GOP LEADERSHIP EXACTS RETRIBUTION: House Speaker John Boehner and his “leadership” team are exacting retribution against numerous conservative GOP members who have bucked leadership on a variety of issues, most notably voting against Boehner as Speaker, and against Obamatrade.  The most recent victim is Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), who has been removed from his chairmanship of the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Meadows was also one of the 25 Republicans who did not vote for Boehner to be speaker at the start of the 114th Congress, and he has often shown a willingness to vote with the conservative wing of the party. It appears as if the rule vote, in which 34 Republicans went against GOP leadership, was the final straw.

The punishment is yet another indication of the intensifying clash between conservatives and more moderate Republicans in the House GOP conference.

Trent Franks, who was one of the three House Freedom Caucus members kicked off the whip team earlier in the week, told CQ Roll Call on Wednesday that “there’s a polarization taking place” between conservatives and leadership, as right-wing voices are now being locked out of strategy sessions with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

It’s basically a purge being conducted against those who don’t toe Boehner’s line. There’s a reason why conservative Americans don’t trust Congress–even under the control of the GOP.  The Establishment GOP treats the party’s conservative/tea party wing as a political enemy to be defeated, rather than respected colleagues with whom they have occasional disagreements.

Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), who was among the 34 Republicans to vote against the rule last week, said Boehner hasn’t spoken to him about his vote. He accused GOP leaders of catering too much to Democrats at the expense of losing support from conservatives.

“This is the second or third time that they negotiated with Democrats and then Democrats go back on their word. And they still don’t come to the conservatives,” Labrador said at an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation Tuesday morning. “We can help them with this process.”

“Voting against the rule is almost like committing a capital crime here,” Labrador said of the leadership’s attitude.

Yep. To have a winning Republican “team,” there needs to be leadership that is open to all points of view, and doesn’t banish its brightest based on principled disagreement.

RELATED: Conservative Rep: It Takes ‘Moral Courage’ To Stand Up To GOP Leadership.

Scott Perry, 53, is a sophomore congressman from Dillsburg, Penn. Exuding a humble intensity and a mindfulness of his oath to the U.S. Constitution, his daily orientation in public office means he takes no vote for granted. 

“It’s a fight every day,” Perry says in this 22-minute exclusive video interview with The Daily Caller. . . .This interview was filmed June 10, prior to a series of divisive trade votes in the House. Perry, believing his leadership was mistaken on what was best for America on these votes, felt the wrath of opposing the Republican leadership. He was one of the 34, 54, 158 and 50 Republicans who challenged the prevailing pressure by GOP leaders to grant President Obama new trade powers at the risk of eroding national sovereignty. . . .

Yet, Republican leaders, increasingly governing by fear, risk continuing dissension and disarray. Evidence is building that Republicans, who are failing to persuade those members with differing opinions, and catering to monied interests in Washington, are alienating Americans who voted for them.

These are good members of Congress (there are some), and their idealism is being crushed by Mafia-like, inside-the-Beltway interests.