Deirdre Shesgreen
Cincinnati.com
1/7/2015
WASHINGTON – During Tuesday’s dramatic roll-call election for speaker, Rep. Thomas Massie was front-and-center on the House floor – comparing notes and cajoling fellow conservatives in a campaign to deny John Boehner a third term at the helm of the House.
In an interview Wednesday, Massie declined to characterize his role in the coup attempt. But there’s little question he was a key player; he nominated one GOP candidate to run against Boehner, R-West Chester, and he was in near-constant motion as the 75-minute vote unfolded.
While the coup attempt failed, it has cemented the Northern Kentucky Republican’s status as a hard-charging conservative and perennial thorn in Boehner’s side. It remains to be seen whether it also curbs his clout in Congress and results in retribution from GOP leaders.
Soon after Tuesday’s vote, two other Republicans who opposed Boehner were stripped of their seats on the House Rules Committee. At a news conference Wednesday, Boehner said they were not removed from the panel–just not reappointed for now.
Whatever the fallout in Washington, Massie said he firmly believes he did the right thing in opposing Boehner, who represents a neighboring district.
“I didn’t come here to collect merit badges,” Massie said. “I came here to change things in Washington. I diagnosed a large part of the dysfunction and its right here in the leadership of the House.”…
The article continues at Cincinnati.com
Related: After Taking a ‘Battering’ From Beck for Voting for Boehner, GOP Congressman Returns to Defend His Vote (video)
…Stewart also agreed that Boehner’s immediate move to strip those who voted against him of their prestigious committee posts was wrong, saying “we’re better united than we are when we attack each other.”
“That’s the biggest point, Chris! And I think people like you may be missing it because you’re inside the beltway,” Beck said. “Elizabeth Warren, who’s one of the most radical people on the planet … they want her to run for president. But if you stand by the Constitution, you’re a radical that’s trying to destroy America. I can get that from CNN. I can get that from MSNBC. I can get that from Barack Obama. I don’t need that from the leadership of the GOP.”…
…“We saw [the same opportunities] with the same people, the same promises, the same bull crap. … I have to tell you, between John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, I think you are in some sort of an acid trip that you think you can get this done. But I want to be wrong. I want to be wrong.”
Update: The House Just Made It Harder for Politicians to Steal From Social Security Retirement Fund
This Tuesday, House Republicans nearly unanimously adopted new rules for the 114th Congress (H. Res. 5) which set the stage for long overdue Social Security reforms to protect disabled Americans and seniors from indiscriminate benefit cuts.
The new rule strengthens the integrity of Social Security’s separate trust funds (disability and retirement) by putting a procedural barrier in place to prevent lawmakers from raiding retirement funds to shore up the bleeding disability trust fund. Page 32 of H. Res. 5 adds a point of order against weakening either trust fund, unless the changes result in an overall improvement to Social Security’s combined trust funds.
This change sets the stage for comprehensive Social Security reform in the 114th Congress…
