And Boehner and his ilk complain about the Democrats?

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Boehner offers plum committees to GOP challengers


Deep in rural Georgia, the Republican who may become the next speaker of the U.S. House is playing let's-make-a-deal with voters.

Minority Leader John Boehner promised this week that if southwest Georgia residents unseat Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop, he will support placing GOP challenger Mike Keown on the House Agriculture Committee. It's a promise designed to get Keown votes in a red-soil district that harvests the nation's largest peanut and pecan crop.

As Republicans campaign to win a majority in Congress, Boehner has dangled similar promises in Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota and Hawaii, sometimes in districts where single economic interests like farming or defense dominate regional economies.

Such pledges are not unusual in an election year, but they contradict GOP messages about fiscal austerity.

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