BOEHNER'S CONDUCT QUESTIONED

It is interesting that Speaker of the House Boehner is saying he is waiting for the Senate to act before he will let the house consider this or that item of legislation. For some reason, I feel uneasy with this approach. Perhaps my apprehensive feeling is a reflection of an interesting subtlety in the way our government is formed related to Boehner’s conduct. The founding fathers formed the senate the way they did as a nod to the wishes of hereditary monarchists. It is not a one-man one-vote body, nor is it a rapidly turning over body. Two senators represent each state regardless of the population in that state and the people elect them for six years. The intention was to give considered wisdom to government action, which is the claim of the conservatives. In contrast, those elected to the House of Representatives serve for two years and represent approximately the same number of people—the volatile rabble—republicanism, one-man one-vote, which is the claim of the liberals. The rapidly changing composition of the House makes it the place to reflect progress that is where new legislation should originate, be tested, and passed on to the Senate, the seat of wisdom where they keep the government on a steady course.

The point of this blog post is to suggest that Boehner is acting exactly as expected of him as a conservative. The Speaker of the House is not leading the way the founding fathers expected him to lead a progressive body. By repeatedly asking that the Senate originate bills, he seems to want the slow plodding, keep things the way they are Senate, to originate legislation and not have that happen in the house where it should happen. The government body he is responsible for should be where the daily or rapidly changing “wishes of the people” originates; it is the democratic or progressive body.  He seems to wants to turn the inherent process on it head. He wants the Senate to respond to the wishes of the people and originate legislation, while he acts as the wise old man, the one with the wisdom, and approves it.