When John Boehner was sworn-in as the new speaker of the House, he tipped his hat to the teabag activists across the country who had fueled the Republican takeover of the Chamber last fall. He almost choked up as he promised to “give the government back to the American people.”
However, Boehner was not choking back tears, he literally was choking on the flagrant hypocrisy of his words. You see, the people he’s giving the government back to are not Tea Partiers, but the rapacious corporate lobbyists who ran the Congress during the Bush years. Apparently, the name “Boehner” is derived from an ancient Teutonic word meaning: Business-as-usual.
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Throughout his two decades in Congress, the new speaker has been a reliable ally of corporate interests. In recent years, he has formed unusually tight legislative, political and even social ties with a group of lobbyists for such giants as Citigroup, Coors, Goldman Sachs, Google and R. J. Reynolds. Of course, most congressional leaders work with lobbyists, but to have them as your closest friends and social chums – well, you just want to say: For heaven’s sake Johnnie, get a life!
These influence peddlers now form the Speaker’s inner circle, guiding his legislative decisions. Even before last November’s election, Boehner met in a closed door session with a flock of top corporate lobbyists to help shape “a new GOP agenda.” Forget the Tea Party! No Tea Party operative is a Boehner insider. It’s the corporate agenda that Republican leaders will be pushing, and to make sure that it stays on track, Boehner has hired a top corporate lobbyist to be his policy director.
So, while Tea Party regulars are giddy with the thought that their movement took over the U. S. House, they were actually the Trojan Horse. They delivered the votes to make Boehner Speaker, allowing the corporate powers to move inside, quietly take over, and return Congress to business as usual.
“Boehner adds lobbyist to staff,” www.politico.com, December 9, 2010.
“House GOP Ushers In Corporate Takeover,” www.thinkprogress.org, January 5, 2011.
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