No matter the final vote on this bill, the fact remains that Boehner broke a vow he made to the American people to cap discretionary spending, he gave his own caucus the bum’s rush because he couldn’t afford to let them read the bill, the Senate Majority Leader has rejected this bill and the only way it will pass is on the votes of a handful of turncoat GOP senators and a solid Democrat bloc.

◼ This is a sorry legacy to leave behind. - streiff/Red State

◼ How not to handle internal party divisions - John Hayward/Red State @Doc_o

Internal Democrat strife over the ObamaCare disaster dwarfs anything currently going on between Republicans over their budget deal, but you’d think it was the other way around from the media coverage. That’s partly media bias, sure, but it’s also a result of the way both sides play these things out.

Here’s Boehner unloading on conservative groups critical of the budget deal, complete with his infamous “ARE YOU KIDDIN’ ME?’ meltdown:



It doesn’t help Boehner’s cause that he’s so fundamentally wrong in his critique. The people he’s taking issue with did read the budget deal. In some cases, as radio host Mark Levin has been pointing out for the last few days, details were passed out by the Republican leadership’s own staffers. It would be one thing if Boehner stood up for the budget deal on its merits, or even stuck with his dismaying but perhaps defensible point that it’s the best deal Rep. Ryan could manage, given the political circumstances. He might even have found a graceful, roundabout way of acknowledging that his top priority is avoiding another government shutdown drama, conceding that the Party of Big Government has the whip hand in budget negotiations until the Senate and White House change hands.

But instead, Boehner goes on a rant against the Tea Party rascals who pushed “his” members into the ObamaCare defunding fight. (When did they become “your” representatives, Mr. Speaker? That’s exactly the sort of language you should never, ever use at times like this.) He should be directing his ire at the Democrats, the opposition, the people who make it necessary for math wizard Paul Ryan to accept a deal he knows is inadequate to the fiscal challenges at hand.

◼ The Good and Bad of Paul Ryan’s Budget Deal (AUDIO) - Brad Jackson/Red State

◼ A Washington Budget Deal: Republican Style - Daniel Horowitz/Red State

Democrats... pushed through the nomination of Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Now, one of the biggest supporters of affordable housing mandates will guard the hen house at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Additionally, Democrats pushed through the nomination of two more liberal judges to serve on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the second most important court in the country.

Instead of responding by shutting down all bipartisan deals on outstanding legislation (which are still subject to a filibuster), Rep. Paul Ryan, without any protest from leadership, handed Democrats the biggest legislative victory in months....