House Speaker John Boehner is not leaving Congress quietly. On “Face the Nation” this Sunday, the oft teary-eyed representative, who just announced his resignation on Friday, took aim at House conservatives for their threats to shut down the government. He referenced the Holy Book in his attack:
"The Bible says beware of false prophets. And there are people out there, you know, spreading noise about how much can get done. I mean this whole notion that we're going to shut down the government to get rid of Obamacare in 2013 -- this plan never had a chance," Boehner said.
Boehner went on to call the 2013 battle against Obamacare a “fool’s errand.”
This year’s conservative raison d’être is defunding Planned Parenthood. With two days left before the fiscal cliff deadline Oct. 1, the GOP is divided on the issue. While many Republicans are expected to vote for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's "clean" spending bill void of the pro-life policy, a conservative caucus has pledged to ensure no spending bill would pass that includes taxpayer funds for the organization.
This effort didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. Yes, Planned Parenthood has always performed abortions, but the stomach-turning Center for Medical Progress videos have given pro-life congressmen a new sense of urgency to freeze the $500 million it gets for at least one year. If the legislators are successful, Congress would reallocate those federal dollars to health centers that don’t perform abortions.
Boehner didn’t name names when launching insults on Sunday, but history tells us he was targeting the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Cruz led the fight against Obamacare two years ago and is in the forefront of the battle to defund Planned Parenthood.
That doesn’t seem like a worthwhile fight to the current speaker.
"And so, we've got groups here in town, members of the House and Senate here in town, who whipped people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things that they know -- they know -- are never going to happen," he said.
Despite the inevitable veto from President Obama, American voters like to know their elected representatives are fighting for causes for which they believe. That is no “fool’s errand,” Mr. Speaker.
No wonder Values Voters cheered last week upon hearing about his exit.