THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2015

Waiting To See A Little Action For A Change

This morning at The Conservative Agenda, everybody’s been waiting for that big vote in Congress today after the Conservative House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday endorsed little-known Florida Republican Congressman Daniel Webster for Speaker, which could raise serious doubts about whether John Boehner’s hand-picked successor Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has the 218 votes on the House floor he needs to be promoted.

Meanwhile, the Anderson TEA Party (the only local TEA Party organization following The Blower’s lead by capitalizing all three letters in “TEA”) is also following The Blower’s lead reminding their members to ask Congressmen Wenstrup and Chabot to vote with the Freedom Caucus for Speaker of the House.

CONGRESSMAN WENSTRUP (202) 225-3164

CONGRESSMAN CHABOTHEAD (202) 225-2216

In a statement announcing their endorsement, the Freedom Caucus said “our constituents will simply not accept a continuation of the status quo” and that “under the present circumstances and without significant changes to the Conference leadership and process, [Daniel Webster, shown at right] would be the best equipped to earn back the trust of the American people.”

“We want rules, policy, process,” said Congressman Dave Brat, the Virginia Republican who ousted ex-Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a 2014 primary.

McCarthy has struggled to convince a few dozen of the House’s most conservative members that he will not simply continue the policies and practices of Boehner, who has deeply frustrated the party’s right flank.

He appeared Tuesday night before a closed-door forum attended by members of several House conservative groups, including the Freedom Caucus.

“McCarthy’s pitch was, I’m not John Boehner, I’m going to run things differently, I’m my own man,” said Texas Republican Congressman Blake Farenthold after leaving the meeting of roughly 60 members. “And I think that is a case that he does have to make. One of the things I hear all the time from my constituents back in Texas is, we don’t want John Boehner 2.0.”

But some attendees said McCarthy failed to give the impression that things would change.

“You can’t just say, ‘I’m not John Boehner,’” said Kansas Republican Congressman Tim Huelskamp, the leader of the House TEA Party Caucus. “Well, you really are. How are you different? I wanted specifics. There were very little.”

The Freedom Caucus does not publicize its member roster. But it is believed to contain roughly 35 to 40 members. The group has pledged to vote as a bloc should more than 80 percent of its membership support a particular candidate.