Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/443462
ByEricaWerner TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON House Re- publicans began the new Congress with old divisions on display Wednesday, bit- ter fallout from a failed re- bellion against Speaker John Boehner. Boehner took swift action against two of the dissent- ers, knocking them from a key committee. But some of his allies demanded more, furious at the two dozen lawmakers who opposed the Ohioan in Tuesday's speaker vote. In the process, the GOP is starting the year with party infighting in- stead of a unified challenge to President Barack Obama. "All of us think that they should have retribution," Boehner loyalist Devin Nunes of California said of the rebels. "They put the conservative agenda at risk with their wanting to be on television and radio." The dissidents warned of their own payback if Boehner does take further steps against them. "There's going to be a fight," said Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, when asked what would happen if leaders retaliated against lawmakers who opposed Boehner's re-election. "And it's going to be real hard to bring the party together like they say they want to do." The dispute proved a dis- traction as Congress con- vened under full GOP con- trol for the first time in eight years. Republicans are pur- suing an ambitious agenda including early votes on bills to advance the long- stalled Keystone XL pipe- line and change the defini- tion of full-time work under Obama's health law from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week. Obama has threat- ened to veto both measures. In one of its first acts, the House passed legisla- tion Wednesday to renew the federal program that props up the private mar- ket for insurance against terrorist attacks. And in the Senate, now under GOP control, new Ma- jority Leader Mitch McCo- nnell of Kentucky pledged to cooperate with Obama where possible, on such is- sues as trade and tax re- form, but to challenge him elsewhere. "The American peo- ple elected divided gov- ernment. But that doesn't mean they don't want us to accomplish anything," Mc- Connell said. In the House, the divi- sions that mattered were within the GOP itself. Republicans began the day after Boehner's elec- tion in a closed-door meet- ing where a series of law- makers stood up to demand punishment for the speak- er's opponents. Others counseled caution, urging Boehner not to crack down and instead move forward and focus on policy issues. "I'd rather be magnani- mous in victory," said GOP Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina. For lawmakers less will- ing to move on, their frus- tration over the 25 dissent- ers — a historically high total for a speaker's race — was about more than the failed attempt to take down Boehner. Disorganized and haphazard, the rebels never coalesced around an alter- nate candidate, instead spreading their votes among nine people, some of whom got just one or two votes. Yet the group included some of the same lawmak- ers who forced the govern- ment into a 16-day par- tial shutdown in the fall of 2013 in a failed effort to end Obama's health care law, and who have repeatedly compli- cated leaders' efforts to pass legislation on immigration, farm policy and other topics. Egged on by outside conser- vative groups, they've forced House leaders into embar- rassing retreats on legisla- tion and humiliations on the House floor. Many mainstream Re- publicans are fed up and would like to see the dis- senters held accountable as the new Congress gets underway, especially since Boehner now may have less need for their votes. Repub- licans now command a big- ger majority — they have 246 members in the House, the most in more than 60 years — along with control of the Senate. FAILED REVOLT Ho us e GO P tr ie s to re gr ou p a er divisive speaker vote JOSELUISMAGANA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. speaks about raising wages during the forum AFL-CIO National Summit, Wednesday at Gallaudet University in Washington. By Ken Thomas The Associated Press WASHINGTON Massachu- setts Sen. Elizabeth War- ren on Wednesday ham- mered Washington's lead- ers — Republicans and Democrats alike — for fail- ing to help middle-class workers since the 1980s. Left unsaid: That time pe- riod includes President Bill Clinton's administration. As Warren continues to insist she won't run for president, and all of poli- tics is waiting for Hillary Rodham Clinton to an- nounce her candidacy, it was a notable omission during Warren's speech at a conference sponsored by the AFL-CIO. Bill Clinton famously declared "the era of big government is over" in 1996, and Warren's indict- ment of three decades of economic policy refer- enced complaints among liberals that the policies of Democrats contributed to Wall Street excess in the past decade. "Pretty much the whole Republican Party — and if we're going to be honest, too many Democrats — have talked about the evils of 'big government' and called for deregulation," Warren said, arguing the policies turned loose "big banks and giant interna- tional corporations" and "juiced short-term profits even if it came at the ex- pense of working families." That sort of rhetoric has some liberals pining for Warren to enter the Demo- cratic presidential contest, a move that would likely pit her against Hillary Rod- ham Clinton, the party's leading contender should she enter the campaign as is widely expected. It wasn't just Warren who didn't mention a Clin- ton by name. One panelist, Jennifer Epps-Addison of Wisconsin Jobs Now, won applause from the audi- ence when she suggested the party was hurting it- self by appearing ready to simply anoint the apparent favorite as its next presi- dential nominee. "I don't want to get in trouble, but I'll say it any- way," Epps-Addison said. "It starts with this idea that we have a presumed front-runner for the Demo- cratic nomination for pres- ident, because if we don't accept that ... if we say that we demand somebody to actually meet our needs before we're going to give them a candidate for the presidency, then that can make a difference." Clinton, the former sec- retary of state, New York senator and first lady, has dominated early polls, but is being pushed by many Democrats to take a more populist stance on eco- nomic issues. Warren has resisted calls to enter the campaign, but her appear- ance before labor leaders served notice that she in- tends to influence the agenda this year. "For more than 30 years, Washington has far too of- ten advanced policies that hammer America's mid- dle class even harder," she said. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called Warren "an inspiration" and said the labor organi- zation would hold similar summits this year in the first four presidential pri- mary states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — to advo- cate for policies aimed at boosting wages. During last year's mid- term elections, Clinton touted the 1990s eco- nomic growth during her husband's administra- tion, noting that it helped bring prosperity to many middle-class families. She voiced support for raising the federal minimum wage and promoting paid fam- ily leave policies to help working families, particu- larly mothers. Warren attempts to s ha pe d eb at e SPEECH J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walks to a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday on Capitol Hill. By Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press WASHINGTON House Re- publicans want Congress to address the troubled fi- nances of Social Security's disability program, setting the stage for a contentious debate that could affect 11 million people in the mid- dle of the next presidential campaign. The House has adopted a rule that could force law- makers to tackle the issue by the end of 2016, when the program is projected to run out of reserves, trigger- ing automatic benefit cuts. An easy fix was available. Congress could have redi- rected payroll tax revenue from Social Security's much largerretirementprogram,as lawmakers have done before. But Tuesday's new rule blocks such a move, unless as part of a larger plan to improve Social Security's finances, by either cutting benefits or raising taxes. Tinkering with Social Se- curity never has been easy, and factoring in election- year politics makes finding votes even harder for those alternatives. Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., said he sponsored the pro- vision to prevent Congress from "raiding" the retire- ment fund to prop up the disability program. Reed said lawmakers are working on proposals to bolster the disability pro- gram's finances, but that taking tax money from the retirement program is "a short-term Band-Aid." "We need to do better than that," Reed said. Added the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.: "We just want to make sure we improve the integrity of the Social Secu- rity trust fund all across the board." Advocates for older Americans say the rule could be used to help push through benefit cuts, espe- cially because House Re- publicans have opposed raising taxes. "This is a blatant attempt on the first day members take office to sneak a rule into the process that virtu- ally guarantees devastating cuts for beneficiaries of the Social Security disability system," said J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. David Certner of AARP said it would be a mistake to eliminate the option of redirecting money from the retirement fund. DISABILITY PROGRAM GOP forces debate on Social Security finances The Associated Press EL PASO, TEXAS A man who fatally shot a psychol- ogist at a West Texas veter- ans' hospital before turn- ing the gun on himself was a former clerk at the clinic who had threatened the victim in 2013, the FBI said Wednesday. TheFBIidentifiedthegun- man in Tuesday's shooting as Jerry Serrato, 48. Doug- las Lindquist, who heads the FBI's El Paso office, said Serrato used a .380-caliber handgun to shoot Dr. Tim- othy Fjordbak, 63, and him- self at the El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System at Fort Bliss. Officials did not pro- vide a motive for the shoot- ing. Fjordbak had re- ported Serrato made a ver- bal threat against him at an El Paso supermarket in 2013. Lindquist said Serrato had some sort of perceived or real grievance against Fjordbak and had said something to the effect of, "I know what you did and I will take care of it." "It was something in pub- lic at a grocery store where Mr. Serrato approached Dr. Fjordbak, who did not rec- ognize him, and he made a verbal threat, and that was the extent of the report. As far as we can tell, that was the only connection that they had," Lindquist said. Both men worked at the VA at the same time in 2013, but authorities do not believe they had a working relationship, Lindquist said. There also was no immediate indica- tion the gunman was a pa- tient, the FBI said. FORMER CLERK FBI says shooter at VA clinic was ex-employee Callusat530-891-4673 CA. Lic. 0D72065 It'sOpenEnrollmentTime! • Covered California • Assurant (more Available Doctors) • Medicare Supplements • Group Plans & HR Support | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015 8 A