(Photo of Boehner: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Fundraising in the 2012 GOP presidential race may have gotten off to a slow start, but that's not the case for the cash-collecting work of House Speaker John Boehner. Sources close to Boehner tell The Hill's Michael O'Brien the top House Republican has raised more than $29 million so far this year. Of that total, $12 million went to his various fund-raising committees, including his leadership PAC. The rest he raised for individual GOP candidates and party committees.
By comparison, Boehner raised $50 million over the entire course of the 2010 election, when Republicans were fighting to regain majority control of the House.
Boehner's enormous fundraising haul comes as Republicans prepare for what could be a bruising 2012 campaign.
It's probably not a coincidence that aides to the House speaker are leaking out how much Boehner is doing to financially boost the party. As he continues to attempt to negotiate a deal with the White House over the debt limit, Boehner is facing a rebellion within his own ranks over how to reduce the federal deficit.
As the New York Times' Carl Hulse reports, Boehner has reportedly signaled his willingness to generate new revenues though an overhaul of the tax code. But other House Republicans have rejected that proposal, saying that it could prompt tax increases. Meanwhile, a significant portion of the House GOP caucus simply won't vote to raise the debt limit, no matter how strongly Boehner lobbies them.
If a budget deal is to be struck, Boehner must convince at least two-thirds of his caucus to support him--hence the reminder of how much the speaker has done to help them in their bids for re-election.
