Looking Like A Hostage Reading a Ransom Note, Boehner Knows He Has Lost on Obamacare

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Looking like a hostage reading the demands of his captors, Speaker John Boehner promised to win the already lost fight to defund Obamacare at his weekly press conference today.

Video:

In his prepared remarks, Speaker Boehner said, “Tomorrow we’ll pass a plan to protect the American people from the president’s health care law, while keeping the rest of government up and running. When it comes to the health care law, the debate in the House has been settled. I think our position is very clear: The law is a train wreck, and it’s going to raise costs, it’s destroying American jobs – and it must go. We’ll deliver a big victory in the House tomorrow. Then this fight will move over to the Senate – where it belongs. I expect my Senate colleagues to be up for the battle.”

The intrigue occurred when Boehner was asked by a reporter about Senate saying that his latest plan to defund Obamacare won’t work, and Republicans will get blamed for it. The speaker said, “Well guess what? We’re having the fight over here. We’re going to win the fight over here. It’s time for them to pick up the mantle and get the job done.”

Notice what Boehner did there? He sounded tough, but he was really trying to pass the buck and put the blame for the expected failure of his latest ploy on Senate Republicans. Boehner’s words said victory, but his eyes said help me.

It is impossible to watch video of John Boehner and not see a defeated man who doesn’t believe for a second the things he is saying about victory. Boehner knows that this plan that he has been pushed into by Sen. Ted Cruz and former Sen. Jim DeMint’s campaign to tie defunding Obamacare to raising the debt ceiling is never going to work.

Before Boehner even spoke, he knew that the Obama administration had already promised to veto the bill. Boehner may be the Speaker of the House, but he is also a hostage. His promise to win the fight on Obamacare has about as much credibility as a hostage reading propaganda at gun point.

The media will create lots of faux drama surrounding the debt ceiling over the next few weeks, but John Boehner already knows that he has lost.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association