Boehner and his Struggles with the Two Congresses at Work
Throughout the semester in
our Congress class, we evaluated the fundamental question of if the Two
Congresses are ultimately compatible, or are they diverting forces, each
detrimental to each other. After following Republican congressmen and Speaker
of the House John Boehner this semester, I believe that the Two Congresses are
not compatible and are diverting, and there is no better example than Speaker
of the House John Boehner, who is feeling these crippling affects from the two
sides.
The Two Congresses is an
interesting task that Congress struggles with on a daily basis. On one side,
Congress must take care of its constituents, the people they not only represent
but the people who elected them into office. They must do always strive to do
whatever is in their best interests on a daily basis. As hard enough as that
already is, they must balance this heavy task while also dealing with the
nation’s problems and creating and passing laws. Congress must balance both
sides and work tirelessly to make sure they don’t neglect either side or they
could very well lose the job they so highly covet. A great example of this struggle is Speaker of the House
John Boehner, and the difficult task he has of not only balancing the concerns
of his constituents, but also dealing with the nations problems, as he is the
not just leader of the Republican party, but the leader of House, as he holds
the highest position one could have in the house.
Throughout the semester, Mr.
Boehner has dealt with struggles that have left him feeling the crippling
effects of these Two Congresses at work. It all started on September 4th
when Boehner visited his district in Ohio to see the constituents he
represents. During this routine visit, Boehner was attacked with rumors that he
would be retiring in 2014 and would not seek to reelection as Speaker of the
House. Had these rumor continued to swirl, Boehner would have been left severely
hamstrung and in essence, a lame-duck Speaker of the House for the rest of his
term which would have then hurt his ability to lead the Republican party with
the budget crisis just a month or so away. Boehner and his top aides were
forced to cut their visit short and fly back to Washington to squash these
rumors and send a clear message that not only was Boehner in charge, but it was
going to remain that way. This was the first example of Boehner dealing with
the struggle between the Two Congresses, as he had to leave one aspect of it
(the representation), to deal with the governing and national issues and the
lawmaking part of it. (Blog Post: A crazy week in
the life of John Boehner)
Another great example of the
struggles Boehner faced was dealing with the government shutdown, particularly
the fight he and the Republicans had with Democrats over The Affordable Health
Care Act, or “Obamacare,” as it’s better known as. During this debate, the
Republicans would not agree to pass a new budget or a continuing resolution that
would fund the government if it did not call for the defunding of Obamacare in
it. The leader of this movement for the Republicans was Speaker of the House
John Boehner, who battled with President Obama while this shutdown loomed. During
this time, the majority of the America people wanted the debate to be about the
debt limit and the countries economy, not Obamacare, but according to Boehner
in early October, “I and my members (of the Republican party) decided
the threat of Obamacare and what was happening was so important that it was time for us to take a stand. And
we took a stand.” Even Boehner himself noted that he, “thought the fight would
be over the debt ceiling,” but Boehner then went on to say, “But you know,
working with my members (of the Republican party), they decided, well, let’s do
it now. And the fact is, this fight was going to come, one way or the other.
We’re in the fight” (Blog post: Could Boehner go
all the way). This is another example of not just Boehner, but the
Republican Party not listening to their constituents and deciding that the
other side of the Two Congresses at work was more important. They decided to go
with the defunding of Obamacare instead of what the American people wanted,
because they felt that this was in the countries best interests. As it turned
out, the government shutdown and the Republicans, particularly Boehner took
most of the blame. Boehner was killed by the press and Democrats for leading
the government to close its doors and the rumors once again continued to swirl
that one way or another, Boehner would no longer be in control of the House
come 2014.
This was another great example of the struggles
Boehner faced from the Two Congresses. His constituents and the majority of Americans felt as if the debate should
have focused on the budget and the debt limit, but Boehner decided to go with
The Affordable Health Care Act, which left him to take massive political
backlash from all sides. One must also take into account the issues within the Republican
Party that Boehner faces as well. As we’ve noted on our blog numerous times,
Boehner must deal with the extreme right wing “tea party” republicans as well
as deal with the moderate base of the Republican Party. To make matters even
harder, Boehner must balance out the two sides and listen to both of their
concerns and do his best to keep both sides of the party happy, which seems as
if its impossible to do. It also seems as if Boehner would have been the loser
on any side of this argument, because had Boehner heeded the concerns of the
people and pushed Republican lawmakers to steer clear of any talk about
Obamacare, which many of the moderates wanted, he would have been run over by the
extreme side of the party who would have likely pushed him of office as a
result of this. (Blog Post: And Your Winner is …
John Boehner)
Dealing with the
representing and the governing aspects of Congress is extremely difficult. On
an average day on the hill, one must spend nearly four hours campaigning, spend
hours dealing with the issues that plague Washington as well as speak to
constituents at home to keep them happy. For Speaker of the House John Boehner,
he must deal with all of these responsibilities as well as lead not only a
fractured Republican Party but also lead the United States House of
Representatives. With all of these facts in mind, it seems as if the Two
Congresses at Work are not compatible and instead, are diverting forces each
detrimental to each other, and there is no better example of this than Speaker
of the House John Boehner, who has felt the crippling affects from trying to
manage both sides.
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