Fiscal Cliff 2013: Boehner Should Resign After His Plan B Tax Failure

Impact

President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) have reached an impasse on solving the debt crisis, and America continues spiraling towards the fiscal cliff. The two “leaders” adjourned for the holiday season without getting any closer to a budget deal. Boehner’s Plan B proposal died when he was unable to get the necessary votes from his caucus.

This is becoming a pattern for Speaker Boehner. He discusses, negotiates and frames a proposal only to have it rejected at the eleventh hour by his caucus. It is an embarrassment of leadership, and some conservatives are coming to the conclusion that Boehner is not the man for the job. Breitbart.com published an article saying that there is a “secret plan” among House Republicans to remove Boehner. Breitbart described the plan as an “Anybody but Boehner” movement. Ned Ryun, President and CEO of the conservative American Majority Action wrote that Boehner should “resign after his embarrassing failure to pass his 'Plan B' fiscal cliff bill.”

The effort to unseat Boehner comes complete with a Twitter hashtag, #fireboehner, and conservative pundit Laura Ingraham said “there are rumblings of a move to replace” him. The conservative web site Redstate.com said “there comes a certain point when enough is enough.”

The decision to break for some family time can be a good thing. It may allow the sides to gain some new perspective and start fresh. On the other hand given that they have been fighting over these same issues since the Tea Party election of 2010 it is not likely there will be anything that resembles a breakthrough. It is even less likely that the “election mandate” that was passed to the leaders to make this deal happen in a bi-partisan fashion will have any bearing. Replacing Boehner with someone from the caucus that leads today’s Republicans could be the breakthrough required to get a deal done. If the Tea Party fiscal conservatives are in charge, and undoubtedly they are, then Boehner should step aside and let the president deal directly with the person making the calls.

CNN explained, “Never forget that the Tea Party revolt was aimed as much at the GOP establishment as it was Obama. It was Boehner's job to win these radicals over.”

Boehner’s failure at leadership has been reflected in the polls. Rasmussen reports that a recent poll shows Boehner is now the “least-liked major congressional leader.”

As Dave Walker, co-founder of No Labels said “a pilot doesn't go home until he lands his plane. A surgeon doesn't go home until the operation is done.” However, most jumbo jets and major surgeries require a co-pilot or backup surgeon in the event of an emergency. This is an emergency. Let’s replace Boehner.