Boehner, Pelosi team up for Speaker Tip O'Neill tribute
Washington (CNN) - It was Tip O'Neill who coined the phrase "all politics is local."
So it's somehow fitting that Congress is looking to commemorate the 34-year congressional career of the former House speaker by making an office building on the edge of Capitol Hill his namesake.
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The building is currently undergoing renovations and is expected to open next year and the proposed name - the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Federal Building - was the idea of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, according to a Tuesday announcement from her office and House Speaker John Boehner's office.
O'Neill was the longest continuously-serving House speaker and December 9 will mark the centennial of his birth.
Located at 2nd Street and C Street, S.W. the building is a short walk from better-known House office buildings Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn. It is between the Gerald Ford office building and the Hubert Humphrey office building.
Another building named for O'Neill bears the same title. The 11-story high-rise in Boston's West End includes offices for the Commerce, Homeland Security, Justice, State, and Treasury Departments, among others, according to the General Services Administration, which is responsible for federal properties.
The Massachusetts Democrat served in Congress from 1953 through January of 1987 and served as speaker from 1977 until retirement. He was well known for his deal-making as well as his collegiality with President Ronald Reagan.
The building is located a few blocks southwest of the Capitol and will house both executive and legislative branch offices, according to the announcement.
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Speaker O'Neil kept Reagan from destroying the economy, bankrupting the government, and in the process kept Reagan from going too far off the defense spending deep end. Reagan has a horrific economic record. In his first term alone, he tripled the national debt, and increased the annual deficit by a factor of ten.
In today's numbers, had Pres. Obama did that....national debt would have grown from $10T in FY2009 to $30T in FY2013. The annual deficit would have grown from $1.5T in FY2009 to $15T in FY2013. Like I said, Reagan was horrific when it came to unbalancing the budget.
He sounded like a strong speaker. I wish I was more politically aware then, but I was just a kid during most of his term as speaker.
Rudy NYC,
You got that 100% correct. Reagan was the worst president we ever had. And the GOP is still pressing his bad policies on America. His legacy is lingering far too long.
Need more like him.He knew the meaning of working together.
Boehner never learns.
Only if BOEHNER had the backbone to stand up for what he really believes!
PaulCat observed:
Only if BOEHNER had the backbone to stand up for what he really believes!
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What if I told that Boehner is standing up for what he believes. He believes that he will lose his job as Speaker and see his political career come to end if he does not cater to the Tea Party's whims.
Rudy NYC
"Reagan has a horrific economic record. In his first term alone, he tripled the national debt, and increased the annual deficit by a factor of ten."
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Hey Rudy... please tell the class which party was in control of BOTH chambers of congress – not only during Reagan's first term, but his entire 8 years?
Then remind us where all spending originates, like you do when it fits your narrative?
Unfortunately the days of congress quietly doing their job as was done while Tip was the speaker have gone away. Now both sides put them self's in a corner with press conferences drawing a line that they will not cross. If they only did their thing out of the spot light more would get done.
My favorite Speaker of the House. Though I was very young back then, I liked and respected him. Boehner could take lessons from such a classy man.
Fair is Fair observed:
ghostriter
Rudy, I believe the congressional oversight committees have a different set of rules involving oversight.
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All spending originates in the House, but all spending bills must be signed by the POTUS or vetoed. Reagan vetoed everything, which is why they has some 18 Continuing Resolutions and debt ceiling increases during his two terms. I don't think they ever passed a budget during his eight year reign, except maybe for the year of grand bargain between Tip and Dutch that "fixed" Social Security.
Tip O'Neill and ronald reagan come from a generation that would not wear loose overhauls and backward cap before a Prime minister (bebers and canadian leader) - kids cannot know wht they didnt have proper parents to teach them - so not your fault if you lack respect for the passing generation.
Rudy says:
"All spending originates in the House, but all spending bills must be signed by the POTUS or vetoed. Reagan vetoed everything, which is why they has some 18 Continuing Resolutions and debt ceiling increases during his two terms. I don't think they ever passed a budget during his eight year reign, except maybe for the year of grand bargain between Tip and Dutch that "fixed" Social Security."
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Wrong. There was a budget EVERY year of Reagan's presidency. Do your research.
Fair is Fair wrote:
Wrong. There was a budget EVERY year of Reagan's presidency. Do your research.
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No *passed* budgets, which is the same as no budget at all...just like what we have seen during the Obama administration's first term. Continuing Resolutions make the whole issue of passing an annual budget a moot point. If Reagan had budgets, then so did Pres. Obama. Enjoy your crow.
That would be nice.