Jump to content

the 2023 speaker of the house voting thread of implosion


henrygandorf

Recommended Posts

Quote

Now the circumstances are different. The impeachment case has fizzled, and Democrats saw in Johnson’s move on Ukraine—despite months of delay—an act of much greater political courage than McCarthy’s last-minute decision to avert a government shutdown. They also respect him more than they do his predecessor. “I empathize with him in a way I could not with Kevin McCarthy, who was just this classic suit calculating his next advancement as a politician,” Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a first-term Democrat from Washington State, told me recently, explaining why she planned to help Johnson.

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also lets the non crazy (I know) republican members of congress know that they have options other than resigning to resist the crazy 8 or so that have been fucking everything up 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

He’s terrible but yes.  You can’t press for someone to be a statesman and show bipartisan ship then punish them for doing it. McCarthy got the axe for being a liar and dishonest with Ds.

 

Go win the House and get the speakership. Till then, the lesson for Mike is that being an honest broker is rewarded. We might want another aid package with a future speaker. 

We'll likely need another one this year and need to push for it in August. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Js1 said:

The plan is to lose the house so they don’t have to govern 

7 hours ago, hornmpa96 said:

This is for fundraising. She will email and text all of her $10 donors about how she’s fighting the Uniparty.

It’s easier to fundraise when you’re out of power, and easier for Fox News to get MAGA angry.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Make em eat Taco Bell said:

what is the hatred for Ukraine from the Right? WTF did Ukraine do to anyone?

Zelensky didn’t go along with Trump when he tried to extort Ukraine into a phony investigation of Biden in return for Congressionally authorized aid. Trump is in the pocket of Putin and Putin’s got his fingers deep in the GOP. 

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Make em eat Taco Bell said:

what is the hatred for Ukraine from the Right? WTF did Ukraine do to anyone?

first off-they are still pissed Zelensky didn't turn over the intel Trump demanded from him during his first of many perfect phone calls.  Then they still associate just the word "Ukraine" with his first impeachment trial, which is when his true colors starting being revealed.  They think Hunter Biden and Ukraine are in cahoots to embarrass the Trump family.  They have no real issue with Ukraine as a people and would likely be mortified to watch/read actual reporting from the frontlines of human right's abuses and war crimes committed by the Russian military, but Trump says Zelensky bad and Putin "strong genius." So they have to toe that line. 

Now, could there be more transparently robust tracking of our aide to Ukraine?  Of course.  But they wouldn't know what that would look like if an ATACMS shot the report up their ass.  Trump holds a grudge against Zelensky and is too deep on the record of idolizing Putin.  And he's not one to do an about face, so they're effectively just following orders from their Orange Messiah.  That's all it is.  They have no concept of the geopolitical grudge of the lines in that theater.  No sense of geopolitical history there.  Zelensky makes Trump uncomfortable, brings back bad memories, and to turn their opinions on Putin in reverse would just as bad as admitting they've been conned by Trump himself.  Stupid people don't like to admit they are wrong and onboard new information.  That's why they're stupid.  Nobody is really born stupid, with a few rare cognitive birth defects.  You have to be raised and groomed to shut out new information, despise critical thinking, and parrot bullshit ideologies.  It's how bad men raise armies.     

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Make em eat Taco Bell said:

what is the hatred for Ukraine from the Right? WTF did Ukraine do to anyone?

Because the GOP was a communist plot all along, apparently, given how many of their leaders and members of Congress openly embrace Putin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

Ukraine is woke

 

18 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

But also Nazis

I mean, that is LITERALLY the attack path that the Putin regime has taken - we must attack Ukraine because they are Nazis, but also, they are namby pamby libtards who allow queerness, so we have to attack them to protect Christendom.

And because that's Putin's take, that is 100% three-toed Marge's take.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)

Woke Nazis!

also, per Jon Stewart's idea, everything is simply anti-woke. So Ukraine, while fighting for their freedom from aggressors, with said aggressors being commies, and Ukraine being nazis, and per @'stachecomment on D in office, has then be woke to override all other factors you see. Woke is the trump card....or something like that

Stewart is 100% right. Woke simply the uniter of the right. Thats its role. Thats why if you pull up the right coverage of the protests in the US they show the fat, lesbian commie spewing stereotype to make sure they have something to unite behind. 

friends, its Friday over here. I have plans to enjoy my Friday. Woke and nuke free. I think not wanting to be nuked hasn't been labeled woke just yet. But hey, 2024 has a long way to go

582ec3f709c543b062a063a2c12c3bc7923020ca

Edited by staboner
  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Drool 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, StassneyHorn said:

We were one Wagner Group leader away from none of this being an issue but then he foolishly thought he could be the one to talk sense and protect himself.

The epitome of fucking around and finding out.

season 11 falling GIF

  • Drool 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone else thinking that ol' Three Toes has figured out she gets a lot of attention by threatening to make the motion to vacate; and she knows that it is not likely to pass. So why not just keep making threats, but then back away for some made up reason, only to rinse wash repeat the next week. 
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Wally Fairway said:

Anyone else thinking that ol' Three Toes has figured out she gets a lot of attention by threatening to make the motion to vacate; and she knows that it is not likely to pass. So why not just keep making threats, but then back away for some made up reason, only to rinse wash repeat the next week. 
 

image.thumb.jpeg.101d7769be203db67fb61561f1ffbc92.jpeg

  • Haha 1
  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)

I have no idea how the simulation works, but I’d love if someone got into Don’s ear that she’s hurting his cause and then have him go off about how gross and ugly she is and call her a hoor. That would almost make this all worthwhile.

Edited by 'stache
  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/1/2024 at 5:39 PM, Sawbonz said:

Also lets the non crazy (I know) republican members of congress know that they have options other than resigning to resist the crazy 8 or so that have been fucking everything up 

But I want as many of them as possible to resign.  Get all but the crazy 8 to resign and it would be greatness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/2/2024 at 9:21 PM, staboner said:

Woke Nazis!

also, per Jon Stewart's idea, everything is simply anti-woke. So Ukraine, while fighting for their freedom from aggressors, with said aggressors being commies, and Ukraine being nazis, and per @'stachecomment on D in office, has then be woke to override all other factors you see. Woke is the trump card....or something like that

Stewart is 100% right. Woke simply the uniter of the right. Thats its role. Thats why if you pull up the right coverage of the protests in the US they show the fat, lesbian commie spewing stereotype to make sure they have something to unite behind. 

friends, its Friday over here. I have plans to enjoy my Friday. Woke and nuke free. I think not wanting to be nuked hasn't been labeled woke just yet. But hey, 2024 has a long way to go

582ec3f709c543b062a063a2c12c3bc7923020ca

Is the ' key on your keyboard broken?

  • Drool 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike isn't raising enough cash.    Of course, it's hard to raise cash when your party's Lord God King is demanding more and more of it from the same constituents.  

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-pays-the-price-for-booting-kevin-mccarthy?ref=home?ref=home

 

Quote

Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failed at many things: building unity in his conference, making deals across the aisle, and, obviously, fending off the revolt that made him a former speaker.

In one crucial area, however, McCarthy was a legendary success: raising money.

The longtime GOP politician spent more than a decade and a half building a political machine that hauled in millions from big donors. His critics used this fact as ammunition against him, portraying him as a swampy corporate hack who would sell his principles to anyone paying top dollar. But his money engine unquestionably helped power Republicans to the House majority in 2022.

 

Quote

When Republicans booted McCarthy last year and elevated Mike Johnson to the speakership, some lawmakers believed they were getting a leader with more scruples. While the conference seems divided on that question, what’s painfully clear already is that the GOP got a leader with far less skill in scaring up valuable campaign dough.

According to federal campaign finance records, Johnson still has yet to match his predecessor’s fundraising success, specifically when it comes to boosting the most vulnerable incumbent Republicans.

 

Quote

McCarthy outraised Johnson on behalf of at-risk Republicans several times over, according to a Daily Beast analysis of the two men’s various campaign, joint fundraising, and leadership committees.

That discrepancy is most starkly reflected in the fundraising for members of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Patriot Program—incumbents the GOP has deemed most vulnerable, especially ones running in districts President Joe Biden won in 2020.

Where McCarthy distributed upwards of $400,000 to some of those members last year, Johnson has given many of them just a fraction of that.

 

Spoiler

Take Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), a freshman in a battleground district. Campaign finance data indicates he brought in roughly $459,000 from the various committees associated with McCarthy this cycle. Over the first three quarters of last year—the bulk of McCarthy’s time as speaker—the California Republican directed an average $145,000 per quarter to Ciscomani.

Compare that to the most recent two quarters under Johnson, whose average quarterly transfer to the Arizona Republican works out to just under $14,000. 

Meanwhile, Federal Election Commission data indicates Johnson has distributed just over $28,000 to Ciscomani this cycle—about $16,000 through his joint fundraising committee, Grow the Majority; $10,000 through his leadership committee, American Revival PAC; and $2,000 through his campaign account.

It’s a similar story when it comes to Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), another freshman in a battleground district. McCarthy steered an average of $193,000 over the first three quarters of last year. Johnson’s quarterly fundraising average for Molinaro is about $28,000.

The clear downgrade in fundraising capacity from McCarthy to Johnson could have potentially catastrophic effects for the House GOP as it seeks to defend its razor-thin majority this year.

The Trump-dominated Republican Party is already contending with a financial and leadership crisis that has signaled potential fallout for vulnerable congressional candidates. Where those candidates could previously depend on significant support from McCarthy, the late-game switch to Johnson knocked yet another fundraising leg out from underneath them.

Of course, Johnson—who was first elected in 2016 and had only a peripheral leadership role until last year—hasn’t had years to nourish the profitable relationships his predecessor built and could improve drastically in the future. But with just six months to go before the election, House Republicans may struggle to hold their majority unless he catches up quickly.

As Republicans told The Daily Beast, the dollars provided by their speaker are incredibly valuable in an election year like 2024.

“When there is not a Republican president in office, the No. 1 political fundraising draw is the Speaker of the House,” GOP strategist Ken Spain told the Daily Beast.

“McCarthy was a money machine,” GOP donor Eric Levine told the Daily Beast. “He just had a great talent for it.”

Levine observed that the acrimonious circumstances of Johnson’s ascension may have made it even harder for him to build financial bridges.

“I think the other thing is people were really, really angry—I know I was—when the speaker was vacated and he was removed,” Levine said. “So donors were going to take it out naturally on whoever was next.”

Johnson’s team defended the speaker’s performance—and acknowledged the challenge at hand—in a statement to The Daily Beast.

“Since October, Speaker Johnson has built a team from the ground up, traveled to 25 states, and contributed millions directly to Republican campaign accounts across the country,” wrote Johnson’s campaign spokesman. “His most recent quarter with over $20 million raised demonstrates the Speaker’s success and commitment to growing the majority."

Like other setbacks for the financially troubled GOP, former President Donald Trump has something to do with the House cash crunch.

When McCarthy faced a revolt last October, Trump declined to intervene to save him, despite the obvious political consequences of losing the party’s best fundraiser. While it’s unclear how much the former president could have done to prevent his ouster, Trump has been far more proactive when it comes to Johnson, appearing alongside the speaker and praising his efforts even amid GOP backlash.

The parameters of replacing McCarthy were also tight; the party needed someone Trump-approved who had credibility among both conservatives and moderates. After three weeks of maneuvering and failed votes, the job finally fell to Johnson, a politician with little national experience or name recognition.

The fact that Republicans were forced to install a relatively low-level member of GOP leadership—and who, unlike McCarthy, had not built out a wide donor network as he moved up the ranks—could come back to bite them. 

In addition to being a campaign cash rainmaker in general, McCarthy’s impact was most pronounced in a state that could decide the House majority: his home state of California, which will see numerous competitive races this year.

The Golden State is something of a golden egg for campaign cash, and McCarthy had long used his connections to help raise money for other members of the delegation. Since he was removed as speaker, nearly all the vulnerable California Republicans in the House have seen a decline in their average quarterly contributions.

Spain, who was an NRCC staffer when McCarthy arrived in Congress, recalled how the congressman leveraged his relationships in California from the very beginning.

“He was raising money for House Republicans on the first day,” Spain said. “He was the minority leader in the California Legislature right before he arrived. So he was an experienced fundraiser even before arriving in Congress.”

Previously this cycle, McCarthy directed boatloads of cash to vulnerable California members, like Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), who represents a plurality Asian American district in Orange County. In the first three quarters of last year, Steel received an average of $147,000 from McCarthy each quarter; Johnson’s quarterly average as speaker is only $17,000.

But Ciscomani, Molinaro, and Steel are lucky Johnson is helping them as much as he is. Though the speaker has dutifully doled out cash to the NRCC’s Patriots, he has given only a token amount to other Republicans on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s target list—as little as $1,000 each. McCarthy, meanwhile, had given these candidates much more; sometimes, over 100 times more.

There is at least one member who Johnson has boosted financially more than McCarthy. That’s Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), who brought in $65,000 from Johnson and only $12,000 from McCarthy this cycle. That works out to a quarterly average of about $32,000 from Johnson while he served as speaker and about $4,000 from McCarthy while he did.

Johnson appears to be working to make up some of his fundraising shortfalls, however. According to reporting from the Washington Post, Johnson recently took a victory lap in a call with billionaires who fund the GOP, touting the foreign aid bill passed last month and promising he’ll hold on to his gavel. He’s also touring the country to get face time with the megadonors who are just getting to know him.

“People like to donate money to winners,” Levine told the Daily Beast. “Now that he’s demonstrated leadership, I think you’“”ll see a shift. I don’t think he’ll ever get to the level—maybe he will—but I don’t think he'll ever get to the level of McCarthy. But there’s no shame in that. McCarthy was just in a class of his own in terms of raising money. But I think you’ll start seeing a significant uptick.”

Making the task even more difficult is that Johnson is looking to ramp up fundraising while the threat of losing his job hangs over him. But unlike McCarthy, Johnson is expected to be able to count on support from Democrats to keep his job. Johnson also has credibility with his party’s conservative wing, and support from Trump, who has recently stood by his side. Donors are starting to view him more optimistically, too.

“I think if he continues to govern and get things accomplished, I think that’ll give a lot of people a lot of comfort,” Levine added. “I think if he comes out in support of mainstream Republicans and if he speaks out against the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, Matt Gaetzes, and Bob Goods of the world, I think he would do himself a lot of good. In the group that I move in … there is unanimity that we hate these people, that we wish they would go away, and he would do himself a service, at least in my group, if he continues to stand up to them.”

Along with distrust across the aisle, McCarthy’s fundraising prowess was part of what ultimately did the former speaker in, with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) leading the charge against him.

“He’s the product of a corrupt system that rewards people who collect large sums of special interest money and then redistribute that money in exchange for political loyalty and political favors,” Gaetz told reporters at the time.

Vulnerable Republicans did start the year with tons of campaign cash, thanks in part to coffers filled during the former speaker’s tenure. For the majority of them, their cash on hand at the end of the first quarter exceeded that of their challengers. And Republicans are quick to note that Democrats have historically outraised them, but that they’ve often managed to pick up seats anyway.

“Our swing-district incumbents continue to stack the cash they’ll need to beat their extreme Democrat challengers,” NRCC National Press Secretary Will Reinert wrote in a statement to the Daily Beast.

But going forward, the concerns about fundraising that began bubbling up when McCarthy was deposed are looking more like premonitions.

“Nobody can raise money like him,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) said of McCarthy days after he was ousted. “And no matter who is the next Speaker of the House, none of them can do what Kevin McCarthy did.”

 

  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike isn't raising enough cash.    Of course, it's hard to raise cash when your party's Lord God King is demanding more and more of it from the same constituents.  
 
https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-pays-the-price-for-booting-kevin-mccarthy?ref=home?ref=home
 
Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failed at many things: building unity in his conference, making deals across the aisle, and, obviously, fending off the revolt that made him a former speaker.
In one crucial area, however, McCarthy was a legendary success: raising money.
The longtime GOP politician spent more than a decade and a half building a political machine that hauled in millions from big donors. His critics used this fact as ammunition against him, portraying him as a swampy corporate hack who would sell his principles to anyone paying top dollar. But his money engine unquestionably helped power Republicans to the House majority in 2022.
 
When Republicans booted McCarthy last year and elevated Mike Johnson to the speakership, some lawmakers believed they were getting a leader with more scruples. While the conference seems divided on that question, what’s painfully clear already is that the GOP got a leader with far less skill in scaring up valuable campaign dough.
According to federal campaign finance records, Johnson still has yet to match his predecessor’s fundraising success, specifically when it comes to boosting the most vulnerable incumbent Republicans.
 
McCarthy outraised Johnson on behalf of at-risk Republicans several times over, according to a Daily Beast analysis of the two men’s various campaign, joint fundraising, and leadership committees.
That discrepancy is most starkly reflected in the fundraising for members of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Patriot Program—incumbents the GOP has deemed most vulnerable, especially ones running in districts President Joe Biden won in 2020.
Where McCarthy distributed upwards of $400,000 to some of those members last year, Johnson has given many of them just a fraction of that.
 
Spoiler

Take Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), a freshman in a battleground district. Campaign finance data indicates he brought in roughly $459,000 from the various committees associated with McCarthy this cycle. Over the first three quarters of last year—the bulk of McCarthy’s time as speaker—the California Republican directed an average $145,000 per quarter to Ciscomani.
Compare that to the most recent two quarters under Johnson, whose average quarterly transfer to the Arizona Republican works out to just under $14,000. 
Meanwhile, Federal Election Commission data indicates Johnson has distributed just over $28,000 to Ciscomani this cycle—about $16,000 through his joint fundraising committee, Grow the Majority; $10,000 through his leadership committee, American Revival PAC; and $2,000 through his campaign account.
It’s a similar story when it comes to Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), another freshman in a battleground district. McCarthy steered an average of $193,000 over the first three quarters of last year. Johnson’s quarterly fundraising average for Molinaro is about $28,000.
The clear downgrade in fundraising capacity from McCarthy to Johnson could have potentially catastrophic effects for the House GOP as it seeks to defend its razor-thin majority this year.
The Trump-dominated Republican Party is already contending with a financial and leadership crisis that has signaled potential fallout for vulnerable congressional candidates. Where those candidates could previously depend on significant support from McCarthy, the late-game switch to Johnson knocked yet another fundraising leg out from underneath them.
Of course, Johnson—who was first elected in 2016 and had only a peripheral leadership role until last year—hasn’t had years to nourish the profitable relationships his predecessor built and could improve drastically in the future. But with just six months to go before the election, House Republicans may struggle to hold their majority unless he catches up quickly.
As Republicans told The Daily Beast, the dollars provided by their speaker are incredibly valuable in an election year like 2024.
“When there is not a Republican president in office, the No. 1 political fundraising draw is the Speaker of the House,” GOP strategist Ken Spain told the Daily Beast.
“McCarthy was a money machine,” GOP donor Eric Levine told the Daily Beast. “He just had a great talent for it.”
Levine observed that the acrimonious circumstances of Johnson’s ascension may have made it even harder for him to build financial bridges.
“I think the other thing is people were really, really angry—I know I was—when the speaker was vacated and he was removed,” Levine said. “So donors were going to take it out naturally on whoever was next.”
Johnson’s team defended the speaker’s performance—and acknowledged the challenge at hand—in a statement to The Daily Beast.
“Since October, Speaker Johnson has built a team from the ground up, traveled to 25 states, and contributed millions directly to Republican campaign accounts across the country,” wrote Johnson’s campaign spokesman. “His most recent quarter with over $20 million raised demonstrates the Speaker’s success and commitment to growing the majority."
Like other setbacks for the financially troubled GOP, former President Donald Trump has something to do with the House cash crunch.
When McCarthy faced a revolt last October, Trump declined to intervene to save him, despite the obvious political consequences of losing the party’s best fundraiser. While it’s unclear how much the former president could have done to prevent his ouster, Trump has been far more proactive when it comes to Johnson, appearing alongside the speaker and praising his efforts even amid GOP backlash.
The parameters of replacing McCarthy were also tight; the party needed someone Trump-approved who had credibility among both conservatives and moderates. After three weeks of maneuvering and failed votes, the job finally fell to Johnson, a politician with little national experience or name recognition.
The fact that Republicans were forced to install a relatively low-level member of GOP leadership—and who, unlike McCarthy, had not built out a wide donor network as he moved up the ranks—could come back to bite them. 
In addition to being a campaign cash rainmaker in general, McCarthy’s impact was most pronounced in a state that could decide the House majority: his home state of California, which will see numerous competitive races this year.
The Golden State is something of a golden egg for campaign cash, and McCarthy had long used his connections to help raise money for other members of the delegation. Since he was removed as speaker, nearly all the vulnerable California Republicans in the House have seen a decline in their average quarterly contributions.
Spain, who was an NRCC staffer when McCarthy arrived in Congress, recalled how the congressman leveraged his relationships in California from the very beginning.
“He was raising money for House Republicans on the first day,” Spain said. “He was the minority leader in the California Legislature right before he arrived. So he was an experienced fundraiser even before arriving in Congress.”
Previously this cycle, McCarthy directed boatloads of cash to vulnerable California members, like Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), who represents a plurality Asian American district in Orange County. In the first three quarters of last year, Steel received an average of $147,000 from McCarthy each quarter; Johnson’s quarterly average as speaker is only $17,000.
But Ciscomani, Molinaro, and Steel are lucky Johnson is helping them as much as he is. Though the speaker has dutifully doled out cash to the NRCC’s Patriots, he has given only a token amount to other Republicans on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s target list—as little as $1,000 each. McCarthy, meanwhile, had given these candidates much more; sometimes, over 100 times more.
There is at least one member who Johnson has boosted financially more than McCarthy. That’s Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), who brought in $65,000 from Johnson and only $12,000 from McCarthy this cycle. That works out to a quarterly average of about $32,000 from Johnson while he served as speaker and about $4,000 from McCarthy while he did.
Johnson appears to be working to make up some of his fundraising shortfalls, however. According to reporting from the Washington Post, Johnson recently took a victory lap in a call with billionaires who fund the GOP, touting the foreign aid bill passed last month and promising he’ll hold on to his gavel. He’s also touring the country to get face time with the megadonors who are just getting to know him.
“People like to donate money to winners,” Levine told the Daily Beast. “Now that he’s demonstrated leadership, I think you’“”ll see a shift. I don’t think he’ll ever get to the level—maybe he will—but I don’t think he'll ever get to the level of McCarthy. But there’s no shame in that. McCarthy was just in a class of his own in terms of raising money. But I think you’ll start seeing a significant uptick.”
Making the task even more difficult is that Johnson is looking to ramp up fundraising while the threat of losing his job hangs over him. But unlike McCarthy, Johnson is expected to be able to count on support from Democrats to keep his job. Johnson also has credibility with his party’s conservative wing, and support from Trump, who has recently stood by his side. Donors are starting to view him more optimistically, too.
“I think if he continues to govern and get things accomplished, I think that’ll give a lot of people a lot of comfort,” Levine added. “I think if he comes out in support of mainstream Republicans and if he speaks out against the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, Matt Gaetzes, and Bob Goods of the world, I think he would do himself a lot of good. In the group that I move in … there is unanimity that we hate these people, that we wish they would go away, and he would do himself a service, at least in my group, if he continues to stand up to them.”
Along with distrust across the aisle, McCarthy’s fundraising prowess was part of what ultimately did the former speaker in, with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) leading the charge against him.
“He’s the product of a corrupt system that rewards people who collect large sums of special interest money and then redistribute that money in exchange for political loyalty and political favors,” Gaetz told reporters at the time.
Vulnerable Republicans did start the year with tons of campaign cash, thanks in part to coffers filled during the former speaker’s tenure. For the majority of them, their cash on hand at the end of the first quarter exceeded that of their challengers. And Republicans are quick to note that Democrats have historically outraised them, but that they’ve often managed to pick up seats anyway.
“Our swing-district incumbents continue to stack the cash they’ll need to beat their extreme Democrat challengers,” NRCC National Press Secretary Will Reinert wrote in a statement to the Daily Beast.
But going forward, the concerns about fundraising that began bubbling up when McCarthy was deposed are looking more like premonitions.
“Nobody can raise money like him,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) said of McCarthy days after he was ousted. “And no matter who is the next Speaker of the House, none of them can do what Kevin McCarthy did.”

 

That’s a shame.

  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am grateful that Johnson got the military aid package passed.  Or at least for the fuck out the way of it passing.  He's a backwards dipshit, but give him credit for not stepping on his own dick a dozen weeks in a row.  

having said that, it will be unpacked for decades how McCarthy lost the gavel.  It is lost on even most Republicans what a fundraising machine that man was/still could be.  He took out-of-state donorship and Citizens United to levels even the SCOTUS could not have fathomed.  And then his own party's MAGA wing turned it against him.  He was on the brink of revolutionizing how the Legislative Branch/Article I operated in this country for a full century.  Not saying that would be good, bad, or indifferent, but it was about to be the case.  He is far more cunning than Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, and Jeffries combined.  But a small fraction of a fraction of batshit lunatics put that all to an end and put Kevin out to pasture.  He'll be just fine, but he'll be reserved to a footnote of history because of the likes of Trump and MTG.  He could otherwise ended up being in the Speaker legends the likes of Tip, Rayburn, and Cannon.  In the end, he's a guy who took his ball from Boebert and went home to fucking Bakersfield..  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

I am grateful that Johnson got the military aid package passed.  Or at least for the fuck out the way of it passing.  He's a backwards dipshit, but give him credit for not stepping on his own dick a dozen weeks in a row.  

having said that, it will be unpacked for decades how McCarthy lost the gavel.  It is lost on even most Republicans what a fundraising machine that man was/still could be.  He took out-of-state donorship and Citizens United to levels even the SCOTUS could not have fathomed.  And then his own party's MAGA wing turned it against him.  He was on the brink of revolutionizing how the Legislative Branch/Article I operated in this country for a full century.  Not saying that would be good, bad, or indifferent, but it was about to be the case.  He is far more cunning than Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, and Jeffries combined.  But a small fraction of a fraction of batshit lunatics put that all to an end and put Kevin out to pasture.  He'll be just fine, but he'll be reserved to a footnote of history because of the likes of Trump and MTG.  He could otherwise ended up being in the Speaker legends the likes of Tip, Rayburn, and Cannon.  In the end, he's a guy who took his ball from Boebert and went home to fucking Bakersfield..  

Yeah, it was only 11. What a fucking hero. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://apnews.com/article/marjorie-taylor-greene-speaker-johnson-trump-7bbe71b7fc2aef26de3036a354af0d13
 

Quote

Embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson and far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene met for a second day at the Capitol on Tuesday, political adversaries trying to engineer an off-ramp from the escalating standoff over her threat for a vote to oust him from office. The stakes are high for both.

Republican Johnson is hoping to avoid a politically fraught outcome in which he would keep his job, but only after relying on Democrats who have pledged their support to save him, at least this time.  Greene, a top ally of Donald Trump, faces her own potentially embarrassing setback if her motion to vacate the speaker fizzles, as is expected.

Quote

“Right now the ball is in Mike Johnson’s court,” said Greene, R-Ga. “I am so done with words. For me, it’s all about actions.”

In a brazen move, Greene has forced her way to the negotiating table and outlined four demands — including no more funding for Ukraine as it fights Russiaand an end to the Justice Department special counsel’s legal cases against the indicted former president, Trump.

Quote

Johnson downplayed the idea that there was any deal to be made, saying the meetings are simply part of his open-door policy to hear out the ideas of fellow Republican lawmakers, as is his practice as the new leader.

“It’s not a negotiation,” Johnson said.  But it’s clear whether or not Greene proceeds with her plan to call the vote this week — or lets the moment slip away — the threat of removal will trail the speaker’s tenure and force him to consider concessions to the far-right forces to keep members satisfied.

Quote

Greene said she had “high expectations” the speaker would deliver. “This is what people all over the country are screaming for,” Greene said Tuesday on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. “They want to see this vote.” 

Another hardline congressman, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, has joined in the meetings and warned Johnson not to draw out a decision. “If his plan is to drag this out so the pressure comes off of this, and to drag it out for weeks or days even, without making some movement in our direction, then he would just be far better off to have this vote and get it behind him,” Massie said.

Quote

Greene is also demanding that Johnson abide by the Hastert rule, named for another former Republican speaker, that requires leaders to proceed with voting on bills only when they have support from the majority of their members.

Quote

Greene also wants to insist on federal spending reductions championed by Massie which would require a 1% across-the-board cut if Congress fails to pass the regular appropriation bills by the Sept. 30 deadline for the end of the fiscal year. A similar deal was struck last year, lending support to the idea.

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/07/mike-johnson-marjorie-taylor-greene-democrats

Democrats wanting him not to cave to her, meanwhile she’s whining to the media.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does somebody wanna tell her about her lack of authority to remove Jack Smith from a case?  I guess, yeah---she could start a whole floor debate/vote on pulling funding for Jack Smith and his staff, but he'd to through with it pro bono anyway.  The guy has been threatened by warlords, cartels, and despots for the better part of a decade.  This fucking four-toed failure whining to shut down a few hundred grand in funding and ink toner isn't gonna thwart his work.  You fucking child....

  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on Johnson's rhetoric over the last day or 2, I hope Dems don't play nice and keep him just because it's the nice thing to do. That shit fucking pisses me off. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Pancho said:

Based on Johnson's rhetoric over the last day or 2, I hope Dems don't play nice and keep him just because it's the nice thing to do. That shit fucking pisses me off. 

They will.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



×
×
  • Create New...