Are we being played on Boehner-McCarthy-Ryan speaker “drama”?

Rush-GOP-party-of-NOEl Rushbo apparently thinks so: 

[…] Limbaugh suggested that the House Freedom Caucus members engaged in large-scale Kabuki dance in conjunction with the Republican establishment to ensure Ryan’s Speakership.

After Ryan issued his list of demands for conservative lawmakers, “you would not think that the Freedom Caucus, the conservatives in the House, the Tea Party caucus, whatever you want to call them, no way would they go along with this, no way under the sun would they go along with this,” Limbaugh said. “But it looks like enough of them will.”

“This is how we get… I don’t want to say ‘played,’ folks, but I’m telling you: The script is written offsite, backstage.  We don’t see that.  We see everybody playing their part.  Including the Freedom Caucus members,” Limbaugh said.

In supporting Paul Ryan’s Speakership, the House Freedom Caucus violated its founding charter: namely, that its members vote as a bloc, and only act if they have an 80 percent consensus. The group did not have an 80 percent consensus to elect Ryan as Speaker. However, the members decided to not act as a bloc, but instead fracture so that enough members could propel Ryan to his new position of power. While the House Freedom Caucus’ official position is opposed to Ryan, many members are going to vote for him anyways.

As a result, after a year-long intraparty battle that began with the ousting of former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and culminated with the retirement of Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and the rejection of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House Leadership will be no more representative of the interests of Republican voters under its new Leadership than it was under the Boehner/Cantor regime.

In fact, more than 9 in 10 Republican voters disagree with Paul Ryan’s position on the critical issues of trade and immigration.

“Paul Ryan is the new Cantor,” Limbaugh declared, “in terms of moving the donor agenda.” […] 

Limbaugh has rightfully pointed out that most Freedom Caucus members were more upset with Boehner for bureaucratic, administrative reasons — i.e., committee assignments, chairmanships, hearings on bills — than they were about the House GOP leadership’s  lack of interest in a liberty-minded agenda (or even adherence to the party platform).

Someone told me about this  PBS Frontline episode — which also got cited by Limbaugh and the folks at Breitbart — that shed some more light on the so-called Freedom Caucus: ryan

[…Indeed, on the issue of immigration, which Pat Buchanan has described as “the issue of the 21st Century,” many House Freedom Caucus members supported and encouraged House leadership’s globalist agenda to implement open borders.

A new PBS Documentary, which aired for the first time earlier this week, revealed that Paul Ryan had nearly succeeded in passing amnesty in 2014. The documentary details how Ryan’s stealth campaign to pass amnesty was aided by many members of the so-called conservative House Freedom Caucus. For instance, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) has been vocal about his his role in the Ryan-Gutierrez 2014 amnesty push. In the documentary, he felt the prospect of enacting the amnesty plan was “invigorating.” Similarly Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) was a member of the House’s “Gang of Eight” effort to pass amnesty until public pressure forced him to drop out.

Few knew just how close Ryan and Rubio were to enacting mass amnesty and increasing the nation’s record-high immigration levels.

The PBS Documentary explains:

It is Monday June 9th [2014]. After months of work, and countless one-on-one conversations, Paul Ryan and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), have carefully crafted a bill they know the majority of Republicans can agree on… They have the votes. They make an appointment to see Boehner, on Thursday [June 12th].meadows point

However, at 9pm on Tuesday, June 10th, as the pro-amnesty Washington Republicans are out enjoying “drinks after work to celebrate their whip-count,” the “unimaginable” happens. Eric Cantor has lost his primary election to little-known populist challenger Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA), who hammered him for his expansionist position on immigration.

Limbaugh warns that if “the donor-class push” to “make Paul Ryan Speaker,” “get rid of Trump, and have Rubio or Jeb win the White House” is successful, a mass amnesty plan will be enacted by 2018.

Limbaugh explained that for the Republican Establishment “the dream” would be:

“Jeb or Rubio in the White House; Ryan Speaker of the House. Then in the first 12 months of the Rubio or Jeb administration, first 12-to-18 months, the donor-class agenda is implemented, including amnesty and whatever else they want. That is the objective here. That’s what I think all this adds up to.”

In Raleigh AND DC — big campaign checks trump the wishes of the voters or the welfare of the state and the nation.  It doesn’t matter whether an R or a D is in charge.