GOP & Speaker John Boehner Break "Pledge to America"

In yet another kick to conservatives from the GOP hypocrites in D.C., and confirming beyond all reasonable doubt John Boehner has failed as Speaker, the once highly touted GOP "Pledge to America" was nothing more than empty promises....

From American Vision News --

John Hayward of Human Events has the best opener: “On Friday, the House and Senate passed an omnibus spending bill, which is a bit like passing a kidney stone, except it’s much more painful and expensive.”

You may have missed it. While America (especially conservative America) was enraged and taking aimen masse for John Roberts, Congress (especially conservatives in Congress) stuck it to us even harder.

Hayward explains, “This particular bill included a number of measures to address three entirely different topics: student loan rates, highway construction, and flood insurance.”

Red State called out the GOP even before it passed:

In the 2010 GOP Pledge to America, they promised the following: “We will end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with “must-pass” legislation to circumvent the will of the American people. Instead, we will advance major legislation one issue at a time.”

The idea that we are going to package a major 27-month transportation bill with a 5-year flood insurance extension and a one year extension of subsidized student loans under the guise of “must pass – or else,” is an anathema to the pledge.

Yet this is exactly what Congress did, as the Human Events piece makes clear:

Those three subjects have nothing to do with each other, but packaging them together made it far more difficult to vote against any specific portion of it.  Oppose the extension of those famous subsidized student loan rates, and you’re against highway construction.  Express reservations against all that highway spending, and you’re against low-interest student loans and flood insurance.

Political pressures had been cooked up to make each of those individual votes difficult; load them into the same omnibus, and the resulting legislative vehicle is nearly unstoppable.  In the end, only 52 Republican members of the House, and 19 Republican senators, voted against it.  Big Government got bigger, and Broke Government went further into debt.

Billions of dollars were poured into one of the murkiest cash pits of the federal government, the highway trust fund.

Billions which will probably be wasted or otherwise misappropriated:

The Government Accountability Office figures that a good 38 percent of this money is used for purposes other than highway and bridge construction.  Swarms of lobbyists feed from the highway trust fund like remora attached to a great white shark.

Red State is rightly angry, not just over that one aspect of the GOP’s “Pledge,” but in regard to general conservative hypocrisy:

Just 52 Republicans [Ron Paul among them], 21% of the conference, voted against this budget buster, which violated several tenets of the GOP Pledge to America.  Only 19 Republicans in the Senate voted no.

This means that 190 Republicans in the House and 38 in the Senate voted Yes—to increase federal power, spending, and debt. Here they are (click the links, Republicans are in italics):

House Votes.

Senate Votes. 

I say find your Representatives in the list, and if they voted “yes” in violation of their Pledge, then vote them out next term, or at least refuse to support them. Find a principled TEA party conservative to replace them if at all possible.

Not included in the above story, but also included in the Highway Bill was a big government, anti-free market & job-killing amendment that is forcing many Mom & Pop shops out of business.

Putting over 5000 people out of work in Ohio alone, as a favor to the Tobacco Lobby, Congress ruled that the Roll Your Own Tobacco Shops that have popped up across the country should be considered manufacturers.  

Sadly, except for Rep. Steve Chabot, who correctly voted against the Highway Bill, the other GOP Freshmen from Ohio (Rep Bob Gibbs, Rep. Steve Stivers, Rep. Bill Johnson and Rep. Jim Renacci), joined with the GOP hypocrites from Ohio and voted in support of this job-killing bill and in violation of their promise to YOU and the Pledge to America.  

Like the individuals above, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) also supported the Highway bill.

But once again showing he is one of the ONLY Congressman from Ohio worthy of having his name even mentioned in the same sentence as the Tea Party movement, Rep. Jim Jordan, stood true to his conservative convictions, his promise to you and his Pledge to America. Senator Portman, surprisingly stood with the conservatives in the Senate and also voted against this bill. 

Thank you Rep. Chabot, Rep. Jordan and Senator Portman for doing the right thing and voting against the Highway bill!