Shaming the other guy into submission is pretty much impossible on Capitol Hill (this is Congress, after all), but that doesn’t stop Democrats and Republicans from trying.  

After John A. Boehner played the card in a Thursday news conference, telling reporters that voting against the upcoming defense spending bill — as some Democrats have threatened to do — would be “shameful,” one Democrat threw the gauntlet right back at the Ohio Republican. Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, issued a terse email response.  

“Speaker Boehner says it is “shameful” for Democrats to vote against this year’s [National Defense Authorization Act], because, he claims, opposing the NDAA is opposing our troops. But Speaker Boehner voted against the NDAA in 2009 and 2010 with well over 100 of his fellow Republicans joining him both times. If he thinks it is so shameful to vote against the NDAA then somebody should ask the Speaker how he lives with his own shame.”  

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