Boehner Gets Tough with Tea Party

Talking Points Memo

. . . four Republicans ... were stripped of committee seats this week for bucking leadership over the last term. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) lost his spot on the Budget Committee, where he voted against the House GOP’s budget last year along with Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), who also was removed this week. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Walter Jones (R-NC), who also voted against the budget from the right, lost seats on the Financial Services Committee.
. . . The decision to demote several popular conservative representatives could heighten tensions between House leaders and right-wing activists, a relationship that’s already under pressure during fiscal cliff negotiations.

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The Steering Committee makes decisions based on a range of factors.
~ Boehner Spokesperson Kevin Smith via Breitbart

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We were not notified about what might occur but it confirms in my mind the deepest suspicions that most Americans have about Washington D.C: it’s petty, it’s vindictive, and if you have conservative principles you will be punished.
~ Tim Huelskamp speaking at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C.

Full Official Statement from Tim Huelskamp

It is little wonder why Congress has a 16 percent approval rating: Americans send principled representatives to change Washington and get punished in return," Congressman Huelskamp said. "The GOP leadership might think they have silenced conservatives, but removing me and others from key committees only confirms our conservative convictions. This is clearly a vindictive move, and a sure sign that the GOP Establishment cannot handle disagreement."
"I am not at all ashamed of any of the principled, conservative stances I took in the past two years, including:

• "Efforts to hold Republicans to the "Pledge to America" – a promise Washington Republican leadership made before I was even elected – to cut $100 billion in 2011 and to restore transparency and openness in the legislative process;

• "Voting against and publicly criticizing the 2011 debt limit increase that lacked substantial limits on Washington's spending and borrowing powers – a bill that failed to avert the nation's credit rating downgrade - and led to the current "fiscal cliff;"

• "Attempting to curb the explosion in food stamp spending and other entitlements;

• "Ending handouts to big business;

• "Refusing to withdraw key pro-marriage and pro-life amendments when requested by members of the GOP leadership; and

• "Just recently issuing a public challenge to all 238 GOP colleagues, including every member of Leadership, to reaffirm their pledges to oppose tax increases."

"Kansans who sent me to Washington did so to change the way things are done – not to provide cover for Establishment Republicans who only give lip service to conservative principles. If the rest of America is anything like the 700,000 Kansans I represent, then they know that the fiscal and cultural crises facing our nation require drastic changes to the way things are done in Washington – not just symbolic gestures or more of the same.

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It's a slap in the face to all young people who are thinking about being Republicans, want to be a part of this party, and are being told, 'Well, if you disagree with leadership just a couple times we’re going to send you home … you don’t get to participate.'
~ Justin Amash R-MI

When you have these kind of purges, even though this is a small number, it's the wrong way to go when you're trying to build support. I'm not going to sacrifice my integrity for anyone or any party. My integrity is what will get me into heaven.
~ Walter Jones, R-NC

This morning Congressman Schweikert learned there was a price to be paid for voting based on principle. "That price was the removal from the House Financial Services Committee. We are obviously disappointed that Leadership chose to take this course, but Rep. Schweikert remains committed to fighting for the conservative principles that brought him here.
~ Rachel Semmel, spokeperson for David Schweikert, R-AZ

Speaker Boehner’s $800 billion tax hike will destroy American jobs and allow politicians in Washington to spend even more, while not reducing our $16 trillion debt by a single penny. If neither party’s leadership is going to put forward a serious plan to balance the budget and pay down the debt, we should end this charade.
~ Jim DeMint, R-SC

It's an incredibly hostile act against fiscal conservatives who are really the standard-bearers for what I think it means to be a Republican.
You are for fiscal responsibility. You believe that we shouldn’t raise taxes. You believe that we should balance the budget — and you should believe that you keep your promises that you make on the campaign trail when you come to Washington D.C. I think it’s damaging to the Republican brand, and you’re seeing this division between those who have maybe been in Washington a little bit too long. Maybe they think it's about making a deal instead of making a difference. But I'm not in that camp and neither is Freedomworks.
. . . Am I going to primary everybody who supports higher taxes? No. But am I going to be looking for opportunities to improve the quality and quantity of real fiscal conservatives in the House? Absolutely.
~ Matt Kibbe, President and CEO of Freedomworks on Newsmax TV

This is a clear attempt on the part of Republican leadership to punish those in Washington who vote the way they promised their constituents they would – on principle – instead of mindlessly rubber-stamping trillion dollar deficits and the bankrupting of America. This is establishment thinking, circling the wagons around yes-men and punishing anyone that dares to take a stand for good public policy.
~ Matt Kibbe on Breitbart

 We send good conservatives to D.C. to fulfill the promises they made to the electorate, and yet when they stay true to their word the permanent political class in their own party punishes them.  This won't be forgotten come 2014. Right now the GOP establishment is more concerned about the opinion of the media and the Georgetown cocktail circuit than they are ‘we the people’ who hired them. For all this new talk of how the GOP needs a ‘populist movement,’ it would do them good to remember they already have one; it’s called the Tea Party movement, and it won for them the majority they now enjoy in the House.
~ Sarah Palin

You want good things in Congress and to have a good career? Better play along nicely.
~ Anonymous GOP Aide quoted by Roll Call

A Bunch of Squishes Chosen for the Super A House Committees
~ Headline on Red State

This is just the opening salvo in a long war. House leaders have made it clear that they will punish conservatives for standing by their election promises. All conservatives in the House need to band together on this because anyone could be next.
Ultimately, there’s only one way to win this. We must overwhelm them with greater numbers in congressional primaries.
~ Daniel Horowitz on Red State

As the sun rises this morning we can look at John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Kevin McCarthy and know the opposition is not just across the aisle, but in charge of our own side in the House of Representatives. All the time and energy I would otherwise have to spend to convince conservatives that these gentlemen would be a problem for the GOP has been spared. They’ve proven it themselves.
. . . Freedomworks, Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth, Heritage Action for America, Madison Project, Concerned Women of America, Susan B. Anthony, Gun Owners of America, etc. etc. etc. must start working hard immediately to find quality candidates to challenge incumbent Republicans. These three men and Karl Rove over at Crossroads are going to work hard to stop conservatives though.
Conservatives must seek retribution or become the paper tiger John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Kevin McCarthy just declared them to be.
~ Erick Erickson, Owner of Red State and CNN Pundit