House Republicans have held a series of private discussions to plot their first moves if they win the majority in November — with plans to use spending bills and subpoenas to rein in President Barack Obama and satiate their own ravenous base.
Republicans recognize they won’t be able to do any broad governing even if they take back the House; they’d hold just one chamber of Congress, or at most one branch of government, if they also win the Senate. So officials familiar with the early discussions say they’ve centered on undoing key parts of the Obama agenda and repositioning Republicans as the party of fiscal responsibility heading into 2012 – a mantle it surrendered during the big-spending Bush years.
The plans presently under discussion include defunding some parts of the new health care law and delaying implementation of others, withholding some of the unspent stimulus funds, and using the oversight power of Republican-led committees to investigate the Obama administration.
“The goal, obviously, would be to make it a one-term presidency,” said a GOP lobbyist briefed on the talks.
All this talk about Speaker Boehner is going to be hard to walk back from if the House remains in Democratic hands. Even a substantial pickup in seats for the Republicans will be perceived as a failure if they don't take control of the chamber.
But, maybe they know something that I don't.
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