Do you remember the 1980s TV show “The A-Team?” Hannibal Smith—played by George Peppard—would frequently be heard saying:
Following today’s announcement by Congressional Republicans and Obama, you can almost hear those words echoing through the halls of the Capitol and the White House after they announced an agreement on a new two-year budget deal that will kick the budget can down the road until after the 2016 presidential election.
In the deal, Republicans got more money for defense while Obama got everything else.
Obama obviously loves the deal, as does the departing Speaker of the House, John Boehner who said the new budget will “clean up the barn a little bit” — a fitting analogy considering the amount of bovine fecal matter he has flung around Washington since becoming the top dog.
Boehner told his fellow caucus members that he didn’t like the way the budget was done, but, “We can fall into that trap or we can lead.” Or, if you’re John Boehner, you can do neither.
Paul Ryan says he doesn’t like the process either, saying: “Under new management, we’re not going to do business like this” — a convenient claim since he won’t be forced to prove if the agreement becomes law. Still, under the circumstances, Ryan is probably ecstatic about the deal because it leaves him in the perfect position to denounce it or stay neutral, all while preparing to take the gavel from Boehner.
But here’s the real frustration: Boehner is leaving Congress anyway, so he could have used this opportunity to stand up to Obama with absolutely no political risk. And since Ryan hasn’t entered the job yet, he could have taken a stand against Obama without political risk. In both cases, the choice was to cave or keep silent.
In the end we get a two-year budget that spends trillions of dollars we don’t have, including hundreds of billions to pay for a myriad of left-wing priorities; Paul Ryan can pretend to oppose the deal while never taking an official position; while John Boehner walks away from Congress as the official hero of the party establishment.
Sounds like their plan is coming together, doesn’t it?
David Leach is owner and publisher of The Strident Conservative where he is proudly politically-incorrect and always “right,” and he is also a frequent contributor at RedState.com.
His political commentaries can be heard daily on KLZ560 AM at 3pm MST and on other Crawford Broadcasting stations throughout the day.
