13 Mar 2012 1:21 pm
Boehner Struggling For Republican UnityMarch 7th: Deep fissures are dividing House Republicans on the highway bill and 2013 budget and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is making late, urgent efforts to restore unity.During a closed-door conference meeting Wednesday he implored conservatives to support five-year, $260 billion transportation legislation that has been stalled for weeks, warning them that if they failed to do so, they have to swallow the $109 billion Senate bill or something that looks just like it.According to a source in the room, Boehner said, You dont like that? I dont like it either. Why would any of us like it? It means punting on the opportunity to pass an infrastructure bill that bears our stamp. It means giving up on the opportunity to make sure a bill is enacted that is responsibly paid for; that has full-scale reforms in it; and most importantly, that is linked to increased production of American energy, Boehner said. But right now, its the plan, Boehner added.At the same time, Boehners chief lieutenant, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), planned to meet Thursday morning with Budget Committee members to help resolve a dispute over 2013 spending levels.[...]In his private exhortation on Wednesday, the Speaker made a broader plea for unity as the election season draws closer. The American people entrusted us with the majority in the House. What we do with it is up to us, he said. We can use it to take steps together, one at a time, toward the vision we share. Or we can do nothing. We can squander the time weve been given allowing our internal disagreements to paralyze us.Read More: http://thehill.com/h...-highway-budgetOn March 8th Speaker Boehner's Transportation bill died an unceremonious death.Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman, called it "the worst transportation bill I've ever seen during 35 years of public service."Boehner is a total failure who can't even get his own caucus in line.