My guess is that Allen West, that rootin'-tootin' Floridian tea partier of the U.S. House, simply likes his government job and wants to keep it.
A disgruntled House staffer said that West's vote last week against repealing a part of 'Obamacare' ($100 million for school-based health centers) was "sorely mistaken and is out of step with the rest of his conference." In that description the staffer at least approached the truth: West isn't so much "out of step" as he's hearing footsteps. That whole Ryan thing, you know. For West, not good. Especially in Florida.
In a classically preposterous piece of West-ern incoherence, the congressman's office issued a statement explaining why the GOP's Number One boogeyman should no longer be the GOP's Number One boogeyman: "[T]here are bigger funding issues to be focusing on right now including the numerous developments in the Middle East, concerning Pakistan and whether there is a link to [Osama bin Laden] and the recent unity agreement with the [Palestinian Authority] and Fatah and Hamas."
This barefaced drivel "flummoxed" his fellow GOPers, reports The Hill. But it doesn't flummox for long.
West likes his government pay, he likes his government healthcare, he likes his other government benefits, he likes his big government staff and he likes his government-paid travel and he likes the attention he receives from being a Government Man. And West -- tea partier or not -- is willing to do or say anything to keep them.