Faced with conservatives increasingly upset by his lackadaisical approach to dealing with the Obama Administration, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) abruptly announced on Friday his resignation as speaker and from Congress.
In a press conference, Boehner said he decided to resign after meeting with Pope Francis. Maybe we need the Pope to have a few more meetings with weak-kneed, establishment Republicans…
And not just in Washington. The speaker of the Texas House, Joe Straus, makes Boehner look like a rock-solid, Reagan-quoting conservative. In red-state Texas, conservative reforms nonetheless keep being killed in Straus’ House. (That’s because Straus’ team is a coalition of Democrats and liberal Republicans who are apologists for Planned Parenthood, opponents of Ethics reforms, and defenders of government employee labor unions.)
Consider this: every conservative worth their salt has been working lately to get rid of that exemplar of cronyism, the Export-Import Bank. Thanks to the efforts of movement conservative fighters like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling that finally happened.
As Tony McDonald recently reported, despite not having a vote in the matter a state lawmaker has been bemoaning Ex-Im’s defeat. State Rep. Drew Springer (R-Muenster) recently took to Twitter to defend the shuttered Ex-Im Bank. Talk about tone-deaf!
Last legislative session, members of the Texas Legislature tripped over each other to fund more cronyism by expanding the “Major Events” trust fund – subsidies for multi-billionaire-dollar enterprises like the NFL’s Super Bowl and the European “Formula One” racing business.
Conservatives have long argued it was ineffective and wasteful, but that didn’t stop Austin establishment cronies like Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs) from convincing Democrats and liberal Republicans to expand it.
Now comes an independent study from the Office of the State Auditor that finds “22 percent” of the monies went to things that weren’t permitted under law. As Greg Harrison reports, the major events “slush fund” is a government solution in search of a problem.
Conservatives are tired of the problems created by government being expanded by the perpetrators and promoters of prodigious spending who defend or excuse corrupt policies under the Republican banner.
That, in part, explains why “outsiders” are leading in the GOP presidential polls. Voters are tired of double-talking, two-faced incumbents who say one thing at home and do something else in office.
Boehner’s unceremonious exit is welcome news for conservatives eager to get busy about the serious task of moving stalled reforms. But his departure, like Straus’ certain ouster, will mean little without serious House cleaning throughout all levels of government.
