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Saturday, March 7th, 2015

Dems vow to protect Boehner from conservative coup

Author:     Mike Lillis
Source:     The Hill
Publication Date:     03/06/15 06:00 AM EST
 Link: Dems vow to protect Boehner from conservative coup
Stephan:   I selected this because it is a rare example of how democracy is supposed to work. How it did work until Reagan. Everybody in this story is operating out of self-interest, but they are choosing, if you think about it, of the options available to them the one that is most life-affirming. This will set in motion an entire trend that is promising. Boehner knows very well what just happened; he is first and foremost a man of the House. It will be interesting to see how this plays out now given the skew to the life-affirming option. Whether Boehner is smart enough to realize that the security of his position with a bipartisan center. Among other things he would act as a counterweight to voter suppression and gerrymandering, by moving the leverage point up a level.
House Speaker John Boehner Credit: AP/J Scott Applewhite

House Speaker John Boehner
Credit: AP/J Scott Applewhite

Tea Party Republicans contemplating a bid to oust Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) shouldn’t count on Democrats to help them unseat the Speaker.

And without their support, there is no chance to topple Boehner in this Congress.

A number of right-wing Republicans, long wary of Boehner’s commitment to GOP efforts attacking President Obama’s policy priorities, have openly considered a coup in an attempt to transfer the gavel into more conservative hands.

But Democrats from across an ideological spectrum say they’d rather see Boehner remain atop the House than replace him with a more conservative Speaker who would almost certainly be less willing to reach across the aisle in search of compromise. Replacing him with a Tea Party Speaker, they say, would only bring the legislative process — already limping along — to a screeching halt.

“I’d probably vote for Boehner [because] who the hell is going to replace him? [Ted] Yoho?” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) said Wednesday, referencing the Florida Tea Party Republican who’s fought Boehner […]

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