Washington's Main Man

According to Karl Rove, House Speaker John Boehner is the man in Washington who has had the largest impact on our national agenda. 

In February, the speaker and his new House majority cut Mr. Obama's planned 2011 budget by $61 billion and then, in April, slashed the government's spending authority by $38 billion.

Then there was the debt-ceiling battle. Mr. Obama started by insisting on a "clean debt-ceiling vote," meaning an increase without spending cuts.

Mr. Boehner simply refused to accept the president's claim that not a dime of spending could be cut. Instead the speaker calmly and firmly stated his conditions: Any debt-ceiling increase must be "accompanied by meaningful action to cut spending." And in a May speech to the Economic Club of New York, he laid down his marker: Any debt-limit increase must be paired with bigger spending cuts and no tax hikes.

On the defensive, Mr. Obama abandoned his demand for a clean debt-ceiling increase and began advocating "a balanced approach" of spending cuts and tax increases. But Mr. Boehner rallied his colleagues and once again Mr. Obama came out the loser.

Mr. Boehner may not be an inspiring orator, but he has moved the country and Congress in his direction.

Comments

[Jane]

I like Boehner. It's got to be tough dealing with someone as slippery and dishonest as this president, and all things considered I think he is doing a good job.

[Tom Bowler]

Speaking of Washington main men, did you read the New Yorker article about Clarence Thomas? According to Jeffrey Toobin, Thomas, more so than any of the others, is the intellectual force that is driving the court in a rightward direction. I love it!