This morning, John Boehner (R-Ohio) was re-elected to be Speaker of the House for the next two years. Having come to the position riding on the Tea Party wave in which he took no part, Speaker Boehner faced a challenge from Tea Party candidates. Although he won by fewer votes than last time, Mr. Boehner managed to retain his position in the third highest office in government.
Speaker Boehner is responsible for leading the anti-Tea Party forces in the Republican Party that resulted in the Republican base not turning out in force for this presidential election. Mr. Boehner acted during the Republican Convention to squash the Tea Party caucus, which he denies exists. He was primarily responsible for ousting Newt Gingrich in 2000 who forced Congress to balance the budget and control their spending.
Conservatives blame his moderate views of willing to “reach across the aisle” to the Obama administration and not curtailing the continued massive deficit spending without a lawful budget being passed for the past four years. He is also faulted for doing nothing to stop the president from making Republicans the fall guys for his failed economic policies, still taking the blame for the economy which Democrats have run for the past six years. Tea Party conservatives, who demand the government reduce the tax burden so that businesses may grow and stop deficit spending, remain frustrated at government’s fiscal waste and abuse.
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