republicanconference/Creative Commons
Rep. John Boehner 2010.
Given that the likes of Paul Ryan, Tom Sowell, Charles Krauthammer, Laura Ingraham and a bunch folks around here are in favor of the Boehner plan, I do wish that some of our friends who are opposed to it, for completely honorable reasons, could find a better argument than one that hinges on terms like RINO. Likewise, folks who favor it probably don't help things either by calling a vote against Boehner a "pro-Obama vote." I understand that this is meant in a tactical sense, not a description of motives. But it doesn't seem to be playing that way in various quarters. I'm in favor of the Boehner plan, not so much on the merits, but simply given the facts of our national situation. The best argument from opponents of Boehner, it seems to me, is not that we can get a wildly better piece of legislation by "forcing" the Senate to accept CCB. Rather, it's that the Senate won't pass the Boehner plan. In other words, the "purists" aren't being so naive as the "realists" claim. My only response to that is, they may be right. But a lot of people, starting with Boehner and McConnell, think passing this bill out of Congress will strengthen their hand and/or pass the Senate. I don't know if they're right, but I don't think they're naive either. Beyond that, I refer you to Krauthammer and Sowell.
Jonah Goldberg is a visiting fellow at AEI.
A bestselling author and columnist, Jonah Goldberg's nationally syndicated column appears regularly in scores of newspapers across the United States. He is also a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, a member of the board of contributors to USA Today, a contributor to Fox News, a contributing editor to National Review, and the founding editor of National Review Online. He was named by the Atlantic magazine as one of the top 50 political commentators in America. In 2011 he was named the Robert J. Novak Journalist of the Year at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He has written on politics, media, and culture for a wide variety of publications and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs. Prior to joining National Review, he was a founding producer for Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg on PBS and wrote and produced several other PBS documentaries. He is the recipient of the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award. He is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, The Tyranny of Clichés (Sentinel HC, 2012) and Liberal Fascism (Doubleday, 2008). At AEI, Mr. Goldberg writes about political and cultural issues for American.com and the Enterprise Blog.
