The Everything 118th Congress Thread

[@DCGoldPants]

It's ridiculous. They voted against the guy who......if you believe folks from both sides, lied about a deal he made with the WH, and backed out. He went on Sunday TV and attacked them. Basically promised (Not that he could be trusted) that if he remained in power, he would try to destroy anything and everything they care about. But it's their fault for not being pragmatic? Why didn't the house GOP and their 210 members who votes to save him, do something last week to block those 8 in their party who caused this? Wait..... because it was about protecting their own jobs and if they did that, the most extreme voters they need, would support a primary opponent? 

 

 

 

[goskins10]

46 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

Pretty hot take that it's the Democrats fault for not voting for a Republican speaker.  It's almost like people expect the Dems to act like adults and the GOP act like children, and the adults always have to save the children from their own idiocy, but the children don't catch the blame. 

 

Edit:  Guess how many GOP votes for Speaker that Nancy Pelosi ever received.  Zero. She's been elected Speaker 4 times. 

 

 

Yes, I do expect the Dems to act like adults regardless of how the reps act. We are supposed to be better than that. I know McCarthy is a compelte POS with no love lost for the Dems. But the Dems should not play thier game. He should not be removed for doing his job properly, even if it's the only time he did it. 

 

Now maybe they have some grander plan and really think they can somehow wrangle a moderate into the speakership. I can even see the argument that most anyone would be better than McCarthy, although Geatz, Jordan, Marge, Trump, etc. It's just we keep preaching bi-partisanship and he finally does that and we help his radical side of the party to punish him. Jusat feels like the wrong message. 

 

i don;t really see previous voters as relevant here. It's a unique vote not a standard speakership vote. And I really dislike, it's always done this way as a reason. 

 

I see I am in the minority and that's OK. Not anything I can do about it. Just my thoughts. 

[Fergasun]

Here's a hint for all those blaming the Dems.  

 

The budget was already negotiated back in June with the debt limit.  McCarthy didn't tell his caucus, "We are honoring the deal." By reopening spending talks, he broke that deal. He told the Dems, "all we negotiated was a limit... that doesn't mean we can't go lower."  

 

Then the GOP constantly run with the "blame the Dems" game over and over.  Sure, its one of the central tenants of Republicans not to blame or make other republicans look bad.  Mick Mulvaney penning an article on the death of bipartisanship?  You don't get credit for taking the country to the brink of a shutdown and then doing the right thing when the Senate jams you in the first place.  

 

Also... the removal action was pretty bipartisan.  

 

Gaetz is being a dumbass by voting against a guy who has consistently been pretty partisan with his thin majority.  But, that shouldn't be anything really surprising and he is wrong to think that McCarthy hasn't pushed the GOP agenda as much to the right as possible.  Gaetz is attacking the other 200+ GOP members as much as McCarthy.  While I do agree, I would prefer the Dems not have allowed GOP chaos to reign, what's the upside to saving McCarthy?  Everyone knows that any deals he makes with the Dems would cause an uprising among the GOP.  "McCarthy the sell out" would be headlines.  At the same time why should they trust Kevin?   Everyone knows what the game is.

[ixcuincle]

The Republican majority is so slim that finding someone to govern effectively without being held hostage by Gaetz and his "freedom caucus" is too difficult.

 

 

[@DCGoldPants]

5 minutes ago, goskins10 said:

I do expect the Dems to act like adults regardless of how the reps act.

They did. McCarthy if he survived, would have only gone harder against anything and everything they are supporting, regardless of how commonsense or popular it was. There was no option that was better or worse right now. They were asked if they supported removing McCarthy from his role as speaker. Does anyone here think he should have remained Speaker?

[Fergasun]

So all those blaming the Dems.  Is the next House Speaker going to make a deal with Jeffries?  Why not?  

 

Let's think what the Dems would ask for:  stop the sham Biden impeachment, honor the previous spending bills and the topline budget number, provide Dems the ability to do amendments (I think anything after 1 and 2 is really icing).

 

The Dems politically want to demonstrate to the country "The GOP cannot govern while infected with MAGA hard right cancer".  It's pretty clear they can't.  GOP has to attack the Dems... otherwise they are attacking their own GOP voters.  Gaetz just opened up a circular firing squad.  Dems didn't even join the debate.  They all want Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

 

I can understand partisans carrying water for the GOP.  But not non-partisans, including the media. It's clear we aren't getting a middle ground speaker.  We are getting another far right speaker.  

[Larry]

Just pointing out. 

 

I believe that a person's blame is equal to his power. 

 

And those small number of MAGAs, who people are trying to pin the blame on?  They have power, because they were given power by the R's and the Dems.  

[Fergasun]

So if this is really a personal vendetta from Gaetz to McCarthy... it really could just turn out to be a big nothing burger than?  And we are all overreacting and giving too much attention to this as a sign of GOP disunity.

 

I guess it depends on what Gaetz and co. do next. Are they going to put another speaker through 15 rounds, make them bend their knee?  Block all progress?  

[PleaseBlitz]

3 minutes ago, Larry said:

Just pointing out. 

 

I believe that a person's blame is equal to his power. 

 

And those small number of MAGAs, who people are trying to pin the blame on?  They have power, because they were given power by the R's and the Dems.  

 

WUT?  This is an even worse take than above.  The Dems all lined up behind Jeffries, as every caucus always does (see point above about Pelosi never receiving a GOP vote across 4 Speaker elections).  The GOP has the majority, so it is THEIR responsibility to elect a Speaker from among their caucus.  And it is THEIR fault that they don't have a clear person for the caucus to line up behind, and its THEIR fault that they don't have a single person who Democrats could actually support AND who could garner enough GOP votes.  

[skinsmarydu]

PB said it before I did. 

[PleaseBlitz]

30 minutes ago, Fergasun said:

So all those blaming the Dems.  Is the next House Speaker going to make a deal with Jeffries?  Why not?  

 

Let's think what the Dems would ask for:  stop the sham Biden impeachment, honor the previous spending bills and the topline budget number, provide Dems the ability to do amendments (I think anything after 1 and 2 is really icing).

 

This is the answer to the concern about the GOP selecting a Speaker that is more hard line than McCarthy.  Okay, what is a more hardline Speaker going to do?  The House is the only branch of government the GOP controls.  They can't pass any laws.  Basically the only things they can do are (1) not fund the government (which they are already doing), (2) hold endless Hunter Biden show hearings (which they are already doing) and (3) do trumped-up impeachment hearings for Joe Biden (which they are already doing).

 

Edit:  This is like when a terrible MLB team fires the manager mid-season because they "need a new voice."  The talent still sucks, so the losing isn't going to stop, but it's a thing that teams do.  

 

30 minutes ago, Fergasun said:

The Dems politically want to demonstrate to the country "The GOP cannot govern while infected with MAGA hard right cancer".  It's pretty clear they can't.  GOP has to attack the Dems... otherwise they are attacking their own GOP voters.  Gaetz just opened up a circular firing squad.  Dems didn't even join the debate.  They all want Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

 

I can understand partisans carrying water for the GOP.  But not non-partisans, including the media. It's clear we aren't getting a middle ground speaker.  We are getting another far right speaker.  

 

Exactly.  The GOP knows that it looks like a dog trying to eat its own face, so their only response is to make noises about it being the Dems fault and hope some people are dumb enough to believe them rather than their own eyes and ears. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by PleaseBlitz

[Ball Security]

This is astounding. I saw a clip of Stephen Miller, the racist - not the space cowboy, and he was laying into the eight Republicans who voted to out McCarthy. Miller is definitely a conduit for Trump. He talked about how this stunt took focus away from the two only important things in this country. The Southern border and DOJ weaponization. 😂 Those talking points are coming from Trump.

[goskins10]

9 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

WUT?  This is an even worse take than above.  The Dems all lined up behind Jeffries, as every caucus always does (see point above about Pelosi never receiving a GOP vote across 4 Speaker elections).  The GOP has the majority, so it is THEIR responsibility to elect a Speaker from among their caucus.  And it is THEIR fault that they don't have a clear person for the caucus to line up behind, and its THEIR fault that they don't have a single person who Democrats could actually support AND who could garner enough GOP votes.  

 

For myself I am not "blaming" dems for this. I totally get and agree the hot mess in the House is owned by the reps. And no I do not think McCarthy is a "good" speaker. He is loathsome and a total POS. But why help the far right with thier dirty work?

 

I do believe the Dems had a chance to break from the status quo of only voting for someone from your caucus, especailly when the person is getting **** from thier caucus for working across the aisle. This was not a normal speaker vote. One option would have been to not vote. Tell them this is your problem. You deal with it. 

 

It's all moot. They voted how they voted. Not the end of the world by any means. May end up being almost nothing in terms of how the house is run. We will see how it turns out. 

 

 

 

 

[PleaseBlitz]

Just now, goskins10 said:

 

For myself I am not "blaming" dems for this. I totally get and agree the hot mess in the House is owned by the reps. And no I do not think McCarthy is a "good" speaker. He is loathsome and a total POS. But why help the far right with thier dirty work?

 

If McCarthy is a total POS, how is getting rid of him "dirty work" to begin with?  

 

Just now, goskins10 said:

 

I do believe the Dems had a chance to break from the status quo of only voting for someone from your caucus, especailly when the person is getting **** from thier caucus for working across the aisle. This was not a normal speaker vote. One option would have been to not vote. Tell them this is your problem. You deal with it. 

 

By doing exactly what was expected (voting against McCarthy), that WAS the Dems telling the GOP that this is their problem and they should deal with it.  In other words, it was the Dems not bailing out the GOP.  If they saved McCarthy, then the Dems would be responsible for McCarthy.  Why would they even consider doing that?  

 

Just now, goskins10 said:

 

It's all moot. They voted how they voted. Not the end of the world by any means. May end up being almost nothing in terms of how the house is run. We will see how it turns out. 

 

 

Totally agree, see above.  Probably not going to change much other than tone.  The GOP House caucus will get a little louder and even more mean and stupid, but the results won't change. 

[Renegade7]

8 minutes ago, goskins10 said:

 

I do believe the Dems had a chance to break from the status quo of only voting for someone from your caucus, especailly when the person is getting **** from thier caucus for working across the aisle. This was not a normal speaker vote. One option would have been to not vote. Tell them this is your problem. You deal with it. 

 

 

This might of been a different situation if McConnel was on board with a shutdown, but he clear wasn't in how he tried to work something out with Schumer in the event House couldn't figure it out.

 

I expect the next speaker to be further to the right then McCarthy, but when it comes defaulting on our debt or shutting down the government, if the speaker can't get what he needs from his caucus that will make it past the Senate and to Bidens desk, they'll do the same thing McCarthy did.

 

That's why to me what McCarthy did wasn't particularly special, he would've gotten more crap then he did from forces far more powerful then Gaetz if he allowed either of those two things to happen.  30% cuts aren't going to happen no matter who the speaker is, so if the House wants to keep rotating through folks that say they will but know they cant, there's not much Dems can do but hope people see this and give them back the House, imo.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I don't know what the **** is going on.  I'm not interested, nor do I really care.  From what I can tell it seems more along the lines of our elected officials acting like babies which isn't surprising.

 

I just wanted to post this cause I thought it was hilarious.

 

[PleaseBlitz]

A friend saw this on a job posting board. 
 

 

[The Evil Genius]

 

 

[Renegade7]

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

2 hours ago, goskins10 said:

Yes, I do expect the Dems to act like adults regardless of how the reps act. We are supposed to be better than that.

McCarthy voted to decertify the election. He’s not fit to be speaker. No ****ing way I’d vote to save his ass.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

3 hours ago, goskins10 said:

Not sure how orthers feel but I am pissed that the dems voted to oust McCarthy. He is a tool I get it. But the far right wanted him out for actually doing his job for once and getting a bi-partisan CR passed. No extra funding for immigration no additional Ukraine money. Just keep the doors open like you are supposed to. You just gave the far right crazies i nthe House even more power. Stupid move in my opinion. 

 

All I can think is be careful what you wish for, you just may get it. 

 

Trusting McCarthy for anything is beyond foolish. And the far-Right crazies don't have anymore power now than they had when McCarthy gave it to them in January. If anything, the Dems showed THEY have more power than the GOP was willing to acknowledge.

[Captain Wiggles]

Quote

Sources are telling me that some Republicans have been in contact with and has started an effort to draft former Trump to be the next speaker

 

Former Trump? He change his name to avoid all these trials he's involved in? 🤣

[goskins10]

15 minutes ago, Califan007 The Constipated said:

 

Trusting McCarthy for anything is beyond foolish. And the far-Right crazies don't have anymore power now than they had when McCarthy gave it to them in January. If anything, the Dems showed THEY have more power than the GOP was willing to acknowledge.

 

Never said anything about trusting McCarty. Please do not put words in my comment. Not sure I agree with the rest but doesn't matter. It's done and in the end may not make any difference. 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

2 minutes ago, goskins10 said:

 

Never said anything about trusting McCarty. Please do not put words in my comment. Not sure I agree with the rest but doesn't matter. It's done and in the end may not make any difference. 

 

Keeping him as Speaker IS trusting him.

 

Just a reminder:

 

 

[tshile]

I think I generally point out any time I think the dems have done something stupid or are at fault for something

 

I dont blame them one bit. 
 

this is the fallout of winning midterms but not by enough to have a cushion against the crazies (R’s fault) and the many ways they’ve catered to the crazies and never do anything to hold anyone accountable in their party (including the concessions made for him to get speaker in the first place)

as I said before they ousted him - this is exactly what they should do, put the dysfunction of the party on full display for everyone to see 

 

they may even get lucky and pull enough R’s into a section of a person they can at least work with, then brag how they got to pick the R’s leader 😂