In 2010, Obama’s socialist-leaning policies gave rise to the TEA Party and other conservative groups who helped the GOP retake the House of Representatives by supporting the election of conservatives. This eventually led to the election of John Boehner as Speaker of the House.
Boehner and the GOP embraced the conservative uprising, but for entirely selfish and political reasons. After receiving the coveted gavel of power from Nancy Pelosi, Boehner quickly returned to being the same recreant Republican he was when he was her whipping boy, immediately succumbing to Obama and the Democrats.
As is true in today’s GOP, Boehner — with help from Mitch McConnell — only worked with conservatives when it suited the party establishment’s agenda while simultaneously working to punish them whenever they failed to toe the party line.
Under Boehner, conservatives were stripped of committee assignments and party leadership positions. He also abandoned the Hastert Rule — a rule requiring support by the majority of the majority party before voting on a bill. This made it possible for Boehner to pass legislation favored by the Democrats but opposed by conservatives.
Boehner got so good at being a bad leader, the Democrats supported him when conservatives unsuccessfully tried to oust him as Speaker after the 2014 election. However, his cowardice eventually got the better of him, and he resigned as Speaker. Paul Ryan — essentially John Boehner 2.0 when it comes to conservatives — was elected to replace him.
So, why did I take you on this little trip down memory lane? Because Trumplicans in the House are considering a proposal that I’m calling the Boehner/Ryan rule, where conservatives who don’t vote along party lines or who support discharge petitions — a tool used to force a floor vote without leadership’s approval — will be punished for their impertinence.
The proposal was introduced by Representative Austin Scott (R-GA), a man first elected in 2010 as part of the TEA Party wave. Unfortunately, he has been assimilated by the Republican Borg collective since then. And he now fights for the machine instead of for conservative principles. That is, if he ever had them. Scott carries a Liberty Score® of 58% (F).
Unfortunately, passing a rule to silence conservatives doesn’t appear to be necessary. Even the House Freedom Caucus, the force behind the effort to oust Boehner and one of the last vestiges of conservative causes, has joined forces with liberal Republicans. HFC has fully embraced Trump’s non-conservative agenda, becoming the home of what I now call the Trumpservative.
Conservative Review Senior Editor Daniel Horowitz recently wrote a piece spelling out why more Republicans in Congress won’t change anything, and he’s right. But it looks like more conservatives won’t change anything either because they will either be assimilated by the collective . . . or destroyed by it.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His politically incorrect and always “right” columns are also featured on NOQReport.com.
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