Bravo, House Speaker John Boehner!

Thank You, Speaker Boehner

For many conservatives, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has been as established Establishment disappointment. From his ascendancy to the Speakership following the 2010 shellacking until the failed 2012 elections, conservatives worried that he would veer toward the cowardly center, renege on pledges to cut the spending and bring the government back to a manageable size, and disappoint the growing caucus of TEA Party activists who had rallied to Republicans' support and help them in back the House.

Playing by the Washington rules of get along to go along, Boehner concerned many that his rise to power would bring back the Old Boys Club initiated under the failed leadership of Newt Gingrich, followed by Denny Hastert.

The Republicans seemed to lose their footing over the debt-ceiling debacle in 2011, in which the House agreed with unyielding Republicans to set up a commission to discuss long-term cuts and entitlement reforms. When the Simpson-Bowles Commission recommendations were rejected, when the Republicans and Democrats walked away from the attempted compromises, automatic spending cuts went into effect.

To many limited government activists and fiscal conservatives, Boehner was not doing a good job leading his caucus.

Following the dismal results of the 2012 election, Boehner faced immense hardships bringing together the TEA Party, Establishment, and Moderate Republicans to make a deal which would raise taxes slightly and grant cuts or revenue increases where needed.

Boehner could not work out a deal without going over the fiscal cliff, which would have pushed spending cuts to military and other federal programs while also eliminating the Bush Tax cuts of 2001 and 2003.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had to reach out, and Boehner looked like an abandoned leader. He almost endured a second round of voting to keep his speakership.

Then Boehner bounced back.

He declared on This Week that marriage should be between a man and a woman, even though eleven, then twelve states had sanctioned gay marriage.

Conservative columnists rallied to the beleaguered Speaker's aid, pointing out that the Republicans were not divided along principle or ideology, but rather by tactics.

Here, Boehner's Establishment savvy came in handy. Because Republicans only control the House, they cannot run the government along their policies only. The continuing resolutions began, in which the House would tie appropriations with a requirement that the US Senate pass a budget for this first time in four years. Democrats exposed their spend-thrift ways, demanding tax increases. No one warmed up to these terrible proposals.

Then came the sequester. Republicans refused to budge on automatic spending cuts without proper entitlement reforms. Boehner held his ground. The cuts went through, life went on, despite President Obama's scare tactics and Harry Reid's pummeling on the floor of the US Senate.

With the need to continue funding the government, Boehner responded, rather than rejected the demands of the TEA Party caucus and ever fiscal conservative in the House:

"The American people do not want a government shutdown, and they do not want Obamcare."

With the bold declaration, surrounded by loyal and fitful Republicans, Boehner showed real mettle as Speaker. He brought together fractious factions, he outlined tactical responsibilities without caving on the convictions of conservative governance.

Continue funding, but defund Obamacare: that would be the order of business. Would Democrats compromise their party or their constituents? Reid and his Democratic colleagues have compromised everything, yet refuse to compromise with the House. When the US Senate rejected Boehner and Company's sensible proposal, the House quickly sent over another resolution delaying Obamacare for one year along with a repeal of the much hated medical device tax.

The Massachusetts Senators hate this tax, at least so they said, yet they voted to reject this continuing resolution, as well.

Now that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made it completely clear that he will not negotiate on anything, the Republicans, with Boehner their Speaker-Spokesman, can claim that they will not negotiate, they will not meet, they will not seek compromise.

In other words, they the Democrats, the tax-and-spend, regulate-frustrate liberals are shutting the government down, not the fiscal conservatives, not the Republicans, who are heeding the hurts and pleadings of the American people.

Following four more continuing resolutions to fund parts of the federal government, Democrats have killed every opportunity to bring back fiscal resources to veterans, to national parks, and even to Washington D.C.

Should the US Senate refuse to budge on Boehner's continuing resolutions, the United States faces not just a prolonged government shut-down, but a debt default by the middle of the month. Will Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama embrace a legacy of non-leadership and failure (as Washington Post columnist Bob Woodward pointedly argued, no one remembers the failures of the House Speaker as much as they recall the President)?

One thing is for sure: House Speaker John Boehner (with the help of US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has achieved what leadership is all about: principled compromise on procedures, calculated confrontation to uphold the Constitution and the best interests of the American people.

Bravo, Speaker of the House John Boehner!

Thanks for leading on princple.