Take your blood pressure meds and a few deep breaths and read this:
HOW DO YOU SPELL RELIEF?Staffers for House Republican leadership are saying their bosses are breathing sighs of relief with word leaking out that Rep. Michele Bachmann is mulling a presidential exploratory committee.
"[John Boehner and Eric Cantor] were nervous about what she might be up to, and as long as it isn't about making their lives miserable, they're more than happy to encourage her outside activities," says a senior aide to the Republican Conference Committee, who has ties to both the Speaker's office and the majority leader.Bachmann has privately told supporters and outside consultants who work for her that her focus is on generating enough support so that she can influence any number of House races in the 2012 cycle and get true conservatives elected. "She's using the DeMint model," says an adviser.But an exploratory committee might cut into ambitious plans she has for her leadership PAC, as well as her re-election fund. "I wouldn't sell her short," says the adviser. "We're talking about a woman who raised more money than anyone else in the House last cycle. We will raise what we need to ensure she is in a strong position to accomplish whatever goals she has."
According to House leadership sources, there was real concern that Bachmann planned to lead a "back bench" revolt against GOP leadership in the late spring and summer as budget and appropriations issues continued to fester.
"The way things are playing out, we aren't going to be able to accomplish more than the most basic kinds of cuts or reform; nothing nearly as aggressive as what we talked about on the campaign trail," says a Cantor aide, who on Thursday was attending Cantor's two-day fundraising event for Washington lobbyists and donors.
"We know we're going to lose some of the Tea Party types, and we were looking at a Bachmann back bench of about 50 members who really would have made our work more difficult. If she's out in Iowa and elsewhere fundraising and speaking and building her base, those are days she won't be able to focus on us, and that's a good thing."_
We'll be focusing on you, you sons of bitches. Damn you to hell.