Earlier today, the House of Representatives held a vote for speaker of that body. Although there was and still remains conservative animosity toward John Boehner, he secured re-election as speaker with 220 votes out of 426 cast. Nancy Pelosi finished in second place, garnering the support of the Democratic members of that body with 192 votes.
As you may know, prior to this vote, Virginia’s 6th District Republican Committee, the district that Bob Goodlatte represents in the house, passed a strongly-worded resolution calling upon Representative Goodlatte to oppose Boehner’s re-election as speaker. It should also be noted that this resolution passed unanimously, favored by Republican political activists throughout the greater Shenandoah, Page, and Roanoke Valleys.
For the record, the resolution reads as follows:
November 10, 2012
Dear Congressman Goodlatte,
The framers of the Constitution of the United States wisely instituted the division of powers, not merely to enable specialization of the respective commissions, but primarily to limit the powers of each community. Under the influence of both Christian thought and the abysmal historical precedents of foreign nations, they recognized the tendency even of the best of men to secure to themselves unlimited and unjust authority, and to employ it for the purpose of enslaving the masses. The authors judiciously embraced their moral obligation by including this mechanism (division of powers) for the simple frustration of such tyrannical efforts.
The imposition of Obamacare against the wishes of the people is an unequivocal expression of the anticipated tyrannical powers. Yet even though every member of the House of Representatives is aware of his ability to thwart this measure, no such effort of protection is forthcoming. Apparently few enough care more about the people they purport to represent than about their own political aspirations.
Speaker Boehner has called for “Repeal and Replace,” all the while he has been fully cognizant of the fact that the Senate and the President would not concur with him. Such disingenuous acts are intended to defraud the people while leading them to believe he is fighting for their cause. His unwillingness to lead the effort to de-fund Obama’s healthcare, a truly feasible mechanism for restraining this tyranny, is a conscious dereliction of duty. His recent commitment to active pursuit of its funding, coupled with his capitulation on the issue of amnesty and his agreement to raise taxes are acts that are nothing short of treasonous to our interests and our security.
Therefore, we are writing to notify you of our unwillingness to accept such representation; to demand that you oppose the selection of Mr. Boehner as speaker for the next session; that you only select a representative who is willing to engage fully in battle against Obamacare and the many other imprudent and unconstitutional efforts of the Obama administration, and that our future support for you is contingent upon your efforts to lead the fight to deny President Obama every unconstitutional measure, and that this must be done without excuse.
Passed unanimously, this 10th day of November, 2012
The Sixth Congressional District Republican Committee of Virginia
Although some activists may appreciate the willingness of Goodlatte to stand his ground, this move to re-elect Boehner will almost certainly infuriate his base, the conservatives of the 6th district who believe that the federal government has grown well beyond its constitutional limitations and who also think our Republican leadership has been actively leading the country in the wrong direction.
A few moments ago, I called Bob Goodlatte’s D.C. office as well as all of his district offices to confirm his vote on this matter. Although I have been unable to secure a direct confirmation from these sources, I was told if given a choice between John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, Goodlatte would choose Boehner. However, this either/or choice is not entirely correct. Although it is true that there was no single, unified Republican candidate to stand against Boehner, other options were available as illustrated by the fact that some Republican members of the house cast their votes for Rep. Eric Cantor, former Rep. Allen West, Rep. Justin Amash, Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Raul Labrador, or David Walker. Other also voted present or remained silent when his or her name was called. According to Republican Liberty Caucus Chairman Dave Nalle, Representative Goodlatte was not among the list of Republican representatives who opposed Boehner.
In this most recent election cycle, Bob Goodlatte faced a Republican challenger for the first time in his 20 years in office. Karen Kwiatkowski, his GOP opponent, attacked Mr. Goodlatte from the right, claiming that he was not conservative or liberty-minded enough to represent the people of the 6th district. Although she was unsuccessful in her first attempt, it should be noted that she did win the city of Harrisonburg and almost captured Page County as well. Today’s vote makes another challenge from either Kwiatkowski or someone else all the more likely.
Conservatives across the country are rightly upset with Boehner’s leadership and many will be unhappy to discover that he retains the position of speaker. The fact that our representative, Bob Goodlatte, chose today to ignore the wishes of some of his most important and influential constituents, the entire 6th District Republican Committee is quite surprising and could cause a particularly nasty fracture between Goodlatte and the committee.
So, the big question now is how will Virginia’s 6th district Republicans react to this news?
I’m an “important and influential” constituent of Congressman Goodlatte, and he didn’t defy me. Great vote Bob! Keep on doing a great job! And as always my fellow Republicans, let’s follow Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment…never speak ill of another Republican! Also, onward for liberty! 😉
Empty chairs,Mike loves them.
Mr. Clark – please define an “empty chair” as referenced in your statement. How do you know I love “empty chairs” as you define them? Are you somehow able to read my mind? Also, you don’t know me personally, so please address me as Mr. Lam until such time as I meet you face to face. Happy New Year and onward for liberty! 🙂
This opinion piece states that Karen Kwiatkowski “captured” Harrisonburg in last June’s primary, and nearly “captured” Page County. Let’s note some facts here. Harrisonburg Republicans tend not to be nearly as conservative as rural Virginia Republicans. Therefore, for Dr. Kwiatkowski to have “captured” Harrisonburg in the primary would seem to me to be indicative of her winning more liberal Republican votes and perhaps even Harrisonburg Democrat votes. The primary was open, after all. This phenomenon is very strange to me given that Dr. Kwiatkowski ran to the political right of Congressman Goodlatte! As for nearly “capturing” Page County, that county is probably one of the smaller populated counties in The Sixth Congressional District. Dr. Kwiatkowski pulled off no major political achievement in nearly “capturing” Page County given its smaller size. Just some observations to ponder, my friends from a “empty chair” lover. Here’s an idea folks! How about we collectively target our political fire on Democrats instead of ourselves? How about Dr. Kwiatkowski running against Senator Mark Warner in 2014????? Sounds cool to me! Onward for liberty! 😉
How about we target our reps who continually vote against our interests and for fascist world government.(ie goodlatte) onward toward true liberty
Mr./Ms. Ramey – please give me SPECIFIC examples of how Congressman Bob Goodlatte is a fascist? Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were genuine fascists. Come on folks, is Bob Goodlatte REALLY in that league? Please stop drinking the Karen Kwiatkowski “kool aid”, my friends!
By the way, I do have serious trouble taking someone seriously who cannot even engage in proper sentence structure and punctuation. Thomas Jefferson would not be pleased! Indeed, onward for TRUE LIBERTY!!!!! 😉
[…] in reference to the vote for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. If you may recall, I, like my 6th district Republican committee, had urged Representative Goodlatte to vote against re-electing John Boehner for that position. […]
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