STAMFORD -- U.S. House Speaker John Boehner remained wrapped in the thick of the fight all week in sensitive White House talks as a key player in the last-minute compromise that avoided the federal government shutdown.
With about three hours' sleep after the late Friday night agreement, Boehner flew to Connecticut on Saturday to rally Republicans at the 33rd annual Prescott Bush Awards Dinner - the biggest annual fundraiser for the Connecticut Republican Party.
Despite nationwide fears and preparations in advance of a possible shutdown, Boehner told the crowd that he always believed the shutdown would never happen.
"The chance is zero,'' Boehner said he maintained. "The goal is not to shut down the government. The goal is to cut spending in Washington, D.C.''
Boehner had spent three straight days at the White House in high-level meetings that led to a three-way compromise among Republicans, Democrats and President Barack Obama. None of the three sides wanted the shutdown, and they all declared victory in their own way.
During a speech that lasted less than 20 minutes Saturday evening, Boehner told stories about the behind-the-scenes negotiations at the White House.
"What happened last night was just the first step in what has to be a lot of steps'' to cut federal spending, Boehner said. "We ought to celebrate when we balance the budget.''
The nighttime talks pushed Boehner past his normal bedtime, and he said his raspy voice came from having three hours of sleep for four nights in a row.
"I go to bed at 10 o'clock, and so does Harry Reid,'' Boehner said, referring to the Nevada Democrat who serves as the U.S. Senate majority leader.
Boehner then said that Vice President Joe Biden had raised his voice in blustery remarks at about 9:05 p.m. Thursday night in the White House as the talks were heating up. Boehner said he would have none of "this feigned moral outrage'' by Biden and said to him, "Joe, what the hell is that?''
"I think he forgot that I have 11 brothers and sisters, and my father owned a bar,'' Boehner said as the crowd of about 550 Republicans laughed.
The partisan remarks came in sharp contrast to those by Democrats who said that Republicans had caved in on some of their top priorities. All sides boasted of their particular victories and had their own spin on the results.
The House Republicans, led by Boehner, achieved $39 billion in spending cuts that they had sought in an effort to reduce government spending. The Senate Democrats were happy, too, because the final deal did not include the controversial Republican plans to defund Planned Parenthood and reduce the powers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Much of the debate centered around those issues, but Democrats said they had little to do with the fiscal health of the federal government.
Since passing a bill in the House in February, Republicans had tried to limit the powers of the EPA from regulating various pollutants. They had also tried to strip millions of dollars in funding from Planned Parenthood, an organization that performs abortions and health services for women.
In the end, lawmakers and Obama reached an agreement that will fund the federal government for about six months - until the 2012 federal fiscal year begins on October 1.
The GOP dinner attracted a crowd of about 550 party stalwarts, including former U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon. Numerous Republican legislators, including Livvy Floren, Pam Sawyer, and John Piscopo, were in the crowd during the pre-dinner reception. Two well-known former members of Congress, Nancy Johnson and Christopher Shays, attended, along with former Congressional candidate Janet Peckinpaugh, former state party chairman Dick Foley, former Bristol legislator Wallace Barnes, and former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. They all gathered under a large tent that was connected to the Stamford Hilton Hotel on the south side of Interstate 95. The tent was erected because Republicans had only five weeks' notice, based on Boehner's schedule, in a hotel that was already booked with other events.
Politically, the federal government shutdown could have been a disaster as national monuments and famous museums in Washington, D.C. would have been shut down starting Saturday. Governors around the country, including Connecticut's Dannel P. Malloy, had been preparing to take the necessary steps if the shutdown had occurred. About 800,000 federal employees would have been forced to take unpaid furlough days, but most employees in critical agencies like Homeland Security would have continued working. Now, the government will continue functioning as usual.
Boehner, who rose to increased national prominence when the Republicans regained control of the U.S. House in November 2010, is one of a long line of well-known speakers to serve as the keynoter at the Bush Awards Dinner. Previous speakers have included the late Lee Atwater, political strategist Karl Rove, then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and presidential candidates Bob Dole, John McCain, Jack Kemp, and Mitt Romney.
Even before the federal compromise was reached, the Bush Dinner had become controversial among Democrats after the state Republicans announced that the dinner would be closed to the press. That would have marked the first time in the dinner's recent history that reporters and camera crews had been kept out. Reporters were always allowed inside the dinners in the past, and major figures such as McCain, Atwater and Jeb Bush held press conferences alongside Connecticut officials in the hotel before their keynote speeches at the dinner. Boehner did not take any questions from reporters, and left through the side of the tent.
In a last-minute change after the compromise was reached late Friday night, Boehner agreed to allow the press inside the event to cover Saturday night's remarks.
The biggest award winner of the night was House Republican leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk, the winner of the Prescott Bush Award. The award is given for outstanding service to the party, and previous winners have included then-Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele and the three biggest party fundraisers from Greenwich over the past two decades - Malcolm Pray, Charlie Glazer, and L. Scott Frantz.
Cafero was overwhelmed by his award - bringing his mother and 91-year-old father to the occasion.
When asked if he ever thought he would win the party's top honor, Cafero said, "Who knows? You do what you do, and you see if anyone notices. I'm truly thrilled. It's quite an honor.''
Cafero was humbled to share the dais with Boehner on what he called "a historic day'' from the budget agreement in Washington that had occurred less than 24 hours earlier.
"There's a lot of people who would be catching some sleep now,'' Cafero said of Boehner. "It speaks volumes of him. He's the second in line to the presidency. ... I'm sure he's exhausted. We're just thrilled to have him. It's quite an honor.''
After being introduced to the crowd by his deputy, state Rep. Themis Klarides, Cafero said, "This little Italian boy from Norwalk has this incredible opportunity to be on the stage with the Speaker of the House of the United States of America and the chairman of the national party.''
"After November, we were a little down here in Connecticut,'' Cafero said, referring to losses in major races by McMahon and Foley. But he noted that the GOP gained 15 seats in the state House of Representatives in the November election and subsequent special elections earlier this year.
With Foley standing in the back of the room, Cafero started talking about Malloy's decision to proposed the largest tax increase in state history.
"He talked about shrinking government. He talked about the fact that we would have to make a shared sacrifice,'' Cafero said. "We liked what he said. ... And we saw what he did, and it was a little different from what he said. ... We thought he was going to shrink the size of government. We thought the last thing he was going to do was raise taxes. ... He didn't decrease spending. He actually increased spending. And we said, I don't get it.''
"You name the tax, he raised it. Haircuts, yoga, things we never paid taxes on before,'' Cafero said. "So what do we do about it, as Republicans? ... What we are going to do about it is set forth a vision. ... Within the next 10 days, you will see our vision for the state of Connecticut.''
"You want to talk about shared? How come the public sector has a 0 percent unemployment rate? They haven't given up a dime,'' Cafero said. "I am so proud to be a Connecticut Republican. We will not let you down. ... We will lead this state to its past grandeur once again. Thank you so much.''
Republicans were happy about the agreement in Washington, but Democrats did not have the same view of the spending deal.
"Last night, Republicans took the nation to the brink, not over deficits, but over a social agenda: impending economic recovery and boasting that this is just the start of what they want to do,'' said U.S. Rep. John Barry Larson of East Hartford. "Their next target: Medicare, Social Security, and working families.''
Larson continued, "While they bask in the glory of tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, and no jobs created under their watch, I am committed to fighting for working people in my district, and for Social Security, Medicare, and the jobs that are critical for my constituents.''