Boehner surrenders but, still terrified of the GOP's Tea Party wing, vows to continue its war on Obamacare. From his remarks this afternoon, comments passim:

That fight [against Obamacare] will continue. But blocking the bipartisan agreement reached today by the members of the Senate will not be a tactic for us. [Then why was Boehner threatening to block it just yesterday? And why did House Republicans ever think threatening default would be a winning tactic for them? Because they did not think the president would call their bluff.] In addition to the risk of default, doing so would open the door for the Democratic majority in Washington to raise taxes again on the American people and undo the spending caps in the 2011 Budget Control Act without replacing them with better spending cuts. [Read: "If we keep this up, we might lose seats in next year's election. Most Americans are fed up with our stunts."] With our nation’s economy still struggling under years of the president’s policies [sic], raising taxes is not a viable option. [No matter how the Republicans start a sentence, this is always how it ends.] Our drive to stop the train wreck that is the president’s health care law will continue. [If it were such a train wreck, it would stop itself. It would eventually be repealed, democratically—not nullified by means of extortion.] We will rely on aggressive oversight that highlights the law’s massive flaws and smart, targeted strikes that split the legislative coalition the president has relied upon to force his health care law on the American people. [If that's the plan, then what were the last few weeks all about? The only coalition Boehner's come close to splitting is his own.]

Matthew Boudway is senior editor of Commonweal.

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