Boehner wants a circus
by digby
He wants a gory, bloody, spectacle during the election:
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is throwing cold water on several House Republicans' efforts to immediately defund Planned Parenthood in the wake of the group's undercover video controversy.
Boehner said Thursday that he will not yet commit to blocking funding for Planned Parenthood after an anti-abortion-rights group produced two videos that attempt to portray the group as illegally profiting from fetal tissue donation.
"Facts first," Boehner said when asked twice about Planned Parenthood funding during his Thursday news conference.
Boehner's remarks, which come several days after he ordered a congressional probe into the videos, put him at odds with the 80 House Republicans who have backed a new bill from Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) that would immediately block Planned Parenthood's funding for one year while the government investigates. A similar bill has been introduced in the upper chamber by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).
Black's spokesman said Wednesday that her legislation had been received favorably by House leadership and hoped to see a vote "as soon as possible."
Republicans have seized on recently released hidden camera footage that shows two Planned Parenthood officials detailing the use of fetal tissue after abortions. One video has been edited to show an official apparently haggling for prices over the fetal tissue with buyers from a medical research firm.
"I think they're awful," Boehner said about the videos. "That's why the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee are doing an investigation. I expect that we will have hearings. The more we learn, the more it will educate our decisions in the future," he said.
Uh, huh. And the more they flog this issue the more his lurid hearings will stimulate an uproar among the anti-choice zealots and boost their turn-out.
One might suspect it would also result in a backlash among women who would be offended by a Planned Parenthood witch hunt, but I'm going to guess the Republicans think this is an overall winner for them. Watch Fox for a while. Their excitement is palpable.