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the 2023 speaker of the house voting thread of implosion


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57 minutes ago, Goofyboy said:

There are not 4 people in the GOP that have back bone to just switch parties? Just say fuck it - I’m done with these insane assholes and be with the grown ups in the room?

The issue is that anyone who switches parties will likely have a voting record that makes them vulnerable to a primary challenge - in this case from the left. 

So it would either have to be someone who plans to retire or someone with a strong enough personal brand along with guarantees from the DNC that they won't be primaried for at least one cycle.

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The NYT Daily podcast this morning covered the massive current deficit, potential ways to fix it (like Rubinomics approach that led to an actual balanced budget during the Clinton era) - and why the current Congress will never agree to something like that because both sides are dug in and refuse to compromise or give an inch.  It was depressing - just like everything about the current legislative shitshow.

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2 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Remember the impotent eight likes the idea of the government being shut down, no aid to Ukraine, and behind closed doors, no aid to Israel. They will just keep letting this go. At some point there will be pressure on Democrats and moderate republicans to do something. 

I'd say the 8 would welcome this, and even better if they lose whatever committee assignments they have - they could fundraise the hell out of a moderate Republican who pulled in some Democrats being picked as Speaker, and with no assignments they could spend their time grifting.  MAGA won't care because they are fighting The Good Fight.

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2 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

The NYT Daily podcast this morning covered the massive current deficit, potential ways to fix it (like Rubinomics approach that led to an actual balanced budget during the Clinton era) - and why the current Congress will never agree to something like that because both sides are dug in and refuse to compromise or give an inch.  It was depressing - just like everything about the current legislative shitshow.

This is a stupid post.  

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NYTimes article on the GOP's "Five Families" (gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/23/us/politics/house-republicans-divisions-speaker.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5Ew.8_Fk.kZVUUixsozGC&smid=url-share

 

Quote

‘5 Families’ and Factions Within Factions: Why the House G.O.P. Can’t Unite

The Republican free-for-all for speaker reflects a web of overlapping blocs that have made the party nearly ungovernable.

Spoiler

First, House Republicans chose an establishment guy to be their speaker. But the hard right got sick of him and dumped him after nine months. Then they turned to his No. 2, another mainstream conservative, who was promptly blocked. Then they tried an ultraconservative candidate, but mainstream members struck back, quickly killing his candidacy.

Back at square one after 20 days without a speaker, many House Republicans have found themselves asking: Are we simply too dysfunctional to govern?

With a free-for-all raging in their ranks, House Republicans were huddling behind closed doors on Monday evening to hear from no fewer than eight contenders for speaker even after a lesser-known candidate, Representative Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, dropped out as the meeting began. They were to meet again on Tuesday morning to grind through several rounds of voting by secret ballot, eliminating the lowest vote-getter as they go, a process that could take hours.

But the tangle of crosscurrents dividing them means that there is no guarantee that the victor can actually win the post on the House floor.

 
 

The speaker saga has exposed the dynamics that have made the House G.O.P. nearly impossible to govern. There are too many conflicting ideologies, too many unyielding personalities and too much bad blood for the party to unite behind any one person.

What Congress Can’t Get Done Amid the Speaker Fight

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A legislative standstill. Republican disunity in the House over who will be the next speaker has left the chamber hobbled at a time of international and domestic crises. Here is a look at the big tasks Congress faces as G.O.P. infighting continues:

An aid package for Israel. There is a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to rush additional military support to Israel for its war against Hamas. But the speakership vacuum means there is no certainty about how soon any aid could be approved and delivered.

More assistance for Ukraine. A White House request for $24 billion in additional funding for Ukraine’s war against Russia is on hold during the speaker fight. Republican opposition to continued aid for Kyiv, once confined to the far right, has been growing recently.

Avoiding a government shutdown. Congress, which is operating under a temporary extension of last year’s spending bills, has until Nov. 17 to fund the government. The stopgap measure cost Kevin McCarthy his speakership; it is not clear how his successor might avoid a similar fate.

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“There’s only one person that can do it all the way. You know who that is? Jesus Christ,” former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner and de facto party leader, said on Monday in New Hampshire. “If Jesus came down and said, ‘I want to be speaker,’ he would do it. Other than that, I haven’t seen anybody that can guarantee it.”

Republicans have made no secret of their divisions. They openly refer to their various factions as The Five Families — a reference to warring Mafia crime families. They consist of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, the conservative Republican Study Committee, the business-minded Main Street Caucus, the mainstream Republican Governance Group and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.

 

During his nine months as speaker, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California tried to smooth over the tensions by holding weekly meetings of those groups. But the job proved almost impossible.

There are factions within the factions. A hard-right group calling itself The 20 includes many members of the Freedom Caucus, but some lawmakers who are not. Some members are loyal to others from their home states; some to their committee chairs. There are wild cards who are members of no ideological caucus. There are personal vendettas that have nothing to do with ideology.

 

Mr. McCarthy’s ouster was in part because of bad blood between him and Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida. Allies of Mr. McCarthy, who has an icy relationship with Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2, helped block him from the job. When Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, was dumped last week, it was in large part at the hands of members of the Appropriations Committee with long memories of his dilatory tactics, particularly on spending bills.

Now Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 Republican widely believed to be the next front-runner to win his party’s nomination, is facing some similar hurdles. Feelings remain raw from a contentious race for his current post against Representative Jim Banks of Indiana.

“There’s a lot of historical relationships that some are not going to ever be able to work around,” said Representative Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest of the G.O.P. ideological groups on Capitol Hill, and another contender for the post.

To become speaker, a Republican must hold together 217 votes, losing no more than four, a task that seems almost impossible in the current circumstance.

Mr. Emmer has allies among both the conservative and the establishment wings of the party. He served two terms as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, helping Republican candidates across the country win elections and making inroads across the conference in the process.

 
 

But Mr. Emmer is running into headwinds from allies of Mr. Trump, who view him as insufficiently loyal to the former president and cite his vote to certify the 2020 election for Joseph R. Biden Jr.

“First thing to do is stop Emmer,” said the right-wing podcast host Stephen K. Bannon, who predicted that the D.C. establishment would be “decapitated” should Mr. Emmer lose.

Aware of Mr. Bannon’s sway over House Republicans, Mr. Emmer has tried to get in front of the criticism. Mr. Emmer and Mr. Trump spoke by phone this weekend, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Allies of Mr. Emmer began circulating the Minnesotan’s pro-Trump bona fides over the weekend, pointing out that Mr. Emmer was one of the first members to endorse Mr. Trump in 2016, endorsed him again in 2020 and has said he will endorse the G.O.P. nominee this cycle.

The outreach did not necessarily appear to mollify Mr. Trump.

I’m trying to stay out of it as much as possible,” Mr. Trump said of the speaker’s race, after noting that the Minnesotan had only in the previous 24 hours called to proclaim himself “my biggest fan.”

Among the eight candidates, all except for two — Mr. Emmer and Representative Austin Scott of Georgia — voted to object to certifying Mr. Biden’s 2020 victory in at least one state.

Michael Gold contributed reporting.

 

Luke Broadwater covers Congress. He was the lead reporter on a series of investigative articles at The Baltimore Sun that won a Pulitzer Prize and a George Polk Award in 2020. More about Luke Broadwater

 

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15 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

MTG has demands.

 

 

 

 

What a country we live in. This woman is so painfully unintelligent. That people voted for her overwhelmingly in her district means there are people even less intelligent than she is. Take the entire GQP, politicians and those that vote for them, and resettle them permanently in the coldest and most barren reaches of Mongolia. 

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9 minutes ago, UpperWestside said:

What a country we live in. This woman is so painfully unintelligent. That people voted for her overwhelmingly in her district means there are people even less intelligent than she is. Take the entire GQP, politicians and those that vote for them, and resettle them permanently in the coldest and most barren reaches of Mongolia. 

There are ample condos available in central China

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2 minutes ago, tokamak said:

So the Dems are gonna pussy out and help elect Emmer without getting a damn thing in return, just because he's not a total piece of shit? What a shocking turn of events.

Dems are probably just posturing, I expect Jeffries to get around 212 on the next vote. 

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Russia had been grooming Sessions to help with Ukraine (through Trump & Parnas) for 7 years and this is what they get for it?  A 15-minute campaign for U.S. Speaker that had the energy and staying power of a Stephen Hawking orgy?  

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24 minutes ago, tokamak said:

So the Dems are gonna pussy out and help elect Emmer without getting a damn thing in return, just because he's not a total piece of shit? What a shocking turn of events.

You mean other than an open governemnt and aid to Israel and Ukraine?

I dunno man, lets see what committee assignments and rules changes take place. 

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30 minutes ago, tokamak said:

So the Dems are gonna pussy out and help elect Emmer without getting a damn thing in return, just because he's not a total piece of shit? What a shocking turn of events.

Ummmm, I think they’d like the government to stay open. There’s also these two wars going on that could use some of our resources.

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1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

Guess the guys who said Emmer would win by 2nd or 3rd ballot clearly had their finger on the pulse of things. I don't see him gaining 127 on the third ballot. 

They are supposedly to be going with whoever gets a majority, so 110ish I think? They’re not getting anyone out of there with 217 lol. Not even Jesus Christ could get 217

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18 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Only if that person is nearing retirement. But the olds are a big part of why we're in this mess.

Who's willing to end their political career for the greater good?

I've always had that attitude towards the Dems that weasled around about the second Iraq war. Kucinich always had my respect for his vote and standing by it. That was a demo of the Dems being weak.

In this case, you have people that have been in lock-step for decades as they marched towards fascism singing hate songs. They campaign on the Dems being enemies of the US. It's hard to walk that back. 

Both cases show the lowness of character desire to remain in office can cause. I think that I'd prefer to vote against something horrendous or abandon my party if it were harming the country even if it cost me my seat. It's the right thing to do. It's a better story or one's self. I'd be able to sleep at night. I can find another job.

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Emmer is a covert dick, though... despite his voting for certification.  

What am I saying?  None of them are covert about it.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/23/politics/tom-emmer-2020-election-kfile/index.html

Emmer later defended signing the amicus brief in support of the Texas lawsuit filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton to invalidate 62 Electoral votes in swing states won by Biden – which would have effectively thrown the election to Trump. The lawsuit was rejected by the US Supreme Court.

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35 minutes ago, Js1 said:

They are supposedly to be going with whoever gets a majority, so 110ish I think? They’re not getting anyone out of there with 217 lol. Not even Jesus Christ could get 217

But can he hit a curve ball

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Whoever gets this speaker job sentence is going to be a raging piece of shit because every republican alive in 2023 is a raging piece of shit. There's a choice of raging pieces of shit or full trumpy cunt. They're all insurrectionists. They're all destroying the country. Some are just also full trumpy cunts. 

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1 hour ago, Js1 said:

A GOP speaker who:

Votes for Ukraine aid regularly

Voted in favor of Respect for Marriage Act and believes gay marriage is settled law

Voted to certify the election results

 

Pretty much the ideal GOP speaker you may get that’s only going to be for the next 14 months 

Which are reasons gaetz will MTV him tomorrow?

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28 minutes ago, Hermanator said:

Whoever gets this speaker job sentence is going to be a raging piece of shit because every republican alive in 2023 is a raging piece of shit. There's a choice of raging pieces of shit or full trumpy cunt. They're all insurrectionists. They're all destroying the country. Some are just also full trumpy cunts. 

This.  This is the whole story, there's nothing else to it.

There is no Republican in Congress who is not a giant piece of worm-riddled shit.  Saying "hey, I found the turd with the fewest worms in it!" is not a fucking triumph here.

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