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House Speaker John Boehner Plays the “Gay” card to Pressure Rep. Scott Garrett to Fund National Republican Congressional Committee

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Media Generated Controversy ?
How far will GOP press Garrett?

GOP insiders 

JULY 26, 2015, 11:16 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2015, 7:39 AM
BY HERB JACKSON
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD

Rep. Scott Garrett’s decision to stop supporting a key Republican campaign fund did more than raise questions about his attitudes toward gay people — it highlighted an often-obscured reality about the political machinery that ties congressional power to cash.

Party leaders — for both Democrats and Republicans — know that certain committee assignments give members of Congress access to lucrative streams of contributions from industries that those committees oversee.

And the pressure applied to Garrett to contribute to his party shows that when someone who needs to pay for an election every two years is put in a position to tap those streams, leaders expect loyalty and a piece of the action.

Garrett, a Republican from Wantage whose district is dominated by Bergen County voters, is resisting pressure to do both. He has a long record of going his own way when voting on the House floor, and in an interview with The Record last week indicated he will continue to do so if he believes a matter of principle is at stake.

He also has reportedly told colleagues he will not pay his “dues” to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s campaign fund because it has supported gay candidates and because of differences with the leadership of House Speaker John Boehner, whose reelection Garrett opposed in January.

It’s an unwritten rule in Congress that dues to the party committee are tied to a member’s position in the chamber. And Garrett is chairman of a subcommittee that handles legislation affecting stock markets and the mortgage industry, a post that could be in jeopardy because of his resistance.

Garrett raised nearly $1 million in both the 2012 and 2014 election cycles from employees and PACs tied to banking, insurance, securities and real estate interests, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. His latest campaign finance report showed Garrett had $2.2 million available on June 30 and nearly a year and a half to raise more for his 2016 reelection.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/jackson-how-far-will-gop-press-garrett-1.1381268

One thought on “House Speaker John Boehner Plays the “Gay” card to Pressure Rep. Scott Garrett to Fund National Republican Congressional Committee

  1. Garrett needs to tell Boehner to stick it. His level of acceptance or cordiality to those of us who cling to a sodomitical lifestyle is not on trial here. Boehner’s absolute ineptness as a Republican leader and ingrained antagonism toward true conservatives is the true issue and Garrett should by no means allow Boehner to change the subject.

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