Be sure to check out BizzyBlog, VikingSpirit, LincolnLogsBlog, BearingDriftOhio, Gribbit, Right on the Right and Porkopolis for their impressions (did I miss anybody?)...I'm working off memory here, so don't take any of this as direct quotes...
The Congressman brought us all up to speed on the latest news on the Obey slush fund for earmarks. As I said the other day, we have to pick our fights and this is the right one. Congressman Boehner is the right guy, at the right place, and the right time to lead this fight. And believe me, he is serious about this fight.
Tom from BizzyBlog asked my question...as well he should, because it was his story...about what reaction, if any, did Boehner have in regards to the story that Newt Gingrich has heard from senior Bush administration officials that when it comes to immigration reform, it's shamnesty or no enforcement at all. Boehner is a skeptic of this story as we are a nation of laws and it is the administration's duty to enforce those laws. My opinion: This is some Bush administration flunky's idea of intimidation... I'll wait for Gingrich to attach some names to the story before I take it any more seriously than I already have...
I think it was Mario from Porkopolis who asked if the congressman could do more to get the message through to the President that the immigration bill stinks. He indicated that the President was well aware of his view of the bill...I couldn't agree more. That Hotline post from a couple of weeks ago pretty much summed it up and there wasn't a whole lot of gray area in it...
Boehner thinks that Chabot is pretty secure against Driehaus; that Jean Schmidt is doing a fine job; and he's heard nothing from Ralph Regula about retiring. He likes the chances of retaking OH-18 saying that Zach Space's rubber stamp record of voting with Pelosi won't sell in that district...and it won't.
I didn't get a chance to ask about the status of HR 2060, the Internet Radio Equality Act, but I am hoping that I'll get an update on that via email from one his very capable staffers! (Hint, hint!)
Thanks to the Congressman for taking the time to speak with us and to Jessica for setting it all up!
UPDATE: VikingSpirit recalled this quote that I wanted to highlight about calls on the immigration bill:
"I've gotten thousands of phone calls, and I don't know that anybody called in favor of it. One of my colleagues said they got 800 or so phone calls, and they said they got 2 they thought were in favor of it, because they spoke in Spanish."Now that is funny.
UPDATE 2: LincolnLogsBlog recalled this bit that I too found quite interesting:
First, the Republican Leader said that his role in leadership is to follow a path to earn back the majority.UPDATE 3: Right on the Right has a pretty good run down on the Obey Slush Fund.
UPDATE 4: BearingDriftOhio recalls the discussion on Rep. Jean Schmidt this way:
When asked about Ohio’s Rep. Jean Schmitt (OH-2) and the possibilities of a Republican challenger, Rep. Boehner tried to stay out of that one. He did say that it is up to the voters and, “I hear the buzz… I read the newspapers. Jean’s doing a nice job, but I don’t vote in that district, so…”That's about the way I'd read that one too...
Not as supportive, at least that was how I heard it.
