Those who read this blog know I am much more receptive to the insurgents (my term, which I find is far more descriptive than “Tea Party”, “grassroots”, or whatever complicated label Shaun Kenney is using for them today) within the Republican Party – save on the bizarre infatuation that some of them have with would-be-tax-hiker Donald Trump. This week, however, many of them took guilt-by-association and went waaaaay around the bend.
It all began a week ago when Mitch McConnell brought up a long-term transportation authorization bill with only two amendments, one of them being a revival of the expired Export-Import Bank. Ted Cruz, who thought he was promised votes on his proposed amendments, went ballistic (Washington Examiner [1]). When the Ex-Im amendment passed on Monday (while a similarly non-germane amendment on defunding Planned Parenthood was squelched without a vote), and the anger spread to the House. The next day, there was a motion to strip Speaker John Boehner of his job.
Except that while Boehner was hearing it from the insurgents over McConnell’s highway bill antics, his second-in-command (Kevin McCarthy) was telling anyone who would listen that the House wouldn’t even consider the Senate bill (WasEx [2]).
“We are set to depart on Thursday,” McCarthy said. “We are not sending the Senate a thousand-page bill on Wednesday, for them to take up.”
McCarthy added that the House passed a short-term highway funding bill weeks ago, in plenty of time for the Senate to take it up. “We’ve been very clear,” McCarthy said.
Ex-Im opponents celebrated McCarthy’s reiteration that the House won’t consider the Senate highway funding bill.
By Thursday, the House got what it wanted (New York Times [3]), and the Ex-Im Bank is still dead.
So, to recap, the House – where Boehner is actually Speaker – shut down the Senate’s attempt to bring back Ex-Im, but Boehner is at fault for the Senate’s action because…
…yeah, I’m not seeing that either.
@deejaymcguire [4] | facebook.com/people/Dj-McGuire [5] | DJ’s posts [6]