Republican Leadership Declares WAR on Conservative Members of Congress and Conservatives

It's rare when a Huffington Post Headline thrills me but it happened today.

REVOLT! CONSERVATIVE FURY HITS GOP LEADERS

The Huffington Post piece links to John Boehner Faces Conservative Fury For Booting Members From Key Committees.

Conservative groups are furious with GOP leadership for stripping several lawmakers of spots on powerful committees after it was deemed that they were not toeing the party line.

On Monday, the Republican Steering Committee, which is chaired by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), voted to remove Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) from the House Budget Commtitee. Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) lost their positions on the Financial Services Committee.

The four members are known for occasionally bucking leadership and voting against Boehner's wishes. Amash, Huelskamp and Schweikert are popular with the conservative movement, while Jones has made a name for himself by speaking out against U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.

Huelskamp and Amash were also the only GOP votes against Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget plan this year, arguing that it didn't cut spending enough. The Steering Committee recently recommended that Ryan stay on as Budget Committee chairman.

When asked for comment on the changes, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel replied, "The Steering Committee makes decisions based on a range of factors."

Grassroots conservatives, Tea Party folks, Libertarians and fiscal conservatives are waging a long overdue revolt against the GOP leadership. The revolt reached a pinnacle this week when former House Majority Leader Dick Army resigned from Freedom Works, a Tea Party group that is increasingly under the control of the Koch Brothers, 2 very wealthy Republicans who are perceived as being advocates for big government and statism as well as Romney styled Republicans.

DICK ARMEY RESIGNS FROM FREEDOMWORKS

In a surprise move, former House Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey has resigned as chairman of FreedomWorks, the conservative Washington based group that has been strongly identified with the Tea Party movement.

Based on early press reports, Armey's departure does not appear to be a harmonious one.

On a more salacious note, the Washington Post reported that Dick Armey received an $8 million payoff for his resignation from Freedom Works, here.

Also, Boehner and the House Republican Steering Committee booted key fiscal conservatives off of key congressisonal committees.

Boehner Purges Conservatives From Committees

On Monday afternoon John Boehner quietly ejected some of the most conservative members from their posts on influential congressional committees. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Walter Jones (R-NC) were expelled from the Financial Services Committee, and Justin Amash (R-MI) and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) were jettisoned from the Budget Committee. They were given the boot in part because their "votes were not in lockstep with leadership," as Rep. Schweikert was told.

Rep. Huelskamp, elected in the 2010 Tea Party surge, responded with a passionate screed against his party's leaders: "The GOP leadership might think they have silenced conservatives, but removing me and others from key committees only confirms our conservative convictions. This is...a sure sign that the GOP Establishment cannot handle disagreement."

Boehner's stealthy coup has been met with dismay on the right. For some groups it's signalled the start of outright warfare. Heritage Action, FreedomWorks, and Club for Growth all condemned Boehner and promised to redouble their support for the booted congressmen.

And last night conservative activists on Twitter were baying for the Speaker's blood via the hashtag #PurgeBoehner:

@BernardKingIII: Boehner is teaching the principled tea partiers that the small gov't & cutting spending is all a lie for election season. #PurgeBoehner.

@niceninja: As a Conservative...THIS makes me TOTALLY SICK...and makes me wonder what EXACTLY the new GOP is up to!! #PurgeBoehner.

The House Republican Steering Committee who made the decision to evict conservatives from key committees appears to be a secret committee (names not disclosed) that was selected in secret by the House Republican Conference.

House GOP Backs Secret Ballot for Steering Committee Spots

The House Republican Conference decided Thursday to hold secret ballot votes for regional and class representatives to the Republican Steering Committee.

The House Republican Conference is heavily dominated by establishment Republicans who endorse socialism, big spending, endless wars, fascism, crony capitalism, corporate welfare, bankster bailouts and just about everything that decent conservatives despise about the Republican Party.

So long as such folks dominate the ranks of the Republican Party, conservatives will continue to get more of the same until the day dawns when the Republican base has the will and commitment to just vote them out of office.

Meanwhile, this epic battle continues between establishment Republican statist slime and the fiscal conservatives and liberty activists.

Photo link: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/889462/thumbs/r-JOHN-BOEHNER-FISCAL-CLIFF-huge.jpg