Boehner’s Demise

Losing John Boehner from his post as leader of the fractious Republican party in the House of Representatives marks another step in the slow attrition of the key figures who brought us this lingering economic malaise.

It was he, after all, that so clearly damned growing Federal expenditure and the consequent bulge in the budget deficit brought on by the 2007/2008 crisis. His simplistic argument was if households were tightening there belts in the face of crisis, so too ought the Federal government.

In the recent past this was about as clear a statement of erroneous policy that could be made.

Not only this but his institution of the “Boehner rule” whereby only that legislation garnering the support of his entire Republican caucus was to be brought to the floor of the House for a vote eliminated any hope for bipartisan action on key issues. His dogged avoidance of having to rely on votes from Democrats to pass legislation meant that only the most rigidly extreme of legislation was ever voted upon. His determination to have his caucus stand together opened him up to constant blackmail from the far right: since they were aware of the need for solidarity they could simply threaten to oppose him and thus force him to proffer only legislation they approved of.

Hence the endless stream of votes to undo, defund, and otherwise clobber Obamacare.

None of these extreme votes mattered because the Senate was marginally less extreme and, in any case, subject to all sorts of arcane in-house rules that gave minority membership – currently the Democrats – virtual veto power.

So Boehner’s all or nothing voting rule massively added to our slide into the stagnant bitter partisan quagmire we now find it so difficult to escape. The House legislative agenda became hostage to the small number of extremists that have now made Boehner’s life so difficult he has decided to step down.

What now?

I cannot but think we will slide further.

The mood of the country is sour. Neither party has offered policy prescriptions to deal with the steady decline in prosperity of the vast middle class that once was the economy engine of our consumption economy. As wages stagnated no one seemed to notice, worry, or care. If they did pay attention they shrugged the phenomenon off as some ‘natural’ outcome of the magical workings of the economy. Decline was, they argued, something that just happens when great waves of technological change attach themselves to the globalization of production.

So we were urged to suck it up and work harder. We were bullied into greater and greater effort to increase productivity. And then, when the rewards of that increased productivity were distributed to a very small class of people – those who own assets rather than those who work – we were told that those great forces of nature were unavoidable, and, more to the point, we were obviously lacking the right skills to flourish in this harsh new world.

Boehner has, in one role or another, been a constant player in this charade since I started writing this column back in 2005. His advocacy of the constant Republican anti-activist government mantra means his place in history is firmly on the side of the plutocrats. He one of them. He is not one of us.

His oftentimes baffled looks gave us all insight into the darker workings of his caucus. His brutal obstinacy enabled the rise of the contemporary extremist wing of his party. It is ironic that one of his most regular and vocal critics, Ted Cruz, is a creation of the drift into negativity that Boehner and his Senate cohort Mitch McConnell actively encouraged. And Ted Cruz is already dancing on Boehner’s grave, calling this moment a sea change for the better.

Look for ever more confrontation and bitterness. Look for even less legislative action. Look for more disillusionment on the part of the voters.

We have to fight on, but Boehner can now go and collect his fat paycheck as a lobbyist.

It is impolite to yell good riddance. I have to admit, though, I won’t miss him.