John Boehner resigns as House Speaker

When John Boehner became the leader of the Republican caucus in the House, first as minority leader (2007) and then as majority leader and Speaker of the House (2011), he was clearly identified as part of the Republican establishment.

When the Tea Party crowd came in the 2010 election, they gave Republicans a majority;  but they did not give their loyalty to their leader.    Instead, they have fought him every step of the way -- and they have been able to thwart him again and again.

There is a group of 30 to 40 ultra-conservative House Republicans who planned to challenge Beohner's leadership, which would be a big disruptive process and possibly his loss of the Speakership.

Boehner says now that he had planned to resign at the end of 2014, handing over the job to his second in command Eric Cantor.   But then Cantor was defeated in the Republican primary, so Boehner stayed on.

But he's clearly had enough personally, in addition to facing rebellion on the issues and a challenge for the Speaker's chair coming up.    So, now that he has experienced his dream of bringing the pope to address congress on his watch, he decided this was the time to leave.

It will also save the party from a bruising internal fight at a time when Republicans hope to retake the White House in 2016.    In essence, Boehner traded his position and political future to stop the tea party group from shutting down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood.   They have now said they will not oppose a separate vote apart from the necessary-pass deficit ceiling extension.

This may also be the end of the Republican party.

Sen. Harry Reid's response:  "By ousting a good man like Speaker Boehner -- someone who understood the art of compromise -- the party of Eisenhower and Reagen is no more.

Ralph

How many of us are realizing that Boehner, the man we are talking about, is currently the second in line to succeed to the presidency.   We tend to forget that the Speaker of the House would become president if the president and vice-president were both unable to serve.  And now they are totally unprepared  to put forth someone capable of this awesome responsibility.