Boehner right man for House majority leader

When I heard that Ohio's 8th district representative John A. Boehner was in the running for House majority leader, the first thing that popped into my mind was all the pork that West Chester and the rest of his district was bound to get.

It did not take long for this belief to be turned upside-down and questioned.

As the Republican Conference Chairman from 1995 to 1998, Boehner was the fourth-highest ranking leader in the House under Newt Gingrich.

As a deficit hawk he fought for a balanced budget, and along with a group of young Republicans, he wanted to make public the names of more than 350 members who were overdrawn in the House bank account.

According to a 2004 article in The Cincinnati Enquirer, many local Republicans were angry that Boehner, on moral principle, was not bringing any pork into his district, a reported loss of at least $100 million during his 14 years in congress.

"I told people in 1990 that if they thought that my job was to come to Washington and rob the federal treasury on their behalf, they were sending the wrong guy here," Boehner said. "I said it. I've said it ever since. It's just not why I'm here."

Boehner is, if nothing else, consistent in his fight for a balanced budget.

This is certainly a change to the current leadership style. While Congress has been making cuts to social services, their appetite for pork has not change a bit.

Can a man so out of touch with the mainstream in this area change the way the House funds for their favorite projects?

Does he have the untarnished character and reputation needed for strong leadership or to advance a doctrine of fiscal responsibility?

Unfortunately, Boehner is a mixed bag of goods.

As House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman, Boehner says that he wants to help college students by simplifying the student loan process and eliminating certain fees.

Yet he approved of the Bush administration's plan to eliminate the Perkins Loan program.

He also claims that the government is providing adequate funding for Bush's No Child Left Behind program, but public schools still only receive around 7 percent of their funds from federal sources.

Boehner is not immune from the corruption scandal hitting Washington and outgoing majority leader Tom DeLay either.

His political action committee raised $31,500 since 2000 from four of Jack Abramoff's tribal clients. Moreover, Boehner formed many alliances with lobbyists on K Street during his conference chairmanship.

"He was a policy traffic cop for the business community," said one of Boehner's allies.

These grateful lobbyist friends throw him the now famous "Boehner parties," a four night warehouse bash at every GOP National Convention since 1996.

The financial/insurance/seal-estate sector is his largest contributor and for the 2004 elections he raised $1.19 million of his $1.54 million in contributions from industry. Boehner has also been busy raising money for other GOP candidates.

His PAC contributed the fourth largest amount of funding given by House leadership to other candidates.

Clearly, if the Republicans are looking for a leader who can help them raise money for this sandal ridden election year, Boehner can deliver.

Unfortunately, what he and no other contender at this point can do is stand up scandal-free and hold the House to the morals and standards expected of our leaders. Contact Jennifer at opinion.newsrecord@gmail.com