House Republican slams anti-Boehner movement hard. Like, really hard.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/01/06/house-republican-slams-anti-boehner-movement-hard-like-really-hard/

The last time there was a speaker vote, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) didn't vote for John A. Boehner, protesting against the Ohio Republican by voting for no one.

On Tuesday, he did vote for Boehner. And he had some not-so-nice things to say about the movement to try to defeat the top Republican.

Below is his full statement, which is remarkably blunt and the kind of thing that is rarely seen from a member of Congress. (Seriously, it's worth reading the whole thing.)

“There was an attempt to oust John Boehner as Speaker of the House today. I didn’t participate in it. That may make some people back home angry. I understand that, but I’ve got some experience with coup attempts against the Speaker, and what I learned two years ago factored heavily in my decision today not to join the mutiny.

First, I learned two years ago that people lie about how they are going to vote. And you cannot go into this kind of fight with people you do not trust. We walked onto the floor two years ago with signed pledges – handwritten promises – from more than enough people to deny Boehner his job. But when it came time to vote, almost half of those people changed their minds – including some of those who voted against Boehner today. Fool me once, shame on you… Today was even worse: there were never enough votes to oust Boehner to begin with. On top of that, some people who had publicly said in the past that they wouldn’t vote for Boehner did just that. This was an effort driven as much by talk radio as by a thoughtful and principled effort to make a change. It was poorly considered and poorly executed, and I learned first-hand that is no way to fight a battle. This coup today was bound to fail. And in fact, it failed worse than I expected, falling 11 votes short of deposing the Speaker. At least two years ago we only failed by six.

I also learned that the Floor of the House is the wrong place to have this battle. The hard truth is that we had an election for Speaker in November – just among Republicans. THAT was the time to fight. But not a single person ran against Boehner. Not one. If they had, we could’ve had a secret ballot to find out what the true level of opposition to John Boehner was. In fact, we could’ve done that as late as Monday night, on a vote of “no confidence” in the Speaker. But that didn’t happen…and at least one of the supposed challengers to Boehner today didn’t even go to the meeting last night. That told me a lot.

Some people wrote me encouraging me to vote for Louie Gohmert. I like Louie, but let’s be clear: Louie Gohmert was – is – never ever going to be Speaker of the House. I respect his passion, but he isn’t a credible candidate. That was proved today by the fact that he got three votes, despite all the national media attention he managed to grab. My colleague who got the most anti-Boehner votes was Daniel Webster of Florida who got 12 votes. I like Daniel. He is a nice guy, and a good thinker…but his lifetime Heritage Action score is 60% (by comparison, mine is 91%). And this was supposed to be the savior of the conservative movement? Would the House really have been more conservative if he had won?

The truth is, there was no conservative who could beat John Boehner. Period. People can ignore that, or they can wish it away, but that is reality.

Some people tried to argue that voting against Boehner would give conservatives leverage, or somehow force him to lead in a more conservative fashion, even if the coup attempt failed. All I can say to that is that the exact opposite happened two years ago: conservatives were marginalized, and Boehner was even freer to work with moderates and Democrats. My guess is that the exact same thing will happen again now. And I fail to see how that helps anything that conservatives know needs to be done in Washington.

I understand people’s frustration and anger over what is happening in Washington. And I also acknowledge that John Boehner may be partly to blame. But this was a fool’s errand. I am all for fighting, but I am more interested in fighting and winning than I am fighting an unwinnable battle.

Finally, the most troubling accusation I have heard regarding the Boehner vote is that I have “sold out” my conservative principles. All I can say is this: take a look at my voting record. It is one of the most conservative in Congress. And I was joined today by the likes of Jim Jordan, Raul Labrador, Trey Gowdy, Mark Sanford, Trent Franks, Tom McClintock, Matt Salmon, Tom Price, Sam Johnson, and Jeb Hensarling. If I “sold out” then I did so joined by some of the most tried and tested conservative voices in Washington.

I can say with 100% confidence that I have done exactly what I said I would do when I came to Washington: fight to cut spending, stop bad legislation, work to repeal Obamacare, and hold the President accountable for his actions. That will never change, and neither will I."

[sinkspur]

Those who voted against Boehner are mostly showboaters. Gohmert is, for sure. He loves a camera (just Google Gohmert-pictures to see how many pics he crashes).

It's time for the party to unite. Some never will, and those members will be marginalized, over time. But, the rest should do the work of the people.

[speekinout]

Cheers for Rep.Mick Mulvaney. And there's nothing he said that I like more than

I am all for fighting, but I am more interested in fighting and winning than I am fighting an unwinnable battle.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

Those who voted against Boehner are mostly showboaters. Gohmert is, for sure. He loves a camera (just Google Gohmert-pictures to see how many pics he crashes).

john r stanton @dcbigjohn  ·  11h 11 hours ago

When Gohmert responded to his name by voting Gohmert and the clerk repeated Gohmert, we came perilously close to an infinite Gohmert loop.

24 GOP lawmakers who did not vote for Boehner, plus Babin.

•     Rep. Justin Amash, Mich.
•     Rep. Rod Blum, Iowa
•     Rep. Dave Brat, Va.
•     Rep. Jim Bridenstine, Okla.
•     Rep. Curt Clawson, Fla.
•     Rep. Scott DesJarlais, Tenn.
•     Rep. Jeff Duncan, S.C.
•     Rep. Scott Garrett, N.J.
•     Rep. Chris Gibson, N.Y.
•     Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas
•     Rep. Paul Gosar, Ariz.
•     Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Kan.
•     Rep. Walter Jones, N.C.
•     Rep. Steve King, Iowa
•     Rep. Thoma Massie, Ky.
•     Rep. Mark Meadows, N.C.
•     Rep. Rich Nugent, Fla.
•     Rep. Gary Palmer, Ala.
•     Rep. Bill Posey, Fla.
•     Rep. Scott Rigell, Va.
•     Rep. Marlin Stutzman, Ind.
•     Rep. Randy Weber, Texas
•     Rep. Daniel Webster, Fla.
•     Rep. Ted Yoho, Fla.
•     Rep. Brian Babin, Texas

Only 3 votes from TX?  And Babin didn't even vote against Boehner he voted present.  Didn't anybody in TX get the phone calls?  http://thehill.com/homenews/house/228594-tea-party-groups-make-last-ditch-push-to-oust-boehner

I thought TX was really conservative.  This list looks about 22 Republicans shy.

I think it is a bit funny that Justin Amash voted for Jim Jordan(OH).  Jordan voted for Boehner.

[Carling]

Cheers for Rep.Mick Mulvaney. And there's nothing he said that I like more than

The Tea 25 did win, though.  They'll continue to get money by Gruberizing their followers, and they build up support in their home district.  Their whining and groveling tonight tells me they still want some pork for their districts, too.  A rep of true 100% opposition to Boehner would not allow any earmarks or federal funds/grants in their home district. Boehner spends too much, right?  Seems as the Tea 25 and their voters don't need federal funds for their districts, if they are opposed to the federal government spending money.