House Republicans Implode as Tea Partiers Force Boehner to Kill His Own Debt Ceiling Bill

Not only did John Boehner have to pull his own debt ceiling bill due to tea party rebellion, but word is that the bill itself is dead.

The trouble started for Boehner the very second that he announced his debt ceiling alternative. Democrats and the White House opposed the bill, and House tea partiers vowed to vote against it because it didn’t go far enough. Boehner spent the rest of the day trying to change the bill, so that it would get enough support to pass with just Republican votes. Boehner added the full Vitter amendment, which prompted a veto promise from the White House.

In the last two hours Boehner’s bill totally collapsed when the Heritage Foundation’s action arm told House Republicans to vote no, “Tonight, the House is scheduled to vote on a plan that would extend government funding to December 15 and the debt ceiling through February 7 in exchange for overturning the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ruling that created the congressional exemption. Unfortunately, the proposed deal will do nothing to stop Obamacare’s massive new entitlements from taking root — radically changing the nature of American health care…Heritage Action opposes the House proposal and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.”

The first sign that Boehner’s bill was in trouble was cancelation of the House Rules Committee’s scheduled 5:40 PM ET meeting. Then came the announcement that there would be no votes tonight.

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Then the news got even worse for Boehner.

CNN’s Dana Bash tweeted:

Told its not just pulled/delayed – this house gop plan to fund the govt/raise debt ceiling is dead – not enuf gop votes

— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) October 15, 2013

Boehner’s effort to pass a debt ceiling bill that didn’t do enough damage to the ACA for the tea party’s liking is dead. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell are trying to prevent a total collapse of the US markets tomorrow morning by reopening negotiations tonight, but the problem remains the Cult of Cruz in the Republican controlled House.

As long as Speaker Boehner continues to refuse to pass any debt ceiling bill with majority Democratic support, nothing that could pass the Senate will be passed by the House. If Boehner refuses to bring the Senate bill to the House floor for a clean vote, the country will most definitely default.

The false optimism created on Wall Street and in the media over the Reid/McConnell negotiations never took into consideration the paralysis caused by the deadly combination of cowardice, delusion, and stupidity that has gripped the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

Speaker Boehner is pulling a reverse Spock. Instead of following the famous Spock quote in The Wrath of Khan that, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one,” Boehner has decided that the needs of the few and the one outweigh the needs of the many.

John Boehner would be wise to keep in mind another Spock quote as he tries to decide what to do next, “Without followers, evil cannot spread.”

Speaker Boehner has followed the evil to edge of a default, but now he must decide if he has the courage to sacrifice himself for the needs of the many.

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