13PM
Utopia for republicans?
1955- Wives at home. Blacks in their place. Etc, etc, etc.
23 December 2011 3:15PM
Okay, enough of that. It's holiday poem time.
(I will not be deterred by recent criticism... Not quite as ecumenical or interfaith as I would have liked, but one can only do so much.)
23 December 2011 3:17PM
BTW- this is a massive political defeat fr the GOP. Charles Krauthamer of all peopel says so in his online column on NRO. It is for the good of the country that these GOP Frosh showed Their True Colors.
November is a long time off, but things are definitly trending the Dems' way. Obama is up 6 points in 3 weeks and is now more trusted on taxes than is the GOP.
23 December 2011 3:21PM
Tax cuts for the rich = good.
Tax cuts for the middle = bad.
Those are the rules.
23 December 2011 3:46PM
actually- It's tax INCREASES for the Middle on down.
23 December 2011 3:50PM
@Gary Younge
Gary, please elucidate this 'bargaining position' Britain is alleged to have possessed. I fancy a giggle.
23 December 2011 4:02PM
Q.Do we really need any kind of special relationship with the Tea Party idiots?
A. Certainly not on the lines of the Atlantic Bridge relationship which appeared to involve half the bloody cabinet and forced a minister of Defence to resign.
23 December 2011 4:11PM
John Boehner looks like he's been steeped overnight in Assam.
23 December 2011 4:15PM
The Republican dream is to return to the 50's. The 1850's.
23 December 2011 4:19PM
Gary Younge wrote:
It looks like Boehner and his House Republicans are using a similar technique, and to poor results.
They're full of shit.
And this time, they shat on themselves instead of on the entire country.
Kudos to President Obama for finally showing, yes, he really can go to the mat with these troglodytes - and win!
23 December 2011 4:21PM
Hey - that all rhymes!
Nice job. Got a good chuckle to start the morning. Thanks, bim.
23 December 2011 4:27PM
When your face is orange from the tanning beds , smoke is coming out your ears, the Tea Party is howling at you and you are not the sharpest guy in the room it is hard to make decisions. Poor Boehner just look at that turkey he does not know which way to turn. The Conservatives have had their way creating a corporate state, the Supreme Court deciding the most important decisions in favor of Conservative ideals and you control the media, are able to brand progressive ideas as bad but greed is good along with massive pollution and destruction, constant wars. This then is what is favored by the bloody Republicans.
23 December 2011 4:30PM
I've come to look at it as a contradiction in terms: anarcho-fascism. No government control at all for the rich, the white, the straight, the Christian, the nativist; Draconian oppression of the poor, the black and brown, the gay and lesbian, the Muslim and the athiest, the immigrant.
That's the right wing utopia. The really scary part is that they're pretty up front about it.
23 December 2011 4:35PM
It was worse than that.
Boehner wasn't trying ot have his way. It's inconceivable that he hadn't agreed to the deal before McConnell okayed it in the Senate. The [problem was, he couldn't sell it to his caucus, so he had to come out into the crosshairs on behalf of the lunatics running the asylum.
Desperately poor leadership
23 December 2011 4:42PM
greenie- In fairness, the Frosh revolted on him. If he runs the House with the half-way sane GOP guys and the Dems, then he gets thrown out as Speaker. The guy is in a tough spot.
23 December 2011 4:45PM
I wish the author had informed himself before publishing this article. This was a fake crisis fabricated by the WH and Harry Reid. It is true that John Boeher is a long serving establishment republican who is lost in the weeds and he mishandled this from a p.r. standpoint. He may be replaced next year by a person like Alan West who is backed by the Tea party caucuses. But he did get a year's extension on the payroll tax holiday. The senate changed the bill passed in the house for the purpose of creating a spectacle during which they could place false blame on the republican house. Proof of this are the phony sob stories trotted out by the President yesterday. If the President cared about average Americans he wouldn't be implementing job killing policies at every turn, i.e. the shutdown of the keystone pipeline, the shutdown of the Shell drilling project off the northcoast, the shut down of Boeing's new factory in S.C., the drilling maratorium in the Gulf etc. etc. Boehner is over his head when playing hardball dirty politics. He is going against a man who was trained in hardball politics in Chicago. Allen West and Michelle Bachman would not give in
easily.
23 December 2011 4:49PM
I often wonder whether Boehner realises what a laughingstock he really is.......what a total complete buffoon . From his fake tan and his utter lack of logic to his interminable whingeing..........he is the clown face on the Republican Party.
23 December 2011 4:59PM
Poor, widdle Wobert. His boys got their asses kicked.
Oh, please put West in as speaker. That will guarantee that we retake the House.
23 December 2011 5:06PM
Hey, Robert, are you as stupid as your post would indicate? "Job killing policies"? WHAT jobs? Boeing's plant in benighted South Carolina is not shut down, the hideous "pipeline" has no long-lasting jobs anyway, and offshore drilling sort of proved it's disasterous nature last year, didn't it? Your orangey tool folded like a cheap card table, and provided the rest of the world a view of the gutless, brainless, soulless vision the so-called "Tea Party" has for the US. A beautiful performance all the way around.
23 December 2011 5:06PM
You've got it backwards. James Buchanan was a democrat. Bull Conner was a democrat. George Wallace was a democrat. Jim Crowe laws were instituted by democrats in the old south which was one party...democrat. During the Eisenhower administration who was the senate majority leader who got reupublican civil rights legislation defeated? You guessed it.... Lyndon Johnson democrat. When Rutherford Hayes a Republican was elected President in 1876 President U.S. Grant had to send troops to the democrat controlled south to protect the black folks right to vote. The KKK was a an organization formed to keep blacks from voting and gaining a political foothold. This was for keeping the south a one party region...democrat.
23 December 2011 5:13PM
It was not shut down permanently but they had to shift production of the new plane to Washington and retool the new plant for other planes in order to get the NLRB off thier backs. This was a delay at tremendous expense. And all this was done to serve Obama's union friends. You libs always resort to the pejorative because you have no argument.
23 December 2011 5:13PM
Their position officially became surreal, when they refused to compromise to...make an agreement to possibly compromise at a later date.
This hold-up wasn't just a present tantrum, but assurance that they already agreed to disagree with...whatever everyone else would agree to, in a couple of months -- even before they knew what they were going to be asked. Now, that's first class, comedic absurdity.
23 December 2011 5:15PM
...bitter and unpalateable. No amount of sugar and cream will help.
23 December 2011 5:21PM
Thanks, Voice. Yours is turning out to be the contemporary critical analysis that I most value.
23 December 2011 5:22PM
Why should Tea Party Republicans get everything they ask for, even if some of it is incompatible with the needs and desires of most of the other citizens of this country? How is that fair? Why do they even expect it?
Any Rep who goes to Washington, expecting to get everything they, exclusively, want -- all of the time -- is just looking for a fight for the sake of one. They're swinging in the air, hoping to hit everything and everyone that annoys or displeases them. They are not expecting to do the difficult work of governing.
23 December 2011 5:25PM
The "Tea Party candidates" never represented anyone but themselves. And the Koch Brothers. And the rest of the 1%. They lied and misled the voters in order to get elected, and now the voters are realizing that.
Elections have consequences. I hope voters remember that in 2012, and don't just sit home and whine.
23 December 2011 5:29PM
Those awful little people who insist on actually balancing the budget. Do they not realize how small minded they sound when measured against the trumpets of a temporary Utopia ?
23 December 2011 5:31PM
...and this has happened repeatedly. I'm actually wondering if it's some kind of misommunication within the party; there are Tea Partiers whohave taken oaths and signed inter-group agreements of what they will accept and under the very specific conditions that they will accept these things.
Do they discuss agreements on bills, give the impression they will agree to pass them, only to pull back at the last minute and direct veryone to look at the oaths for answers? How can it be that so often, Boehner is certain they've all reached an agreement, he agrees to things with other Republican leaders and The President, only to back out at the last minute? Who are they consulting?
23 December 2011 5:31PM
They are fighting for the American people and free market principles which will return America back to prosperity. Obamas policies are growing the gov't and destroying America's middle class. If the country is to thrive economically Obama's policies must be reversed. The gov't does not create wealth. That is done only in the private sector.
23 December 2011 5:32PM
The press, Gary included, has ignored that the Republican dominated House had previously passed a full year extension of the 2% reduction on Social Security premiums, that included multiple incentive for real job creation. Democrats did not like thoseRepublican efforts at job creation, so demanded the full year cut proposed by Republicans be cut to two months.
23 December 2011 5:34PM
Just a second here. How does this chime with Obama's lack of experience and leadership which has been such a constant focus of attention from the R's over the last few years? And if Boehner is over his head then why a) was he appointed to the position in the first place and b) why on earth would you champion Bachmann or West as replacements when Boehner has 30 years experience in the House and they have 4 and 1 respectively?
To say your position makes no sense is putting it mildly. The fact that you'd even consider throwing Allen West in as a potential Speaker is risible. Has any sophomore Representative ever been elected Speaker? Not for the last 70 years...
23 December 2011 5:35PM
A wife staying home, or not, is a family decision. The place for Blacks is in a colorblind society, living and working alongside whites.
23 December 2011 5:41PM
He is incompetent as an executive but obviously a competent polititian and rabble rowser.
23 December 2011 5:43PM
Right. And what about Obama? </misunderstanding for comic effect>
23 December 2011 5:43PM
Replacing Boehner is not critical. Replacing Obama is.
23 December 2011 5:43PM
Absolutely right to me. The Tea Party think they are the government, and don't have to "compromise". That's why this win is good for Obama, and good for the country.
Good poem, Bimballace. Christmas is for hope, and thanks, to me anyway.
23 December 2011 5:43PM
And Robert decided he's giving a demonstration of "post-truth" politics today.
23 December 2011 5:45PM
No they aren't. They're claiming what everyone believes in (We're for the American people! We're for the free market!) while voting for the exact opposite. They have said, over and over again, they are AGAINST getting rid of any and all existing tax entitlements, expenditures, credits and deductions. They fight any ad all efforts to get rid of the impact of money and lobbyists on Congress. Why? Because that's what the Koch Brothers et al want. They may claim it's to encourage "the job creators" all they want, but the REAL job creators who have spoken out say otherwise. I suggest you read Mark Cuban's blog. He's conservative, but he isn't trying to succeed at the expense of others. Real job creators don't hae to push others down to get ahead. They really do believe in a free market and a flat and level playing field, because that's what works in the long term.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
23 December 2011 5:47PM
Not so tough when you're giving away up to $2,000.
Interesting how all Obama seems to have left in his tool kit is tax cuts. People seem to like them. I'd be more impressed if he talked us into his real passions: windmill farms and solar panel factories. Great Communicator, the 2nd, this guy ain't.
23 December 2011 5:48PM
ROFL. The voters did NOT get what they expected. That's why the approval ratings of the Tea Partiers have crashed so badly, and the people in the areas they "represent" are so angry.
23 December 2011 5:50PM
The fact that the house passed a one year extension is conveniently ignored by the compliant press because libs can't answer that one. Did you see Obama's interview with Steve Croft where he calls himself the fourth best President ever behind only LBJ, FDR and Lincoln? That is funny stuff....will make a nice campagn ad.
23 December 2011 5:52PM
It was most certainly amateur hour at the House under the republican leadership. They had better get their game on and soon or Obama will leverage his fanboys in the press to convince a gullible American electorate that his presidency hasn't been the disaster that we all know it has been.
Amazing. And this in the very week Obama announces he is one of the top 4 presidents in the US. Only a democrat president with the press in his back pocket could get away with placing himself ABOVE George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in the pantheon of great presidents without getting mocked mercilessly.
The republicans need to accept that the press is in the tank for the democrats, suck it up, and plow ahead knowing that they have the winds of public support in their sails.
23 December 2011 5:54PM
It's hilarious. Even a liberal might laugh.
http://nation.foxnews.com/political-ads/2011/12/22/crossroads-ad-obama-fourth-best-president-ever
23 December 2011 5:58PM
The US would look more or less like Mexico if Republicans had their way. Little to no government regulation, a society ruled by bribery. A small ultra wealthy elite ruling over the poor teaming uneducated masses providing cheap labor. An education system that is a total shambles. No social safety net.
This is what America would look like if Republicans got their way on everything, only with trillions of dollars in debt because Republicans refuse to fund their militarism or pay off previous debt with the appropriate level of tax revenue.
23 December 2011 5:58PM
You must be listening to fairytales. Mark Cuban isn't anywhere near conservative. We need to reduce the gov'ts influence on private Americans. Who are these "REAL" job creators you speak of? I suspect you don't know. They probably travel in the same circles as the economic experts Obama speaks to.
23 December 2011 6:11PM
who the hell care what Charles Krauthamer has to say
23 December 2011 6:14PM
I saw the ad its very funny. Mark Styne does the voice over.
23 December 2011 6:14PM
Most Americans were persuaded (wrongly) all along that money taken from their pay and sent to Social Security was going into their own individual accounts. After all, each one of us has an account number. So the belief goes that when each of us gets his retirement benefit it's his own money from his own individual account. It was never so. Social Security is a welfare program. Money taken from today's working people is immediately sent out to retirees. The system is and has been headed for insolvency. For that reason cutting the SS payroll tax for two months, one year, or for any other span of time, is absolutely nuts. It makes no difference which party inflicts this lunacy. The government must still send out benefit checks promised to retirees, and the money has to come from non-SS funds - funds paid for by the very same taxpayers who will be getting the "benefit" of the payroll tax cut. If we fall for this kind of idiotic crap then we truly have the kind of government we deserve.