Bridenstine says Boehner needs to stand up
BY World's Editorials Writers
Thursday, January 31, 2013
1/31/13 at 7:19 AM
Sticking to your convictions while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives is one thing; continuing to figuratively stick your thumb in the eye of the speaker is quite another.
First District Rep. Jim Bridenstine made a small wave in the lower chamber with his first two votes earlier this month. He voted against incumbent Speaker John Boehner and then voted against emergency flood aid for victims of superstorm Sandy, twice.
OK. Point made. According to Bridenstine, the speaker understood and Bridenstine even was appointed to two important committee posts.
Then, at a town hall meeting in Tulsa this week, he said that Boehner is the "one person" responsible for the lack of a permanent solution to the federal government's deficit problem.
He didn't stop there. He said that Boehner ought not allow a "single piece of legislation" to be heard until there are spending controls on the government. And then he said: "The issue, in my opinion, is that Speaker Boehner is nervous that if he were to stand up and say that, ... then the stock market might go down and our credit worthiness might be downgraded," Bridenstine said.
"But all of these things would be temporary until we got spending under control," he said. "Then we'd see economic growth and the markets return."
By the way, that's pretty much the attitude President Herbert Hoover took following the stock market crash of 1929 and we know where that got us.
Bridenstine said if Boehner would stand up, the president would be forced to discuss needed reforms in mandatory spending programs - Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.
He went on to say, that if a natural disaster should strike Oklahoma he would vote against any emergency relief funding, as he did both relief bills for the Northeast.
If the congressman believes that he somehow has the upper hand on Speaker Boehner, then he is likely in for a rude awakening.
We need a congressman who is true to his principles and loyal to his constituents and helpful to his district. That can be a difficult juggling act, but one that has to be done in Washington, D.C.
And it is going to be even more difficult if Bridenstine continues to shoot himself in the political foot.
Original Print Headline: Dissed
