Stupid Party

John Boehner’s Time Has Come Again

Written by SK Ashby

If this report is correct, the only reason we didn't have a government shutdown on the first of the month is because former House Speaker John Boehner convinced Trump not to veto the government funding bill.

When the spending bill had been negotiated and finalized, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus phoned the former House Speaker John Boehner and told him the president doesn't like how the negotiation came out and is thinking about vetoing the bill. Boehner has told associates that Priebus asked him if he could talk Trump into signing the spending bill. Boehner said he would.

Ten minutes later, Boehner's phone rang.

Boehner reportedly told Trump he should be happy because the bill included more defense spending.

That's funny for a couple reasons. The increased level of defense spending included in the bill was actually a baseline agreed to in the continuing resolution passed while President Obama was still in office. Trump probably doesn't even know that, but he also didn't get anything else he wanted in the bill.

I'm reminded of that time Boehner declared that he got "90 percent" of what he wanted in a funding bill that kept the government running, except he didn't really get much of anything at all.

All of this is amusing, but not exactly comforting. Government funding and the general health of the economy shouldn't hinge on Reince Priebus calling up John Boehner. Why couldn't Priebus explain this to Trump? Does Trump not trust him to explain it, or is Priebus incapable of explaining it? Is anyone inside the White House capable of explaining it? Does Trump trust Boehner more than Ryan?

I have many questions.