A vote was held today, as it is every 2 years, on who should take up the role of speaker of the house of representatives in the US Congress. The chioces were Nancy Pelosi(D) or John Boehner(R). The Final Vote was 220 Boehner to 191 Pelosi and 15 listed as "other"
My question is who you think should be speaker and why. You can use party line reasons if you like though I would prefer a real reason, but if party line is all you got then go for it.
I personally would have voted for Pelosi. As she demonstrated during her previous speakership, she has the respect of her party, can deliver on deals she makes, and people listen when she speaks. Boehner on the other hand, judging from the last two year, has none of those things. He doesn't seem to be able to command. From what I've seen he is just a figure head that has no real power over the people he is said to be leader of. Eric Cantor, his own majority leader, has stabbed him in the back more than once. Over the Fiscal Cliff the republican members of the house just walked out on him.
The Speaker of the House is meant to be the leader of the entire house. anot just one party. That's what the party leaders are for. It is the job of the speaker to work with both sides to find middle ground and get bills passed. Under Speaker Boehner, the 112th congress passed the lowest number of bills and displayed the greatest partisan divide in US history. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe no one can work with these people, but it's clear to me that John Boehner can't.
Let us hope the 113th congress can do better than the 112th.
My question is who you think should be speaker and why. You can use party line reasons if you like though I would prefer a real reason, but if party line is all you got then go for it.
I personally would have voted for Pelosi. As she demonstrated during her previous speakership, she has the respect of her party, can deliver on deals she makes, and people listen when she speaks. Boehner on the other hand, judging from the last two year, has none of those things. He doesn't seem to be able to command. From what I've seen he is just a figure head that has no real power over the people he is said to be leader of. Eric Cantor, his own majority leader, has stabbed him in the back more than once. Over the Fiscal Cliff the republican members of the house just walked out on him.
The Speaker of the House is meant to be the leader of the entire house. anot just one party. That's what the party leaders are for. It is the job of the speaker to work with both sides to find middle ground and get bills passed. Under Speaker Boehner, the 112th congress passed the lowest number of bills and displayed the greatest partisan divide in US history. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe no one can work with these people, but it's clear to me that John Boehner can't.
Let us hope the 113th congress can do better than the 112th.