Don’t miss the excellent story by Bob Cusack and Molly K. Hooper in The Hill about the latest intrigues involving House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). One wonders if the House members’ dining room might need to hire a food taster to protect certain Republicans from other Republicans. Suffice it to say that whatever the deep background story, I worked for House leaders under three Speakers, and if any Democrat had acted toward then-Speaker Tip O’Neill the way Cantor “helped” Boehner, he would have found his House office space moved to Wasilla, Alaska. If any Democrat had “helped” then-Speaker Jim Wright the way Cantor “helped” Boehner, the Longworth House Office Building would have secured a new elevator operator, even if the new elevator operator was a former majority leader. I will confess that on one occasion Wright offered this option to yours truly, unless yours truly “got on the program” ASAP (as he said it, his pen was menacingly pointed an inch from my eye!).

The Hill article archive.