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Politico reports on the mess that is the House GOP:

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) challenged Republicans on Tuesday to get off their “dead asses” and start raising money for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

And the Republican leader wasn’t the only lawmaker berating his GOP colleagues to raise more money for the committee’s March 12 fundraising dinner: According to sources in the room, NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) also used a closed-door session at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday to challenge Republicans to raise more campaign cash.

The normally upbeat Cole told Republicans that if they don’t start raising more money for the committee, they should get used to life in the minority. Blunt told his colleagues that Sen. John McCain’s spot atop the ballot should give Republicans the opening they need to regain their majority.

Except for the fact that the McCain shamnesty is one of the reasons many Republicans stopped giving money to the party and started telling them to bug off.

And corruption crap like this isn’t helping:

The NRCC was starting to turn things around at the end of 2007, closing the year with more cash than debt for the first time since the crippling 2006 election. But 2008 began with a fresh crop of retirements and revelations that a former NRCC bookkeeper allegedly forged an internal audit sent to the committee’s principal lender.

Then last Friday, federal prosecutors indicted Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi on 35 criminal counts that include conspiracy, fraud, money laundering and official extortion stemming from a land swap with a former business partner. Shortly afterward, Boehner called on the Arizona Republican, who had already announced his plans not to seek reelection, to “seriously consider” stepping down early. But Renzi has since issued a statement that he has no plans to resign, putting increased pressure on GOP leaders to force his ouster.

The NRCC outraised the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee by a very narrow margin in January, outpacing its Democratic counterpart for the first time since the Republicans lost power. But the DCCC maintains a sizable fundraising advantage, closing the month with nearly $35.5 million, compared with the NRCC’s $6.4 million.

Word of advice: Blaming commentators isn’t going to inspire folks to open up their pocketbooks, either:

In an effort to keep members more engaged, Blunt challenged lawmakers to take more responsibility for regaining power, then took a shot at the punditry for writing off Republicans this election cycle.