Republican House Speaker John Boehner was forced to pull his so-called “Plan B” bill that sought to reach a compromise on the tax cut issue because of a lack of votes. Iowa Congressman, Steve King, a Republican from Kiron, says he doesn’t think fellow Republicans are rebelling against Boehner, but instead are not happy with the proposal.
“I’m not hearing a lot of carping like that, it’s really more about the policy and it’s a cumulative affect though of some, I think, of some strategic decisions and bad policy decisions of the past that set the stage for this,” King says.
King says the lack of spending cuts led many Republicans to pull their support of “Plan B.” “They’re saying ‘we’ve got to cut spending some time’, and if we don’t cut spending in this vote, then we’ve just again kicked the can down the road and made ourselves a promise that probably we are going to have a hard time keeping at the next critical juncture, which is the debt ceiling that will come up in the next couple of months,” King says.
He says while there is no obvious challenger to Boehner for House Speaker, there is pressure on him from the disagreement among G-O-P House members.
“And I think how this comes out will have a lot to say about that,” King says. “As we will get something back from the Senate I expect. I think we will get something back that’ll be a pretty bitter pill to swallow if we can swallow it. And then the results of that might shake something loose so that someone emerges to be a challenger. There’s pressure on the speakership, no doubt.”
Congressmen left for home Friday without reaching any plan to hold off the tax cuts that will take place in January.
By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City