This is what incompetence looks like: John Boehner keeps reliving the same failure, over and over

The least effective speaker in decades, Boehner's tenure is a string of embarrassing face plants like yesterday's

SIMON MALOY

Sit down for moment. I’d like to tell you a story. It’s called “Stepping on Rakes,” and it’s the story of Speaker John Boehner and a piece of legislation that he was under intense pressure to pass. A crisis was looming, and members on both sides of the aisle recognized that legislative action had to be taken. But Boehner, unwilling to cave to demands from the White House and the Senate, thought he could put pressure on the Democrats by rallying his members to pass his own conservative-friendly bill.

So he put the bill before the House GOP and began whipping up votes to back the legislation. A vote was scheduled, but conservatives in the House rebelled, arguing that his legislation didn’t go far enough to satisfy their demands. Lacking the votes, the bill was pulled and Boehner released a statement punting responsibility to the White House.

Yes, of course I’m talking about Boehner’s embarrassing and incompetent handling of the border crisis legislation yesterday. But I’m also talking about Boehner’s embarrassing and incompetent handling of the fiscal cliff negotiations back in December 2012.

If you’ll recall, the country was facing a double-whammy of tax increases and spending cuts set to go into effect on New Year’s Day. Negotiations between the White House and Congress on the details of the tax package were proceeding apace until Boehner blew the whole thing up by introducing “Plan B” – a bill that would lock in the Bush tax cuts for everyone making less than $1 million annually. Boehner put it before his caucus, and the conservatives rejected it because they wouldn’t accept any tax hikes, even just for millionaires. He yanked the bill and said, “Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff.”

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http://www.salon.com/2014/08/01/this_is_what_incompetence_looks_like_john_boehner_keeps_reliving_the_same_failure_over_and_over/