| A little history: Lil' Fella, Michigan's 3rd District Congressman, was booted off the House Budget Committee for, among other things, voting against the Ryan budget because it didn't go far enough. Rumor is also that John Boehner hates him and refused to lift a finger to help him retain his seat. Lil' Fella responded to getting broomed off the committee by making veiled, Ben Kenobi-style threats towards the House Speaker. Then, when it came time for a vote to reaffirm Boehner as House Speaker, Lil' Fella helped mastermind a failed coup. Republican Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina and Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho played key roles in organizing the plot. But participants describe its origin as organic and not led by any particular member, despite the suggestion by at least one House Republican that Amash was the ringleader.
By the way, Lil' Fella's coup helped undercut federal disaster assistance to New Jersey and New York. Please note this graf. The night of the vote on the fiscal cliff deal, which occurred New Year’s Day, Boehner stopped a vote on Hurricane Sandy aid in part because of fear about the “insurrection” forming against him, former Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Ohio told The Atlantic.
Emph. mine. If you're angry that Congress whiffed on federal disaster relief, you can thank at least in part Lil' Fella's hurt ego. Again, my guess is that he's being hung out to dry on this by the GOP leadership because they plan to eject his ass from the House entirely in 2014 through a primary. Into this mess walks every Republican's chief enabler, MLive's in-house sedetionist and conservative affirmative action hire, Matt Davis. Regardless of whether Boehner was merely making an example of Amash or acting like some hetman who's owed unquestioned loyalty, the fact is that Amash was sent to Washington, D.C., to serve his constituents -- not John Boehner. Therefore, he has every right to do so as he sees fit, notwithstanding whether he gets some political payback in the form of a committee assignment. He then meanders into the shop-worn territory of saying that if Amash's voters don't like what he does, they can always hire someone else. |
