
The dirty laundry of the U.S. House, now on full display, is what piles up when elected officials place narrow interests and grudges ahead of the business of governing.
A small caucus of about 40 Republican extremists have managed over the past couple of weeks to renew the Export-Import bank.
“I hope all Republicans, regardless of their stand on this one issue, will recognize that signing a discharge petition sets a very serious, very dangerous precedent for our Republican majority that goes far beyond Ex-Im,” Hensarling added. “My colleagues who consistently and rightfully call for regular order need to understand that a discharge petition is the exact opposite of regular order.”
Americans not familiar with the inside baseball of Washington ponder how 40 Republicans can bring this about when 247 of the House’s 435 members represent the Republican Party.
The obvious answer is that 218 votes are required to pass a bill, and when you subtract 40 votes the math doesn’t work. But underlying that arithmetic is a deep political dysfunction.
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., used some rather colorful language to charge conservatives were siding with House Leader Nancy Pelosi against Boehner.
“The right-wing Marxists have teamed up with Pelosi. They’re the ones who always team up with Pelosi. They are the Pelosi Republicans,” said Nunes.
Referring to conservative efforts to defund Obamcare and the president’s executive amnesty, as well as Planned Parenthood, Nunes told the Associated Press last month, “They’re kind of like their own party,” and, “You can’t really do anything about it because they’re right-wing Marxists. It’s unpredictable what they’re going to do.”
WND asked a half-dozen conservative House members for reactions to Nunes calling conservatives Marxists, but most preferred not to go on the record, apparently biding their time and waiting for Boehner to make his move on the budget.
An exception was Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va. “In the first place, we are supposed to be on the same team, and team members should respect votes of conscious and votes that represent their constituencies.
“Secondly, the congressman has his facts upside-down. Marx was for big government, and I am for smaller government. I am not the one pushing to bust the budget caps, increase the debt ceiling, and push the next generation into a fiscal ditch.
“Finally, on the ethics, one should not be name-calling a member of their own team, especially when the pope is in town.
“As a professor of economics and ethics, I urge my colleague to hit the books a bit harder.”
A conservative House GOP aide portrayed that as a case of the pot calling the kettle black, telling WND, “Mr. Nunes is conveniently rewriting history. It was House Tuesday Group that worked with Pelosi’s caucus rather than House conservatives to renew the Ex-Im.”
The following tables lists the real House extremists, and none of the ones listed are conservative members of the House Freedom caucus. This is completely opposite of the narratives that one can read from the liar media. They come from urban New York and rural Oklahoma. The CR Score column refers to their Conservative Review Liberty Score. What they all have in common are grades of F from conservative review, a thirst for keeping the status quo and a growing federal government, and a serious hatred of conservatives.
State | District | Representative | CR Score |
California | 21 | David Valadao | 25 |
California | 42 | Ken Calvert | 37 |
California | 10 | Jeff Denham | 38 |
California | 25 | Stephen Knight | 38 |
California | 45 | Mimi Walters | 38 |
California | 23 | Kevin McCarthy | 45 |
California | 8 | Paul Cook | 50 |
California | 22 | Devin Nunes | 52 |
State | District | Representative | CR Score |
Pennsylvania | 7 | Patrick Meehan | 31 |
Pennsylvania | 15 | Charlie Dent | 34 |
Pennsylvania | 11 | Lou Barletta | 37 |
Pennsylvania | 6 | Ryan Costello | 38 |
Pennsylvania | 5 | Glenn Thompson | 41 |
Pennsylvania | 3 | Mike Kelly | 45 |
Pennsylvania | 18 | Tim Murphy | 47 |
Pennsylvania | 10 | Tom Marino | 48 |
Pennsylvania | 9 | Bill Shuster | 49 |
State | District | Representative | CR Score |
Florida | 27 | Ileana Ros-Lehtinen | 30 |
Florida | 25 | Mario Diaz-Balart | 32 |
Florida | 26 | Carlos Curbelo | 38 |
Florida | 4 | Ander Crenshaw | 40 |
Florida | 16 | Vern Buchanan | 49 |
State | District | Representative | CR Score |
New York | 22 | Richard L. Hanna | 30 |
New York | 27 | Chris Collins | 33 |
New York | 2 | Peter King | 35 |
New York | 21 | Elise Stefanik | 38 |
New York | 24 | John Katko | 38 |
New York | 23 | Tom Reed | 49 |
State | District | Representative | CR Score |
Ohio | 15 | Steve Stivers | 37 |
Ohio | 14 | David Joyce | 42 |
Ohio | 12 | Pat Tiberi | 46 |
Ohio | 10 | Michael Turner | 48 |
Ohio | 6 | Bill Johnson | 55 |
Ohio | 16 | Jim Renacci | 55 |
State | District | Representative | CR Score |
Illinois | 10 | Bob Dold | 35 |
Illinois | 13 | Rodney Davis | 35 |
Illinois | 12 | Mike Bost | 38 |
Illinois | 16 | Adam Kinzinger | 38 |
Illinois | 15 | John Shimkus | 39 |
State | District | Representative | CR Score |
Oklahoma | 3 | Frank D. Lucas | 45 |
Oklahoma | 4 | Tom Cole | 46 |
I suspect the only thing the 40 conservatives and Pelosi agree upon is that they oppose Boehner as Speaker. Conservatives want a conservative and Pelosi wants a Democrat. Great report Pil