Who Will Replace John Boehner as Speaker of the House?

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Earlier today John Boehner announced he will step down as Speaker of the House on October 20th. He has served as speaker for 4 years. His tenure has been rocky.“This turmoil that’s been churning now for the last couple months is not good for the members, and it’s not good for the institution,” he said.“Listen, it was never about the vote, all right? There was never any doubt about whether I could survive the vote. But I don’t want my members to have to go through this and I certainly don’t want the institution to go through this,” speaking of a possible vote against him as speaker which some in the GOP had pressed for.

With his departure comes a new leadership struggle. The GOP caucus in the house is considered to be very divided and the race for the speakership could be quite complicated. For those who thought Boehner appeased Obama and Democrats too much, they are looking for stronger leadership to replace Boehner.

Right now, several members of the house are being considered. Some have already said they are not running including Representatives Raul Labrador, Mark Meadows, Paul Ryan and Trey Gowdy. Here is a list of the top 5 candidates for the speakership:

1. Kevin McCarthy of California, who is the current House Majority leader is considered the top person for the job. He was elected House Majority leader after Eric Cantor lost the primary in his district last year. He is considered the candidate with the highest chances of winning.

2. Jeb Hensarling, of Texas, is the chairman of the Financial Services Committee. In the past, Hensarling had said he didn't want the job, but it is likely he will run with the support of the Texas republican bloc.

3. Tom Price of Georgia, is the current chairman of the Budget Committee. The Georgia Republican is a member of the Tea Party Caucus, one of the groups that wanted Boehner gone. He's also seen as a good negotiator and moderator and that might help bridge the gaps in the GOP.

4. Steve Scalise of South Carolina, House majority whip, is also running for the Speaker's post. Scalise is widely respected in Congress but will have to continue to explain the 2014 revelations that he spoke to members of a white supremacy group in 2002.

5. Jim Jordan of Ohio, is the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, the group that previously attempted to oust the Speaker. He could make a run for the spot and his past as a former Republican Study Committee chairman would be appealing to some lawmakers.

Congress the Least Productive in Decades

While the Senate is expected to end session today, the house has already adjourned for the holiday season. Election after election it seems we hear of members of Congress running on jobs and the economy and after the election is over, they go back to partisan infighting while our economy and infrastructure disintegrate. It is becoming apparent that Congress has forgotten about the biggest concern facing most americans—jobs and the economy. While most Americans are struggling to make ends meet, Congress continues to sit back and do nothing.

We continue to see debate over debate on the same old issues of raising the debt ceiling and funding the government and we are left to wonder, where are the bills to restore American jobs? These issues of debt and spending will be solved by fixing the economy. If we fix our economy and restore the middle class the tax base will increase, fewer Americans will be dependent on welfare and our debts will decrease. But Congress is not acting on these issues, even though most Americans would prefer they focus on restoring the middle class, lowering the unemployment rate, strengthening our infrastructure and improving our economy.

According to the Senate calendar, from when the government reopened on October 16th until the beginning of December , there were only been three bills (S. 815, H.R. 3204, S. 1197) considered on the floor. Two of these are appropriations bills, and the third adds protections for minorities in the workplace. None of them will provoke any significant change to improve the economy.

That is an entire month and a half where they only considered three bills. As citizens of the U.S. we should expect more than this from our representatives.  There have been only 58 bills signed into law so far this year, one of the lowest totals in recent history. This is not an insignificant feat. After all, the 112th Congress (2011-2013) was the most unproductive since the 1940s and even they had passed 62 bills by this point in 2011. That is simply unacceptable.

While Congress waits, our economy continues to sputter and our unemployment rate remains high. From infrastructure to trade, there are many issues Congress needs to act on now, not postpone further. We continue to see unfulfilled campaign promises and we need Congress to get to work now to help the economy and rebuild our infrastructure.

IRS Scandal Why Does it Matter?

We first discussed what was going on in this scandal here and here. I think it is important now  to discuss why this scandal matters to the American people. First is that our government and it's leaders have been entrusted to execute the law with fairness and equality. We even created the 14th amendment to ensure equal protection under the law. Second the power that our government has can be abused, and when it is there should be consequences for those who abuse that power.

I want to share a personal experience with you that I had with the IRS. A few years ago I  was a student working for a little cafe on campus making a mere $7 an hour, 15 hours a week. One year I forgot to submit my taxes until July. When I became aware of this I paid up on my taxes and even paid the late fees on my taxes. I owed $25 because the school didn't withold any taxes, and my penalty was around $100. I paid the penalty, but not in time before the next penalty was assessed. Between moving and several stops that penalty again was eventually paid, but cost me another $50. 

Why did I share this story? Because with the IRS you pay and you pay on time, you do it right, and you do it their way. Things do not become ok with them by just saying that you are sorry, you can't plead the fifth and have the IRS tell you it is ok and that they won't investigate further. They demand a response, and if that isn't enough they will take the money directly from your bank account. They can audit your personal finances, your business, and your family members at any time, even with no just cause for such intrusions. To most of America, we fear the IRS and what power it holds in our lives. 

Now when investigating these matters of intrusion by the IRS by illegally targeting conservative groups, it is now makes things ok for saying I'm sorry. According to former IRS Chief Douglas H. Shulmann he is sorry for the IRS actions in these matters, and Lois Lerner started her remarks by apologizing originally which brought this story to light. Today she went before the House she pleaded the fifth. It will become more clear later this week whether or not she will be forced to testify due to her making a statements. This is being debated because of an interpretation issue. 

So why does it matter so much that the IRS is targeting conservative groups? Why does it matter? Because it a gross overreach of power among groups that should be even handed in their approach. As we saw last week in the house ways and means hearing, this was not just a simple overreach of power, and begs a few questions to be asked. First who made this decision? Why did they make the decision to target specific groups? Why were these follow up questions asked? Why didn't they have more supervision over these questions when they were asked?

Why did Lois Lerner plead the fifth? Several members of congress believe she made at best incomplete statements regarding the targeting of conservative groups which applied for tax exempt status while she was chief of the tax exempt division of the IRS. We of course know due to and inspector general report that she new of the targeting as early as June 2011 and that she has testified before congress since then that there was no targeting.

This is transparency at it's worst, when an administration and branches of government hide behind executive privilege(fast and furious) and claiming to have no knowledge of these incidents until they come to public, we must ask the question, does the administration and President really think that the american people are incompetent enough not to make the connections, and realize that his administration is corrupt? We have had four major scandals with no firings, a couple of resignations, but no real consequences for anyone that has taken part. Lois Lerner has even been rewarded by being put in charge of the Obamacare implementation! 

This frankly speaking was a coverup, and continues to be a scandal of import, as it seems that the most overbearing government agency was used for political means to punish those opposing the party in power's authority. It makes perfect sense that of course the same individual in charge of that division of the IRS was then appointed to head up the implementation of Obamacare, because they knew she would do what they wanted her to do, punish the groups that they want punished. Whenever there is power to be had those in power will always seek to keep, increase and often abuse that power.

Something needs to be done, I am encouraged by Senator Heller's (R-NV) actions. Senator Heller (R-NV) has introduced a bill to cut funding to increase IRS agents as requested by Obamacare.