The Everything 118th Congress Thread

[Cooked Crack]

 

[TradeTheBeal!]

Let’s go wakeboarding!

 

 

[The Evil Genius]

 

[dfitzo53]

3 hours ago, Fergasun said:

All because they never deliver on their promises spending cuts to voters, because they are paid by corporations to generally keep the country running smoothly.  So ironic...

Wait what?

 

You think corporations are paying Republicans to keep the country running smoothly?

Edited September 21, 2023 by dfitzo53

[mcsluggo]

2 hours ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

 

with people self-selecting the "news" services that tell them what they already want to hear, it doesn't matter.   "Conservatives" are no longer hearing ANY news that isn't pre-chewed and completely smoothed to serve their already established pre-conceptions.   (and what could be more "conservative" than taking the literally LEAST conservative information strategy that can be devised!!??)

 

From their perspective there is NO bad news about "their guys".   Ever.   Period.   No matter what actually happens in the real world.   

 

it is almost impossible to overstate how bad this reality is for the viability of a healthy democracy.....  

[@DCGoldPants]

Shocked, leader of the House Leopards Eating People's Faces Party, has face eaten by other Leopards. Plans to make face available for being eaten again next week. 

 

 

[Fan since a Fetus]

Here I thought they were taking a long weekend to celebrate Yom Kipper. Silly me. They are not going to try to continue doing their jobs that they get paid to do because they can’t work together like a bunch of spoiled kids playing chutes and ladders.

 

You know what’s great if you cannot do a job, just take a few days off. When you fail at something you don’t try and try again. You walk away and call it recess. 

[@DCGoldPants]

6 minutes ago, Fan since a Fetus said:

Here I thought they were taking a long weekend to celebrate Yom Kipper. Silly me. They are not going to try to continue doing their jobs that they get paid to do because they can’t work together like a bunch of spoiled kids playing chutes and ladders.

 

You know what’s great if you cannot do a job, just take a few days off. When you fail at something you don’t try and try again. You walk away and call it recess. 

 

Also.....we're the party that supports Israel. How come Jewish Americans dislike us so much? 

[Larry]

Can anyone explain to me which rule (or situation) it is that gives 12 or so R's the power to prevent a budget from being voted on?  
 

I'm pretty sure the House has the power to pass a budget 423-12. 
 

Is there a rule that no legislation can be voted on, if 10 Republicans don't want it to be voted on?  
 

(And if there is such a rule, then I'm pretty sure that there's at least 10 R's who really do not want to go on the record voting for or against a national abortion ban.)

 

 

[LadySkinsFan]

If there were any Republicans who wanted to truly govern, they would form a coalition with the Democrats to get stuff done. There's enough of them to override the extreme Fascists.

 

However, if all of the Republicans won't budge to override the Fascists, then they are no better, deserve to get voted out, and get called Fascists like the extremists.

 

That's it. Suck up, form a coalition, or get lumped in with the extremists. 

[TheGreatBuzz]

14 minutes ago, Larry said:

Can anyone explain to me which rule (or situation) it is that gives 12 or so R's the power to prevent a budget from being voted on?  
 

I'm pretty sure the House has the power to pass a budget 423-12. 
 

Is there a rule that no legislation can be voted on, if 10 Republicans don't want it to be voted on?  
 

(And if there is such a rule, then I'm pretty sure that there's at least 10 R's who really do not want to go on the record voting for or against a national abortion ban.)

 

 

 

This is just so they can pass their right wing nut job budget.  This isn't something bipartisan they are blocking.  Obviously no Dems are going to vote for it because well....it's a right wing nut job budget.  But they don't even have the votes to put up THEIR OWN nut job bill 

[mcsluggo]

when you have a razor thin majority and an unruly caucus then whomever CHOOSES to make a stink can become the pivot point.   the squeakiest wheels become vital.   and when your squeakiest wheels are booger-eating-moron turd-slingers........  that is the face of your party.   

 

 

(not to overstate the above point too much.   the median republican republican house member has shifted from whatever it used to be squarely into the booger-eating-turd-flinging territory WITHOUT amplifying the 10 super-turds.    its the world we live in. 

 

[Fergasun]

They need to shut it down first to "feed their base" and then reopen it in a few days or weeks with the Senate bill.  Then the base can be mad at the Senate and Joe Biden. 

 

The "cut it" wing has gotten bent over for years legislatively.  Obama was willing to deal with it, but they didnt take his deal so went thru sequestration for 2 years.   Saner heads prevailed.  And they didnt cut under Trump either.  

[Larry]

54 minutes ago, mcsluggo said:

when you have a razor thin majority and an unruly caucus then whomever CHOOSES to make a stink can become the pivot point.   the squeakiest wheels become vital.   and when your squeakiest wheels are booger-eating-moron turd-slingers........  that is the face of your party.   

Now I can believe that maybe the situation is that:  

 

1). There's say (I'm just going to make up numbers) 25 members who literally want Major Evil. 
2). There's 200 who want less evil. (But still evil.)

3). And the two of them can't find a bill that can get 218 (all Republican) votes. 
4). And Group 2 is unable to get any Dem votes. 
 

(Maybe because what they want is still evil. Or maybe they're unwilling to vote for anything that a single Democrat voted for. Or maybe because if they change their bill enough to get 10 D votes, they lose 20 R ones.)

 

But if that's the case, then the problem isn't that the wing it's are blocking the "moderates" from negotiating. In the above case, the problem is that the "moderates" are unwilling to be bipartisan at all. 
 

The problem is that they need 218 votes to pass anything. And all of them are limiting the negotiations to 221 possible voters. 
 

---

 

Note:  I suppose it's also possible that the Dems, watching the Republican **** show, are unanimously holding a position of being unwilling to vote for anything but a completely clean CR. 
 

And that the lack of a bipartisan option is the Dems being unwilling to negotiate. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Larry

[China]

Centrist Dems and McCarthy’s allies are in secret talks to strike a deal

 

The long-shot idea that Democrats could bail out the beleaguered Speaker Kevin McCarthy is suddenly getting real.

 

Small groups of centrist Democrats are holding secret talks with several of McCarthy’s close GOP allies about a last-ditch deal to fund the government, according to more than a half-dozen people familiar with the discussions. The McCarthy allies engaging in those conversations are doing so out of serious concern that their party can’t stop an impending shutdown on its own, given the intransigence of a handful of conservatives.

 

Lawmakers involved in the talks — who mostly belong to the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, the Republican Governance Group or the centrist New Democrat Coalition — have labored to keep their work quiet. Many Republicans involved are incredibly worried about revealing their backup plan, wanting to wait until every other tool in McCarthy’s arsenal has failed.

 

That moment may not be until next week, just ahead of the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline.

 

“It’s got to be bipartisan anyway, at some point,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said of a solution to the shutdown crisis. Referring to the conservative holdouts, he added: “So why negotiate with these five or 10 people who move the goalposts?”

 

Generally, the bipartisan group is focusing on two major ideas: a procedural maneuver to force a vote on a compromise spending plan — or somehow crafting a bill so popular that McCarthy can pass it and survive any challenge from the right. That bill would likely be a bipartisan short-term patch with some disaster money, Ukraine aid and small-scale border policies, according to multiple people briefed on the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

The Problem Solvers began showing their framework to members Wednesday, with plans to formally vote on endorsing it by the evening, according to two people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss them.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

Just saying that I'm not at all sure that passing a bill to fund the government, and avoiding a shutdown, is "saving McCarthy". 

 

Might save the country. Might save the Republican Party. But I suspect it might well cost McCarthy. 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Larry

[Fergasun]

Above will never happen.  Its always spoken about, but will never happen. 

 

Shutdown will happen and maybe McConnell, Schumer and McCarthy get together.  Biden is gonna probably not be involved other than to say, "We already made a deal.  One group, broke that deal.  The House GOP is backing off that deal. I will sign what Congress gives me."

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[PokerPacker]

6 hours ago, Larry said:

Can anyone explain to me which rule (or situation) it is that gives 12 or so R's the power to prevent a budget from being voted on?  
 

I'm pretty sure the House has the power to pass a budget 423-12. 
 

You assume that the Republicans outside of the 12 are willing to create a reasonable bill that that could gain support from Democrats.

[Fergasun]

Here is the problem with every single budget passed when there is House GOP control and Democratic President. Maybe even going back to Clinton snd Gingrich.  They must fight spending. 

 

Even though for all practical purposes, especially in this case, they can't even put an opening bid out.

 

Media should be talking about how stupid this is.  

[balki1867]

14 hours ago, Larry said:

Can anyone explain to me which rule (or situation) it is that gives 12 or so R's the power to prevent a budget from being voted on?  

 

There are a bunch of unwritten rules at play here too. If McCarthy tries to cut a deal with the Democrats, then the ~12 republicans can immediately call a vote for a new speaker of the house. McCarthy would immediately be out of his job as speaker and there’s no single congressperson (from either party) that can get the 218 votes needed to become speaker.

 

Pelosi was sometimes in similar straits with the AOC squad but she always managed to find her way out for two reasons. 1) she’s a master negotiator and could find common ground; 2) the squad are generally pragmatists and looking to get small wins, as opposed to being dogmatic for the sake of demonstrating their power over the party.

[PleaseBlitz]

1 hour ago, balki1867 said:

Pelosi was sometimes in similar straits with the AOC squad but she always managed to find her way out for two reasons. 1) she’s a master negotiator and could find common ground; 2) the squad are generally pragmatists and looking to get small wins, as opposed to being dogmatic for the sake of demonstrating their power over the party.

 

3) Pelosi kept score, so you went against her at your own peril. 

[LadySkinsFan]

The fact that there are no real patriotic Republicans who will form a coalition with the Democrats to get stuff done in the House shows that they are really Fascists too.  They could do it if they really wanted too, regardless of what they may say in private. So they're also more interested in power than service to We the People.

[mcsluggo]

16 hours ago, Larry said:

Now I can believe that maybe the situation is that:  

 

1). There's say (I'm just going to make up numbers) 25 members who literally want Major Evil. 
2). There's 200 who want less evil. (But still evil.)

3). And the two of them can't find a bill that can get 218 (all Republican) votes. 
4). And Group 2 is unable to get any Dem votes. 
 

(Maybe because what they want is still evil. Or maybe they're unwilling to vote for anything that a single Democrat voted for. Or maybe because if they change their bill enough to get 10 D votes, they lose 20 R ones.)

 

But if that's the case, then the problem isn't that the wing it's are blocking the "moderates" from negotiating. In the above case, the problem is that the "moderates" are unwilling to be bipartisan at all. 
 

The problem is that they need 218 votes to pass anything. And all of them are limiting the negotiations to 221 possible voters. 
 

---

 

Note:  I suppose it's also possible that the Dems, watching the Republican **** show, are unanimously holding a position of being unwilling to vote for anything but a completely clean CR. 
 

And that the lack of a bipartisan option is the Dems being unwilling to negotiate. 

 

i will give some in the GOP caucus some significant benefit of the doubt, and say that plenty *would* be interested in actually governing, which would involve negotiating with relatively like-minded centrists on the other side of the aisle and finding some areas of agreement and other areas where they are willing to concede something to gain something else that they want....  (you know, actual negotiation....)

 

... but.... those people recognize reality:::   there is an agitated, motivated and activated extreme end  of their "base" (the republican pool of voters) AND a "press" (the right-wing media) that is both captive to those extreme elements and simultaneously has a monopoly on the GOP base's ears (the- base refuses to listen to "mainstream-media" which translates to ANYone that reports ANYthing negative about ANYone on "our side"--even the reliably completely conservative Wall Street Journal...or even Fox-****ing-news being too liberal for them....  ). 

 

Taken together this means that any GOP representative with an inclination to try to actually try to govern (negotiate in good faith) KNOWS that they will immediately be labeled a "RINO", and will be primary-ed out of the caucus in the next election.... 

 

the only positive of this dynamic is that even crucial  republicans in swing (moderate) districts are unable to function without getting primary-ed... which SHOULD swing more moderate districts towards democratic representation.  And right now, unfortunately, democratic representation is the only governable option.   This country REALLY NEEDS the return of a viable (actual) conservative option ;(    

[LadySkinsFan]

They need to stop being lemmings. It's disgusting.