More frustration for John Boehner
House Speaker John Boehner is once again having trouble managing his Republican caucus. After Republicans failed to pass the farm bill last month, they started talking about
splitting it into two bills: one putting the actual "farm" in farm bill and the other covering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The far-far-right extremists among House Republicans see this as an exciting chance to cut food stamps by even more than the $20.5 billion over 10 years in the failed farm bill.
So what's Boehner, already one of the weakest speakers in recent memory, going to do? House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, already an unreliable ally for Boehner, wants to split the bills and slash away, as do the tea party types. Hundreds of farm groups, meanwhile, are with House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas in wanting to see Boehner take another run at the same bill or a very similar one. And along with these opposing pressures:
Politically, the farm bill’s failure on the floor raised questions about Boehner’s ability to lead his restive conference. Questions about the Speaker’s power and influence loom large as Congress moves toward tough votes this fall on preventing a government shutdown and raising the nation’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling. [...]
Democrats might have some advantage in the food stamp fight because failing to pass a farm bill would not end SNAP. As an entitlement, it would continue after Sept. 30 on autopilot.
Splitting the bill could lead to trouble in conference with the Senate, which passed a traditional farm bill including both components, and the Senate is not going to pass a stand-alone bill slashing food stamps. But for many House Republicans, practical considerations like those are unlikely to interfere with the dream of cutting SNAP to the point of starving people.
All of the likely policy outcomes are bad with Republicans in charge, but on a political level, it's kind of a win-win for Democrats. Either Boehner once again pisses off the far right of his caucus, further weakening him, or Republicans push a vicious bill attacking unemployed people and working poor people and a whole lot of children, seniors and disabled people.
Wed Jul 10, 2013 at 12:20 PM PT: Tell Congress: Put low-income families ahead of corporate welfare and oppose all cuts to food stamps.