PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Careers
  • People
  • Projects
  • Our Work
  • Events
  • Donate

Our Work

Why Boehner’s to Blame

  • October 1, 2013
  • Will Marshall

The government of the United States of America is closed for business today, courtesy of the Republican Party. It’s a national embarrassment, like a scene from the Marx Brothers’ classic 1933 satire “Duck Soup,” only without the anarchic humor.

Hail Freedonia!

Who produced today’s farce? Was it the Tea Party hotheads, 50 or so House Republicans who love ideological combat but hate governing? Or was it Sen. Ted Cruz, perhaps the most cunning demagogue America has produced since Joe McCarthy?

All played their discreditable parts. But the man in the director’s chair is John Boehner, who is bidding for the title of worst House speaker in U.S. history.

Why Boehner? Because he knows better, and could have prevented the shut-down. And because, as America’s third-ranking constitutional officer, after the President and vice president, he is supposed to serve America’s interests — not the febrile demands of his party’s most rabid partisans. That’s Eric Cantor’s job.
.
Read the entire piece at the New York Daily News.

Related Work

Op-Ed  |  July 3, 2026

Marshall for The Hill: Democrats Stand for Liberalism, Not Socialism

  • Will Marshall
Press Release  |  July 1, 2026

Democrats Should Learn From Colorado’s 20-Plus-Year Winning Streak, Not One Victory in Deep-Blue Denver

  • Will Marshall
Press Release  |  June 25, 2026

New PPI Report Warns Delivery Regulations Could Disrupt Markets That Benefit Millions

  • Michael Mandel Andrew Fung
Publication  |  June 25, 2026

A Tale Of A Three-Sided Market: Understanding Online Food Delivery Services

  • Michael Mandel Andrew Fung
Blog  |  June 24, 2026

Ritz on Substack: We Need to Get Creative to Save Social Security

  • Ben Ritz
In the News  |  June 24, 2026

PPI in News from the States: Get Ready for the Semiquincentennial: Americans Celebrate a 250th Anniversary

  • Richard D. Kahlenberg
  • Never miss an update:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
PPI Logo
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Donate
  • Careers
  • © 2026 Progressive Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • |
  • Privacy Settings