The first job of any speaker is to protect this institution that we all love. It is my view, however, that prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution. To that end, I will resign the speakership and my seat in Congress on Oct. 30.There was an excellent chance Boehner might lose the speakership as hard-line conservatives saw him as unwilling to confront the Administration. Like Lyndon Johnson deciding not to run again, I would guess Boehner saw trouble ahead and decided to quit before his caucus could fire him.
Over the last five years, our majority has advanced conservative reforms that will help our children and their children. I am proud of what we have accomplished.
He, and Majority Leader McConnell, learned a lesson when they temporarily refused to fund government (inaccurately called a "shut down") over Obamacare. The GOP was blamed by the media and supposedly punished by the voters for so doing.
History will decide whether the pair learned the right, or wrong, lesson therefrom. Certainly conservative voters are angry at their unwillingness to fight for their beliefs. That anger fuels the good poll numbers of outsider candidates - Trump, Fiorina, and Carson - for the 2016 GOP nomination.
