John Boehner Agrees With Obama On ISIS, But Obama Still Sucks
[su_right_ad]Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) released a statement, following President Obama’s ISIS speech, in which he mixed backhanded praise (“finally,” Obama!) with nebulous criticism (the President’s plan is not an “all-out effort to destroy” ISIS) that didn’t explain what he thought should be done differently.
Boehner held a press conference Thursday afternoon to outline the House GOP response to President Obama’s ISIS speech, and while Boehner kept referring to his statement from last night, the majority of the presser was spent agreeing with the President, and pledging support. In between, some of the criticisms took (still-nebulous) shape, and if they are actually what they appear to be, then Obama and Boehner don’t really disagree on anything at all.
The news from this press conference is as follows (full video is at the end of the post):
- The House will actually vote on something! Namely, the President’s request for Title 10 authorization to train and equip Syrian rebels.
- The House GOP will support that request. “Frankly, we ought to give the President what he’s asking for,” Boehner said.
- Boehner agrees with the White House’s assessment of the FSA. “Based on all the information that I’ve looked at, the Free Syrian Army has, by and large, been very well vetted by our intelligence officials,” he said.
These are all important, because they cut off various avenues through which Republicans can later attack the President politically, and they also serve to isolate the areas of seeming disagreement. Boehner also said that training the FSA could take years, and ISIS’ progress “must be halted and reversed immediately,” but without explaining exactly how. This could mean he wants more ground troops, or an explicit set of plans for airstrikes, or both. Boehner was asked why he doesn’t write a resolution of his own, authorizing whatever it is Boehner thinks is missing. Boehner’s response was, essentially, because that’s why:
“Typically, in my time here in Congress, that’s not how this has happened. The President would make that request, and the President would supply the language for the resolution.”
As it relates to airstrikes (and to a lesser extent, some ground forces), there’s a simple and obvious reason the President hasn’t asked for authorization to conduct airstrikes in Syria, a reason that underscores just how serious he is about conducting them. The President has consistently said he doesn’t need authorization to conduct such strikes, and in a conference call with reporters yesterday, a senior administration official explained that…READ MORE [su_csky_ad]
edmeyer_able September 11th, 2014 at 5:32 pm
Wonder how much House Republicans will want to cut SNAP benefits to pay for this.
Tommy6860 September 11th, 2014 at 5:34 pm
Get out of my head!
edmeyer_able September 11th, 2014 at 5:35 pm
I typed it once then deleted it so I did give you a chance…lol
Tommy6860 September 11th, 2014 at 5:38 pm
It’s funny, because as I was typing my comment, that came into my head, hence why is stated “social welfare” in part of my comment as yours was shown.
Tommy6860 September 11th, 2014 at 5:36 pm
Regardless of the half-hearted approval of Obama’s strategy, they have read what it contains and are agreeing to it. While I despise politics when it’s involved with critical aspects of national security, military action and especially the social welfare of our country, Obama laying this at the GOP’s feet will not allow them to have a pass on previous indecision and “No” voting. If something’s go awry, they gce the tacit approval.
You want to know the real definition of “Leading from behind”? is It’s the GOP leadership that dictates what they think leadership should entail while deflecting their own responsibilities of their office.
Guy Lauten September 11th, 2014 at 5:37 pm
I fail to see why anyone listens to Boner anymore. He certainly can’t control his caucus, so anything he says they will do is worthless as a prediction of what will actually happen.
Worst – speaker – ever!
KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker September 11th, 2014 at 7:59 pm
I fail to understand why McGrumpy is on TV every day and is not called on any of two faced hypocritical horse shit, blatant lies, evasion and back-peddling.
It’s becoming very clear that this senile old man is a danger to our country.
tiredoftea September 11th, 2014 at 8:50 pm
Fortunately, he’s not at his office very much, so we’re safe!
NW10 September 11th, 2014 at 6:11 pm
http://images.politico.com/global/2013/01/08/130108_cartoon_600_605.jpg
eddie1247 September 11th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
Hmmm, will the American taxpayer have to foot the bill for his liver transplant?
fancypants September 11th, 2014 at 10:10 pm
john should consult his office pal who he likes ? after john winds him up
burqa September 11th, 2014 at 11:01 pm
OP: “These are all important, because they cut off various avenues through which Republicans can later attack the President politically, …”
Nuh-uh-uhhhhhh.
There’s hardly a major policy the GOP has not done a 180 on.
* They’ve gone from seeking a less intrusive federal government to warrantless wiretaps and government-imposed vaginal probes.
* We’ve seen multiple GOP presidents talk about cutting deficits and balancing budgets and then go on to set new records in the size of the deficit and tell us deficits don’t matter.
* In 2000 they told us our military was breaking under the strain of too many overseas deployments and that 10,000 troops in the former Yugoslavia was wearing out our military. 2-1/2 years later they were sending in over 100,000 troops in an elective war in Iraq.
* Once they were for getting the government out of local schools and then they contradicted that with No Child Left Behind and now they’ve reversed course again.
* They believed their health care plan was just the ticket to getting every American health care until Obama proposed their proposal. Now they campaign against their own health care program.
* Less than a year ago we saw the Republicans vote down the budget they proposed. Even the budget’s authors wouldn’t vote for it.
The list is nearly endless. Other than guns and abortion, all one need do is wait and Republicans will talk themselves around an issue the same way the wind clocks around when the weather changes.
Um Cara September 11th, 2014 at 11:38 pm
Hey, look at that. Boehner and I agree on something! (At least as far as the headline statement)
Skydog2 September 12th, 2014 at 7:39 am
G.W. Bush 7/12/07: “To begin withdrawing before our commanders tell us we are ready would be dangerous for Iraq, for the region and for the United States”.
He then ticked off a string of predictions about what would happen if the U.S. left too early.
– It would mean surrendering the future of Iraq to terrorists.
– It would mean that we’d be risking mass killings on a horrific scale.
– It would mean we allow the terrorists to establish a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they lost in Afghanistan.
– It would mean we’d be increasing the probability that American troops would have to return at some later date to confront an enemy that is even more dangerous.”
All of these predictions have come true.