the newest data for the john boehner is bad at his job hypothesis was the john boehner signature accomplishment of the year, was a big bill on transportation, that is now falling apart. mr. boehner now reportedly contemplating breaking it up in pieces after it has been repeatedly delayed. from the hill "the move would be seen as a dramatic retreat for the speaker" from roll call "republican privately acknowledged the problems with the bill lie within mr. boehner's own conference." "the turmoil is the latest in a series of embarrassing errors for mr. boehner it was intended to be his signature legislative policy" the beltway report is problems have nothing to do with the minority democrats in the house, it's john boehner is bad at his job, he can't get his own side to agree to his own stuff. he is bad at his job. and that is the latest data in our ongoing now year-long test of the hypothesis that the most powerful elected republican official in the country is bad at that job. that i thinkism important are tant to understand about the republican party, not a slight against mr. boehner, it tells y

john boehner's spokesman's issue with this show was our hypothesis. very early on in the speaker's tenure, a month into his tenure as speaker, it seem like he was not doing a great job. it started on his first day on the job. two republican members of congress accidentally did not get sworn in to officially become congressmen. they instead were at some reception and when the official swearing in started an they weren't on the house floor, they turned to a tv set broadcasting the swearing in and they raised their hands and tried to take the oath to the television. as speaker you have to make sure all your people are there before you start the swearing in, did nobody explain this? there was also the very pious reading of the constitution on the house floor to mark the start of john boehner's speakership, except they left some parts of the constitution out. some parts they left out on purpose but some they left out because pieces of the paper in the binder they were reading from got stuck together and nobody noticed. so those parts of the constitution ju

john boehner, john mccain, all of them. i am on good terms with all of them.hey know that i disagree with their policies, but i treat them with respect, and they treat me with respect. that is the way it ought to be. host: good morning, republican line. caller: this guy was to sell these books to obama lovers. everybody is always after me. you watch fox news. ipod up with the one-sided left media -- i put up with a one- sided love to be a 450 years. fox comes along and everybody winds and cries about fox all the time. everything that obama does, if it were a republican, they would be all over him. they give him a pass on everything. you tell me where the heat machine is. host: thank you for the call. guest: if you are watching fox, you are watching the tape machine. take your blinders off. i'm a talk show host, right? when george bush was in the white house, there were many times i agreed with him on policies. there were times i disagree with barack obama and i say so. george bush was right on immigration. i defy you to tell me one good thing ever that rush li

and they've been a problem for john boehner.ut you know, my book is not so much about the problem with congress is you mentioned them in the last segment with david fossy, about the political machine that the cope brothers have built for the sole purpose of taking down barack obama. and they've done it with think tanks, with political organizations, with the tea party, with research centers on universities. they are everywhere in states and at the federal level. and they just had another summit out in palm springs where they got their corporate buddies together and raised $100 million, $100 million for taking down obama this year. >> let me read one quote. and there are a number from conservativive columnists. rush limbaugh in january of 2009. you say it is striking how unqualified obama is and how this whole thing came about within the democrat party party. nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy. >> yeah. we always thought growing up that it would b

john boehner speaking to reporters earlier in the day also announcing his support for their plan. >> last fall, i said that the only reason we're even talking about a payroll tax break or an extension of unemployment benefits is because the president's economic policies have failed. i still believe that to be the case today. the agreement that's been reached to stop a tax hike on middle class americans is a fair agreement and one that i support. i want to thank chairman kemp and all of our conferrees for all the work and effort they've put into this bill. but let's be honest. this is as economic relief package. not a bill what's going to grow the economy and create jobs. tomorrow is the third anniversary of the president's stimulus bill. and yet another reminder that we need to change course and focus on pro growth economic positions and the types of bills that for months republicans have been passing over to the united states senate. you know, in december, the white house famously said that extending the payroll tax cut was the last must do item on the president's agenda. according

reaction in washington from house speaker john boehner who in a news conference down-played new legislation in light of the shootings in his native ohio. he was asked whether this would prompt a legislative crackdown on gun rights and the house speaker says, let's be honest there's about 250 million guns in america, so they are out there but people should use them responsibly. let's begin with the lead story at this hour. that is politics and a key primary in michigan. the polls open from the detroit news. mitt romney was smiling as he paid a visit to his campaign headquarters on it this primary dash day but his grin disappeared after he started to talk about rick santorum. romney scored santorum over the automated phone calls urging democrats to vote against romney's in today's republican primary. we begin with some of the comments of mitt romney in michigan. >> is michigan proving a little bit more difficult than you expect? >> about ten days or ago or two weeks aago i was down 13 points in michigan. right for you it looks like too close to call. i don't think the pollster know what will

thanks. >> speaker of the house john boehner.gain, the agreement that came forth after house republicans said they would set aside their differences trying to demand democrats look for a way to pay for this proposed tax cut. again, totaling about $150 billion that will extend the payroll tax cut through the end of this year. and of course that's part of the larger debate about the national debt. now at $15.3 trillion and growing. the question we're asking here at c-span radio, do you think enough attention is being paid on the federal deficit? give us a call. 202-626-7962. again the phone number, 202-626-7962. >>> shivon hughes covers congress for down jones news wires. he wrote speaker boehner expected the chamber to vote this week on a payroll tax cut extension package. but that a hiccup had emerged today over how to cover the cost of extending jobless benefits. what's that hiccup? >> the hiccup has to do with how do you pay for it? negotiators thought they had a deal, they thought that auctioning off some of the federal spectr

karen, if i were to con flat the words of mitt romney, john boehner and eric cantor for you these figures say president obama has got in the way of recovery and his policies are a total failure. only problem, unemployment is at its lowest in three years. >> somehow i think they missed the news that the president's policies have created 3.7 million jobs. as i like to do, i went back and in february of 2008 for the same period during george bush's presidency we had lost jobs and lost 63,000 jobs. somehow they don't remember that all those policies that they supported back then, we were losing jobs and now we're gaining jobs but that's a bad thing. it's really a sad statement when you have republicans actually rooting against the success of the american economy. >> that's what they appear to be doing. you've been critical of rom in the past saying he changes his position more times than a 4-year-old with adhd. you have to salute his consistency now. he said he's not concerned about the very poor and he's a friend with billionaire that's a form of fiscal consistency whether you like it or not

>> i think it's anybody's guess whether or not john boehner would still be speaker. ent obama is going to be reelected. i think we have a heck of a shot at taking back the house. i think boehner's leadership style and his ability to lead the house has left a lot to be desired for everyone. not just americans but his own caucus. he failed to deliver anything substantive to the american people. they haven't done anything with respect to energy or gas prices. he failed to get a deal with the president on a grand bargain over deficits. whips by a small number of people in his own caucus. i think this criticism seems to be fair. >> the fepeople around this country can say what the president has delivered on. that's what the right would like to stall for the president high pressure polls showing he is doing better than romney or santorum. he beats romney about five points. beating santorum by six. how much does the president's lead factor into what john boehner and eric cantor want to bring up? >> i think one of the reasons you have see congressional approval so low is all

there are a few people who id didn't, speaker john boehner, senator john mccain, folks like that who didn't play it. that's something that hits everybody. the broader issue romney is raising there about spending in washington, that will be really interesting to see how that plays. it's clear that's exactly the attack romney will go down. any problems you dislike -- you republican voters dislike about washington, he's one of the guys there when you disliked them. make sure to include them in your dislike. >> i have to follow up. i wonder if that will resonate with voters, if company will connect rick santorum with record deficits and government spending. he was in the u.s. house for two terms, two terms in the senate. he did lose in 2006. do voters connect the dots? >> that's a really good question. i guess we'll see how well it goes. it's tougher to connect the dots to a guy who is a rank-and-file senator than it was to connect those doubts to newt gingrich who as speaker of the house led the '94 republican revolution and led those troops for two full terms in congress. just as gingr

and does the president have a big rose garden signing ceremony with mitch mcconnell and john boehner behind him? or sign it and pass it and move on? and i think republicans noted that when they passed the bill, the authorization that was pitched as a joshes bill, the president signed and moved on and didn't talk about it, it does not help the white house's message that congress is ineffectua but looking forward to this year, you talked to republicans and talked to democrats, there's not a lot more options for compromise this year.

here's how speaker john boehner responded to questions today earlier on capitol hill. >> this morning politico the headline is boehner canter call truce. within the article it says -- are hardly on speaking terms. boehner and kantor cannot agree on who would be allowed to attend. is that true? >> eric and i decided about three years ago that we would sit down, just he and i together just so we could have a chat about where we're going and do so between the two of us. now, listen, we've got a tough job around here. and anour members feel very strongly about a number of the issues that we've moved over the last year. when you're trying to do real work in this setting, you're going to having some very passionate people. our members and our staff, their passionate about what they do. sometimes that leads to some disagreements. but i'll just say this. because i talked to the whole leadership team this morning along with the staff. the senior leaders about our feed to continue to work together for our team. and so i feel good about where we are. and happy that we've got the team that we hav

. >>> here on capitol hill, john boehner making a rare appearance on the senate floor, urging a bill to be passed to re-establish water access for california farmers and residents that had been previously blocked by the white house. and today, the president sit down with the house republican leader mitch mcconnell and democratic leaders in a rare luncheon session with bipartisan group of congressional leaders in washington. tonight a formal dinner for a few at the white house to pay tribute to the troops who fought the battles in iraq by inviting a small group of iraq veterans to pay tribute to the 1 million-plus who served in iraq over the last nine years. >>> some weather news today that will likely have the federal emergency management agency involved in cleanup operations. entire blocks of illinois and kansas flattened after a storm system bringing tornadoes to the hea heartland early this morning. six people were killed in southern illinois and another three dying in kansas. the town of harveyville left in rubble, and this is after a series were moving through the area with spee

so john boehner is dealing with a group of people who really are refuse necks. he has a deputy in eric cantor playing to that crowd. he can't deliver, speaker boehner can't deliver with barack obama. a lot of the drama is due to that problem. >> i'm going to ask tiffany and lynnwood if they could get up to the microphone. i want to share what the president said last week not far from where you're at in fairfax, virginia. the president is referring to some people without mentions a certain republican, aka mitt romney, let's watch what the president said last week. the issue is housing, and there are a lot of other issues they're using in the general election. >> the truth is it's going to take more time than any of us would like for the housing market to fully recover from this crisis. this was a big bubble. when it burst, it had a big effect. home prices started a pretty steady decline about five years ago, and government certainly can't fix the entire problem on its own. but it is wrong for anybody to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible home

as you heard from the speaker of the house john boehner, the senate is willing to denounce the president's plan. they want churches who employ birth control coverage an attack on religious freedom. you heard the white house saying it will not stand, and also from congressional democrats and reaction from the white house through press secretary jay carney. we will have more on the story in a moment. presidential contests, three days after he lost to rick santorum, mitt romney on the campaign trail in georgia argue that he has a former governor of massachusetts is a better tea party candidate than the rivals. he says that spending on the lawmakers pet projects doubled under newt gingrich when he was house speaker and went after rick santorum and saying as senator, he was a major supporter as the type of spending known as pork barrel legislation. more on the presidential politics coming up later in the program. >>> and the house of representatives voting today to provide the president with something that many have called for and ronald reagan asked for it and bill clinton had it for a while,

but in washington today, the nation's top elected republican, house speaker john boehner, dismissed fears that a protracted nomination fight would hurt the party. >> listen, i understand people are concerned about how long the primary process is dragging on. i would remind people that president obama and secretary of state hilary clinton had a fight that went through june of 2008. i think everybody just needs to relax, and this will resolve itself. >> ifill: two other major republicans remain in the hunt for the nomination. former pennsylvania senator rick santorum stumped in colorado, where caucuses are set for tuesday. and texas congressman ron paul spent the day courting voters around las vegas. all four will need to raise and spend ever larger amounts of money to keep going. new financial reports released last night show the role that independent outside groups, the "super pacs," are playing. according to the federal elections commission, pro-romney groups raised more than $30 million by the end of last year. those supporting newt gingrich raised more than $2 million. and that doesn't

and has been unengaged in leading our country ever since. >> that's house speaker john boehner yesterday. politico has a behind the scenes story that i want to share with you. payroll deal a boehner production. here's what he writes. here's the story john boehner wants to be told about the payroll tax deal. he had little to do with the negotiations. he divorced himself from the house senate conference committee talks, ceded his power to others allowed them to release an agreement. boehner, his staff and other top leaders have their finger prints all over the pact. while tax writers dave camp and max baucus were crit dool the deal, boehner's senior aides helped negotiate key provisions of the deal. later on it says consider how a provision to sell broadband spectrum, a key component that paid for the extension of jobless benefits came together. it wasn't resolved until around 10:30 p.m. on wednesday night when senator majority leader harry reid's chief of staff david krone and boehner's top aide barry jackson reached an agreement. the two had been at loggerheads over how much money the sp

you know milkinguck mucking things up is what they do best starting with speaker of the house, john boehner. >> while we welcome the positive news today, i think our point is very simple: we can do better? >> to no one's surprise house majority leader eric cantor agreed. >> as my colleagues have laid out, you know, we could do a lot better. >> and g.o.p. front-runner mitt romney chimed in saying form these numbers cannot hide the fact president obama's policies have prevented a true economic recovery. we can do better. it took former house speaker newt gingrich the president might benefit from the rising job numbers. >> the truth is, if it gets better and better and better between now and the election he will get some credit. on the other hand, if this is a lull before it starts getting worse, his re-election will be in enormous trouble. >> if employment gets better and better, the one thing the g.o.p. fears worst will happen president obama will get credit. newt, you have plenty of problems with your own starting with tomorrow's nevada caucuses. the latest poll shows romney with 50%, doubl

john boehner and the rest of this group? host: grover norquist. guest: keeping spending down was not on his to do list. the no child left behind, not those of the republicans of the house and senate. there is a dramatically different group of people in the republican party in leadership, house senate and the governorship. if you look around the country, chris christie, decades of overspending and over pension promises and bankrupt pension systems, not educating kids in new jersey. he is wrestling with that. bobby jindal in the louisiana taking one of the most corrupt states in the nation and turning it around in very helpful ways. governor rick perry of texas took $15 billion out of overspending in the last two- year budget moving forward. the governor of pennsylvania reducing spending, not raising taxes in the last budget. scott walker and rick scott for that reform, reforming education, getting rid of the tenure system, which says you cannot fire teachers to do not teach and putting students and parents in the center, not the teachers' union in

then, judy woodruff has a newsmaker interview with the speaker of the house of representatives, john boehner. >> suarez: betty ann bowser reports on the fallout from a new ruling mandating that faith- based organizations provide birth control coverage. >> it's essential for women's health and for the health of their children and ultimately the health of their whole family. >> we think it's really important that we not be obliged to pay for something that we view as immoral. >> ifill: we look at what's next for the republican presidential hopefuls after mitt romney's victory in nevada, with stuart rothenberg of the "rothenberg political report" and susan page of "u.s.a. today." >> suarez: and hari sreenivasan updates the turmoil in egypt, where 19 americans working for nonprofit groups face trial. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. and with the ongoing support of th

house speaker john boehner said he's not satisfied with the president's actions so far. in a statement he put out today, quote, the catholic church and others in our nation's religious community are not yet convinced the president's mandate doesn't constitute an attack on religious freedom. the house of representatives will continue to work toward a legislative solution. so i don't know what to make of that. this is all a combination of church belief, religious belief, background, ideology, and good old-fashioned politics. maybe they don't want to walk it back, their objections, so quickly. they want to give the president still a bit more heat, at least for the weekend. >> i think it's more ideology and politics than anything else. let's remember, john boehner is against the entire affordable care act which provides the larger context for this debate. so he doesn't want women to be able to get contraceptives without co-pay or any of the preventive care that people will get without co-pays through the affordable care act. but you know, i think that's a dangerous position

the honorable john boehner, speaker of the united states house of representatives. >> good afternoon, everyone. good afternoon. thank you. let me say thank you to al credenes and acu and all of the organizers and responsers ofspo. i came to my first conference as a brand-new legislator in ohio and i'm certainly pleased to be here today as the speaker of the whole house of representatives. let's stop for a second. and let's picture america on a date in the not-so-distant future. let's say september 23rd, 2014, 4 years to the day since we unveiled our pledge to america, a document that commits us to governing based on the truths of our founding. it would be a year and a half after the founding of the economic freedom act of 2013 under a new president and a new senate. the economy's growing after the tax code has been reformed from top to bottom, thousands of special interest loopholes are gone, rates permanently lowered for every american. the deficit's dropping and our entitlement programs are being saved because washington now operates on paul ryan's budget. again, picture the this da

john boehner is showing his fraus frags on high gasoline prices. he did call on the president to present his own written proposal for an energy plan and blamed, quote, radical environmentalists for standing in the way of a national energy policy. on capitol hill the energy secretary testifying before the house appropriations subcommittee, again, a budget hearing, and taking question from freshmen republic of michigan. >> before you were nominated, you were quoted atz ss saying w have to boost the level of the price of gal lien to level in europe. have too look at results. under this administration, the price of gasoline is doubles. while bumping $4 a gallon in north mississippi, today the price of gasoline in europe is about $8 a gallon. the people of north mississippi can't be mere, so i have to be their voice for them. i have to tell you that $8 a gallon of gasoline makes them afraid. it's a cruel tax on the people of north mississippi as they try to go back and forth to work. it's a cloud hanging over economic development, and it appears they pl

senate, including speaker of the house john boehner and senate majority leader reid. as well as john glenn during this hour-long event, which was held in the capital rotunda. >> ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the united states house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. >> ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the capitol rotunda. since the day of the american revolution, congress has commissioned gold medals to express appreciation for distinguished achievements and distributions to our country. the first recipient of a gold medal was general george washington. and today

house speaker john boehner claims an obama mandate on insurer provided birth control is an assault on religious freedom. >>> drilling down. researchers discover a new scientific frontier. some say as important as reaching the moon. >>> and mythical monster? has iceland's own loch ness finally been captured on video? good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> and we begin this morning with a birth control battle. the issue of contraceptive coverage may suddenly be shaping into an election year issue. republicans in washington and on the campaign trail are speaking out against a new rule requiring that all insurers include birth control in their health care coverage. nbc's brian moore joins us from washington with the latest on this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. the white house says the president is trying to protect women but republicans say he's gone too far. congressional republicans are vowing to roll back the obama administration's controversial policy forcing religious groups with insurance plans

reaction on capitol hill, a question posed to the speaker of the house, john boehner. >> the president is announcing a proposal today to help underwater homeowners refinance. >> one more time? >> one more time? >> how many times have we done this? we've done this at least four times where there's some new government program to help homeowners who have trouble with their mortgages, none of these have worked. i don't know why anyone would think this next idea is going to work. and all they've done is delay the clearing of the market. the sooner the market players and we understand where the prices really are, will be the most important thing we can do in order to improve home values around the country. >> you can work with the president in any way to actually -- i've -- i'm always opened to working with the president of the united states. we both have a job to do. if it makes economic sense and it's fiscally responsibility, i'll take a look at it. >> comments of john boehner earlier in the day. this is "washington today" on c-span radio from the bbc, david kameron can be clashing over th

i yield back. >> the comments of speaker of the house john boehner on the house floor.thy dal came per served one term, was a key supporter of the president's health care bill but saying today she would have opposed the bill knowing it would require this type of contraceptive health care coverage for catholic charities, catholic hospitalses and institutions and former virginia governor tichl cain, the former chair of the democratic national committee and a close ally of the president saying today this new policy on contraception is something that i disagree with the president. as the hotline points out, it is a rare instance of disagreement between the virginia senate candidate tim kaine and the president. the two are close political allies. tim kaine was one of the early supporters of barack obama back in 2007. >>> more debate on capitol hill. representative gwenn moore is a democrat who spoke on the house floor earlier today. >> mr. speaker, i'm here today to be a voice for the millions of women and men who are celebrating the recent decision by the secretary of healt

. >>> house speaker john boehner holds a weekly brief ing from about ten minutes, at 11:15 eastern, and we will take you there live, once it starts. certain to talk about the insider trading bill which was housed in the vote of 76-2. differences between the two will worked out. it's possible there will create to the health care coverage of contraception. a member of the house energy and commerce committee, certainly the committee that will consider possible legislation according to speaker boehner. she joined us on this morning's "washington journal." >> joining us on "washington journal," diana beget, a democrat of colorado, a member of the energy and commerce committee and as well as co-chair of the house choice caucus. correct? >> the house perfect choice caucus. >> right. and she is here to talk about some of the issues around planned parenthood and the rules regarding contraception with the health care law. first of all, i want to ask you about the investigation that the chairman of your subcommittee on the energy and commerce committee, cliff sterns, has instigated against planned

limited to top congressional leaders which means mitch mcconnell, harry reid and house speaker john boehner and the house democratic leader nancy pelosi, that left out eric cantor. last summer the president and the republican of the house had a tense encounter. white house staff saying eric cantor repeatedly interrupted the president. cantor's staff saying the president walked out but they have been working on a number of jobs packages. the jobs issue, the economy and gas prices came up. following the luncheon the speaker of the house and the senate republican leader back on capitol hill meeting with reporters. >> good afternoon, everyone. we had a positive lunch at the white house today. i believe there is common ground between the two parties particularly on jobs and on energy. i'd like to think some of the bipartisan bills we have moved through the house will with taken up soon by democrats over in the senate. you know, during the state of the union address the president said he was for an all of the above national energy policy. the house of republicans has been for an all of the above

. >> house speaker john boehner entered the debate over birth control. >> one group of voters is happy with the decision, women's rights groups including catholic women. >> catholic women are on the same page as most of the women in this country. >> the catholic church hierarchy is male. >> this is a position that makes the president strong with women voters. >> as an american citizen, who appreciates the fact under this president my uterus is not a preexisting condition, i want him re-elected. >> the political debate over the government requiring catholic institutions to provide contraceptive coverage in the health care plans of their employees is not only continuing. it's getting much hot area enit's a debate that should have never happened. >> bottom line here is that, in a lot of ways, we'd be better off if we had a single-payer health care system where you didn't have employers involved. >> that was peter welsh, making the single most important point of the day of how we got to here. the health care bill that president obama signed in to law is a virtually indescribable mess of co