There was a time when Speakers of the House were all powerful. Those days are long gone. Nevertheless, Speakers still possess a few formidable powers worth noting:
1. The Speaker is the chair of the steering committee that chooses all committee chairs.
2. The Speaker directs all bills to their respective committees. (This is a HUGE power -- as if the Speaker hates the bill he can send it to a committee he knows will kill it -- or vice versa).
3. The Speaker is personally responsible for elevating members to the all powerful (and never to be messed with) "Rules Committee".
4. The Speaker is responsible for organizing floor debates, ruling on the acceptability of floor motions, and recognizing members who wish to address the House.
5. In any dealings with the Senate, the Speaker appoints all members of conference committees.
6. Because of all of these things, the Speaker is the agenda setter of the House. What bills are heard? What bills simply get thrown away? What policies do we wish to impact, and how? These are all questions that only the Speaker gets to answer.
I'll keep posting criticisms of the Speaker Boehner's job performance, but this gives us a guideline for evaluating him.
Its important to keep in mind that while the Speaker is meant to preside over the entire House - and is elected by the entire House - each party nominates its leader for the position. Obviously the party which holds the majority will win, so the Speaker is less a neutral presiding officer than an advocate for the interests of the majority party.
