Paul Krugman reflects John Boehner's abysmal performance as Speaker of the House, and how his Blackmail Caucus did everything in their power to obstruct President Obama's initiatives and even blocking things that normally enjoy wide bipartisan support like spending on infrastructure and any other bills that that would stimulate economic growth.
The blackmail caucus
By Paul Krugman
John Boehner was a terrible, very bad, no good speaker of the House. Under his leadership, Republicans pursued an unprecedented strategy of scorched-earth obstructionism, which did immense damage to the economy and undermined America’s credibility around the world.
Still, things could have been worse. And under his successor they almost surely will be. Bad as Mr. Boehner was, he was just a symptom of the underlying malady, the madness that has consumed his party.
For me, Mr. Boehner’s defining moment remains what he did as House minority leader in early 2009, when a newly inaugurated President Barack Obama was trying to cope with the disastrous recession that began under his predecessor.
There was and is a strong consensus among economists that a temporary period of deficit spending can mitigate an economic slump. In 2008, a stimulus plan passed Congress with bipartisan support and the case for further stimulus in 2009 was overwhelming. But with a Democrat in the White House, Mr. Boehner demanded that policy go in the opposite direction, declaring that “American families are tightening their belts. But they don’t see government tightening its belt.” He called for government to “go on a diet.”
This was incredibly irresponsible at a time of crisis; not long ago it would have been hard to imagine a major political figure making such a statement. Did Mr. Boehner actually believe what he was saying? Was he just against anything Mr. Obama was for? Or was he engaged in deliberate sabotage, trying to block measures that would help the economy because a bad economy would be good for Republican electoral prospects?
What’s more, it has been an era of budget blackmail, in which threats that Republicans will shut down the government or push it into default unless they get their way have become standard operating procedure.
So why is Mr. Boehner out? Basically because the obstructionism failed.
Republicans did manage to put a severe crimp on federal spending, which has grown much more slowly under Mr. Obama than it did under George W. Bush or, for that matter, Ronald Reagan. The weakness of spending has, in turn, been a major headwind delaying recovery, probably the single biggest reason it has taken so long to bounce back from the 2007-2009 recession.
Republicans now mimic Stalin's approach to economics, science, and history. That is all economics, science, and history must conform to their rigid party doctrines or an alternative version of economics, science, or history is fabricated for consumption by the party faithful, through partisan media where distortion and false narratives are the rule rather than the exception.
John Boehner's tenure as speaker was accompanied the public's approval of the job congress was doing plummeting to its lowest levels in modern history. Boehner repeatedly let his Blackmail Caucus put their extremist demands ahead of the national interest. Speaker Boehner acted as congressional dysfunction's enabler more often than not. Boehner will not be missed even if his replacement is a doctrinaire dullard as will probably be the case after next Thursday's Speaker election.