Boehner Is Under Attack Again-- From The Lunatic Fringe In His Own Party, i.e., Most House Republicans

Early today, Wall Street Journal reporters Janet Hook and Naftali BenDavid gave America a startling peek into Friday's contentious closed-door meeting of House Republicans. This is what happens when your party elects a slew of Know Nothings. Boehner's crackpot causus is now split over extending a payroll-tax cut to millions of American families. Most of these freaks are willing to stick it to working families unless the Democrats agree to more costly and un-needed tax cuts for multimillionaires and billionaires. Boehner can't get the freaks back on the reservation. And Miss McConnell is having the same problem in the Senate.

GOP leaders are wary of ending a popular tax break amid a weak economy, but many of the party's rank-and-file doubt its effectiveness and are concerned about short-term tinkering with the tax code. The split marks a change from a year in which Republicans were generally united and held the upper hand on budget issues.

The debate centers on a temporary, two-percentage-point cut in the tax wage earners pay to fund Social Security. It was enacted as a part of an anti-recession package last year and expires Dec. 31. Leaders of both parties have proposed an extension, arguing it would be bad economic policy-- and bad politics-- to allow taxes to go up as the economy struggles.

Democrats find the tax debate providing a long-sought political advantage. "[Republicans] are totally disoriented right now," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), "because they are not used to being on the losing side of a tax debate."

...The tax issue is the latest in which conservatives [they mean fascists; Boehner's faction are the conservatives but you know the Wall Street Journal] are flexing their muscles. A separate dispute is also under way over funding levels for the 2012 federal budget. A short-term spending bill expires in two weeks, and congressional negotiators are working to write legislation to fund agencies for the remainder of the fiscal year. Somewhat unexpectedly, the total spending levels are now in question.

The White House and congressional Republicans agreed earlier to set discretionary spending at $1.043 trillion for the year that began in October. They also agreed to add dollars for disaster relief that total about $11.3 billion for the fiscal year.

Some more-conservative [fascist] Republicans are challenging those figures, saying they represent maximum spending levels and that Congress is free to appropriate less. Other Republicans say they should stick to the levels agreed upon with Democrats.

"We can only work with the numbers we're given. And those are the numbers we're working with," said Rep. Michael Simpson (R., Idaho) of the House Appropriations Committee.

On the tax question, both Mr. Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) have said the break should be extended, but that its cost should be offset with spending cuts.

Mr. McConnell's plan, which would have paid for the tax break by cutting federal-government employee rolls, was rejected by the Senate, with 26 mostly conservative Republicans voting against him because they believed it was more important to cut the deficit than to extend a temporary tax break.

Mr. Boehner met similar opposition Friday when he outlined a plan to address a range of year-end policy issues. It also would extend emergency unemployment benefits that expire Dec. 31, despite strong opposition from conservatives [fascists] who believe the benefits discourage people from looking for work.

To reinforce his party's commitment to reducing the deficit, Mr. Boehner proposed offsetting the roughly $200 billion cost of the bill with a menu of spending cuts, including a hiring freeze on federal workers.

Mr. Boehner argued that Republicans would pay a steep political price if the tax breaks and benefits weren't extended. His message: "It's not perfect, but we can stop a tax hike and cut spending," said his spokesman, Michael Steel. Another Republican paraphrased the speaker's message in blunter terms: "If you think we can get away without doing this, you are crazy."

In presenting his proposal, Mr. Boehner collided with the faction of conservatives [fascists] who have bedeviled his leadership on a range of issues this year. "There was a lot of pushback," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R.,Ariz.), who said he and other conservatives [fascists] argued it was irresponsible to pay for a one-year tax break with spending cuts that would take 10 years to collect.

With Republicans tearing each other apart over tax policy, this evening the White House released a new report on the Importance of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director, another victim of mindless Republican obstructionism. The Administration is trying to make a point about the real consequences for real consumers if the Republicans just keep blocking the nomination of Richard Cordray.

A little over a year ago, the President overcame the fierce lobbying from the financial industry and signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The new law put in place reforms that reduce excessive risk-taking on Wall Street, as well as protections that encourage a strong, stable financial system that can support sustained economic growth.

The Act also established the strongest consumer protections in our history, for the first time charging one agency-- the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)-- with the responsibility of protecting and educating Americans who use financial products. Implementation of Wall Street Reform and the stand-up of the CFPB have already started transforming our financial system and benefiting consumers by ensuring that financial service providers compete on the basis of the services they provide and not on hidden fees or other harmful practices.

However, one of the most important components of Wall Street reform is putting in place a Director of the new CFPB. It is only with a Director that the CFPB can exercise its full authorities and make good on the consumer protection goals of Wall Street Reform. Without a Director, the CFPB cannot fully supervise non-bank financial institutions such as independent payday lenders, non-bank mortgage lenders, non-bank mortgage servicers, debt collectors, credit reporting agencies and private student lenders. Without a Director, Americans will not be protected from falling prey to many of the harmful practices that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

CFPB’s inability to exercise its full authority while it awaits a Director affects the lives and financial security of tens of millions of American families who rely on non-bank financial institutions for their financial needs. Indeed, whether it is shopping for a mortgage or private student loan, or having one’s credit report used in a lending decision, many middle class families are reliant upon non-bank financial actors.

A CFPB without its full authorities is also hamstrung in its ability to help level the playing field between small banks and nonbank financial service providers. For too long, banks were playing by one set of rules, while other parts of the financial industry, like some payday lenders or independent mortgage brokers, were playing by another, often with little or no oversight.

The report goes on to outline the role that these non-bank actors have in affecting the lives of typical American families. It documents the degree to which middle class families rely on non-bank financial institutions; highlights some of the harmful, non-transparent practices that consumers could fall victim to in these markets; and explains that these practices will continue to exist without comprehensive federal oversight as long as the CFPB lacks a Director. What they're doing is telling voters that the ball is in the Republicans' court. A number of Republicans have indicated that they will vote to confirm Cordray, the respected former Attorney General of Ohio. Even Wall Street abject puppet Scott Brown (R-MA) has said he will vote for confirmation. But another bankster puppet, Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, who has taken $6,242,680 in legalistic bribes from the financial sector that he-- as head of the Senate Banking and Housing Committee-- is charged with overseeing, says he will nomination the bill to death. Shelby leads the fanatic right-wing criminals who oppose any regulation of the financial institutions that have destroyed the American economy. Obama needs 60 votes to get through the Republican filibuster. Even if every Democrat votes for cloture, it doesn't seem possible they can find enough Republicans to stand up for working families and consumers instead of for banksters.