It Is Time To Dump John Boehner As House Leader

Congressman Boehner caves to the nonfactual position and political tactics of the Senate Democrats led by the 44th President of the United States on tax policy extension. Image Credit: johnboehner.house.gov

It Is Time To Dump John Boehner As House Leader

John Boehner is the worst leader of the Republican party in the House of Representatives in over sixty years (maybe longer). The latest evidence of this horrible level of leadership is shown on how he continues to have trouble closing the door on original arguments made and legislation passed when the opposition is able to out-and-out lie and get away with it.

Facts are facts, and lies are lies ... it is time that the American people have a leader of the Republican party in the House of Representatives that knows how to communicate the difference and stand for the truth.

This excerpted and edited from The White House - Office of the Press Secretary

Remarks by the President on the Payroll Tax Cut
South Court Auditorium - December 22, 2011, 1:00 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. (Applause.) Please have a seat. Good afternoon to all of you. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays.
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Now, on Saturday, we reached a bipartisan compromise that would do just that -- make sure that people aren’t seeing a tax cut the first of the year; make sure that they still have unemployment insurance the first of the year. Nearly every Democrat in the Senate voted for that compromise. Nearly every Republican in the Senate voted for that compromise. Democrats and even some Republicans in the House voted for that compromise. I am ready to sign that compromise into law the second it lands on my desk.

So far, the only reason it hasn’t landed on my desk -- the only reason -- is because a faction of House Republicans have refused to support this compromise. [this is because the Republicans and some Democrats in the House of Representatives passed an extension that was for one year and received back a bill to approve that was for only two months]

Now, if you’re a family making about $50,000 a year, this is a tax cut that amounts to about $1,000 a year [WRONG - the compromise amounts to only 1/6th of this amount or about $160.00]. That’s about 40 bucks out of every paycheck [for two months as opposed to what the House of Representatives had approved ... 12 months]. It may be that there's some folks in the House who refuse to vote for this compromise because they don’t think that 40 bucks is a lot of money. But anyone who knows what it’s like to stretch a budget knows that at the end of the week, or the end of the month, $40 can make all the difference in the world [the President is arguing for a continued return of $160.00 as opposed to $1,000.00].

And that’s why we thought we’d bring your voices into this debate. So many of these debates in Washington end up being portrayed as which party is winning, which party is losing. But what we have to remind ourselves of is this is about people. This is about the American people and whether they win. It's not about a contest between politicians [NO - this is all about the President and Senate Democrats only wishing to extend the tax policy for two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for one (1) full year].

So on Tuesday, we asked folks to tell us what would it be like to lose $40 out of your paycheck every week [the President and Senate Democrats for eight (8) weeks as opposed to House Republicans fifty-two (52) weeks]. And I have to tell you that the response has been overwhelming. We haven't seen anything like this before. Over 30,000 people have written in so far -- as many as 2,000 every hour. We’re still hearing from folks -- and I want to encourage everybody who's been paying attention to this to keep sending your stories to WhiteHouse.gov and share them on Twitter and share them on Facebook.

The responses we’ve gotten so far have come from Americans of all ages and Americans of all backgrounds, from every corner of the country. Some of the folks who responded are on stage with me here today, and they should remind every single member of Congress what’s at stake in this debate. Let me just give you a few samples.

Joseph from New Jersey talked about how he would have to sacrifice the occasional pizza night with his daughters. He said -- and I'm quoting -- “My 16-year-old twins will be out of the house soon. I'll miss this.” [I thought that Michelle Obama and "My Plate" wanted the American people to eat healthier - no pizza | the President and Senate Democrats only wish Joseph and his family to have an occasional pizza night with his family two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for a one (1) full year extension]

Richard from Rhode Island wrote to tell us that having an extra $40 in his check buys enough heating oil to keep his family warm for three nights. In his words -- I'm quoting -- “If someone doesn't think that 12 gallons of heating oil is important, I invite them to spend three nights in an unheated home. Or you can believe me when I say that it makes a difference.” [The President and Senate Democrats only wish Richard from Rhode Island to have fuel to heat his home for two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for a one (1) full year extension]

Pete from Wisconsin told us about driving more than 200 miles each week to keep his father-in-law company in a nursing home -- $40 out of his paycheck would mean he'd only be able to make three trips instead of four. [The President and Senate Democrats wish to allow Pete from Wisconsin to visit his father-in-law in a nursing home for two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for a one (1) full year extension]

We heard from a teacher named Claire from here in D.C. who goes to the thrift store every week and uses her own money to buy pencils and books for her fourth grade class. Once in a while she splurges on science or art supplies. Losing $40, she says, would mean she couldn’t do that anymore. [The President and Senate Democrats wish to allow Teacher Claire from D.C. to visit the thrift store every week and use her own money to buy pencils and books for her fourth grade class for two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for a one (1) full year extension]

For others, $40 means dinner out with a child who's home for Christmas, a new pair of shoes, a tank of gas, a charitable donation. These are the things at stake for millions of Americans. They matter to people. A lot. [NO - this is all about the President and Senate Democrats only wishing to extend the tax policy for two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for one (1) full year]

And keep in mind that those are just the individual stories. That doesn’t account for the overall impact that a failure to extend the payroll tax cut and a failure to extend unemployment insurance would have on the economy as a whole. We've seen the economy do better over the last couple of months, but there's still a lot of sources of uncertainty out there -- what's going on in Europe, what's going on around the world. And so this is insurance to make sure that our recovery continues. [NO - this is all about the President and Senate Democrats only wishing to extend the tax policy for two (2) months an maintaining UNCERTAINTY as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for one (1) full year thus eliminating UNCERTAINTY for 12 months]

So it's time for the House to listen to the voices who are up here, the voices all across the country, and reconsider. What’s happening right now is exactly why people just get so frustrated with Washington. This is it; this is exactly why people get so frustrated with Washington. This isn’t a typical Democratic-versus-Republican issue [NO - this is all about the President and Senate Democrats only wishing to extend the tax policy for two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for one (1) full year]. This is an issue where an overwhelming number of people in both parties agree {to extend current tax policy for one full year as opposed to a minority of Democrats holding this issue hostage and have it be talked about in another two months}. How can we not get that done? I mean, has this place become so dysfunctional that even when people agree to things we can't do it? (Applause.) It doesn’t make any sense. [NO - this is all about the President and Senate Democrats only wishing to extend the tax policy for two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for one (1) full year]

So, enough is enough. The people standing with me today can’t afford any more games. They can’t afford to lose $1,000 [another lie - two months is only $160.00 as opposed to the $1,000.00] because of some ridiculous Washington standoff [by you, Barack Obama and the Senate Democrats]. The House needs to pass a short-term version of this compromise, and then we should negotiate an agreement as quickly as possible to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance for the rest of 2012 [NO - all of the Republicans in the House passed a bill for one (1) full year already]. It's the right thing to do for the economy, and it's, most importantly, the right thing to do for American families all across the country.

This is not just my view. Just a few hours ago, this is exactly what the Republican Leader of the Senate said we should do [NO - this is all about the President and Senate Democrats only wishing to extend the tax policy for two (2) months as opposed to all of the Republicans in the House passing a bill for one (1) full year - Senator Mitch McConnell needs to be dumped as well for he will not stand for the truth over lies]. Democrats agree with the Republican Leader of the Senate. We should go ahead and get this done. This should not be hard. We all agree it should happen [all Democrats and one Republican in the Senate]. I believe it's going to happen sooner or later. Why not make it sooner, rather than later? [EXACTLY - agree to the one full year extension NOW ... not later] Let’s give the American people -- the people who sent us here -- the kind of leadership they deserve.

Thank you, everybody. (Applause.)

END
1:08 P.M. EST
[Reference Here]

The fact of the matter is that we will hear the following on the Sunday news shows ... pre-taped for Christmas Sunday.

SNEAK PEEK - CBS News correspondent predictions for 2012, pre-taped for Christmas Day edition of "Face the Nation":

--Nancy Cordes, Congressional Correspondent: "I think a day of reckoning is coming between House Speaker John Boehner and his number two man, Eric Cantor, because they have been on opposites sides of almost every major fight this year."

--Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent and "Face the Nation" anchor: "I think we'll see a wholesale turnover in the congress. I think we'll see more incumbents turned out of office, both Republicans and Democrats, than in any time since I've been in Washington, and that's been a long time." (41 years!)
(ht: Politico)

Again, facts are facts, and lies are lies ... it is time that the American people have a leader of the Republican party in the House of Representatives [an the United States Senate] that knows how to communicate the difference and stand for the facts.



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