John Boehner Article

Facts/Details:

1. Boehner’s Republicans have used the leverage of controlling a single chamber of Congress to slash $1 trillion or so from the budget over the next decade.
2. He was the ambitious legislator who wrote an overhaul of pension laws and George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act
3. House Speaker John Boehner’s mantra is that the House should “work its will.”
4. Boehner doesn't have the backing to get a deal done
5. He failed to cut a multitrillion-dollar deficit-reduction deal with President Barack Obama after the mere perception that he might give ground on taxes filtered back to his troops.
6. He had to pull his debt-limit bill from the floor at the eleventh hour before reviving it with concessions to conservatives
7. His threat to punish recalcitrant Republicans by taking away committee assignments was laughed off by a new breed of lawmakers who could not care less which dais they sit behind.
8. Not many people back Boehner's leadership

Questions:

1. Why is it so important for the Speaker of the House to have a strong backing?
2. Why are most opinions of Boehner's negative?
3. Is Boehner's inability to pull the trigger on a deal his biggest flaw?
4. It seems Boehner doesn't have the support of his own party, so how did he get appointed Speaker of the House?
5. Does John Boehner try and compromise too much?