The tea partiers are feeling their oats:
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is bracing for what could be the toughest weeks of his speakership as several dozen conservatives in his party are threatening to topple him unless he is more ferocious with Democrats during the upcoming fiscal showdowns.
….The speaker’s lieutenants are openly girding for battle with the small but influential bloc of anti-Boehner conservatives, who have signaled that if Boehner cuts any deal that they don’t like with Hill Democrats and President Obama, they could seek to remove him from the speaker’s post. It is a threat that Boehner and his allies are taking seriously.
“Several dozen”! But these lunatics might still be able to force a government shutdown or unseat Boehner as Speaker of the House. This would be a hell of a show, since the TPers (a) apparently have no strategy for winning a shutdown fight, and (b) would never in a million years be able to agree on a replacement for Boehner. The whole thing is crazy.
Which is nothing new. The obvious solution for Boehner is to cut a deal with Democrats, who have more than enough votes to pass a budget and keep him safely in the Speaker’s chair. In another era, that might be an option. But today? It would just dig Boehner into an ever deeper hole. Good luck.
