PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Gallery
    • 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  |  August 14, 2026

Marshall for The Hill: Don’t Let Socialists Sabotage a Democratic Comeback

  • Will Marshall
Press Release  |  August 12, 2026

Wisconsin Democrats Give Their Party a Fighting Chance in November

  • Will Marshall
Op-Ed  |  August 12, 2026

Ritz for The Wall Street Journal: Geriatric Democrat Loses to a Moderate

  • Ben Ritz
Press Release  |  August 5, 2026

Michigan Democrats Boost Republican Midterm Hopes

  • Will Marshall
Op-Ed  |  July 31, 2026

Marshall for The Hill: Don’t Panic over Data Centers — Support a Better Path Forward

  • Will Marshall
In the News  |  July 21, 2026

PPI in The Times of London: ‘Neoliberalism’ was good enough for Tony Blair

  • Will Marshall
  • 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