McCarthy Quits Speaker’s Race, Leaving G.O.P. in Disarray

[DMX7]

http://www.nytimes.com/?action=click&contentCollection=Politics&region=TopBar&module=HomePage-Title&pgtype=article

Sean Hannity basically took him down by accident. Though he probably would have done it himself eventually.

[boutons_deux]

:lol

Klowns totally driving the Rupug Klown Kar which contains ALL of the Repugs

:lol

Holy fucking shit, y'all Repugs are laughing stock of the planet! :lol

House Assumes The Position to Be Raped by a Tea Bagger

[boutons_deux]

Boehner To Vote For McCarthy For Speaker Nom And In Later House Vote

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/boehner-mccarthy-speaker-vote?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

:lol

[Splits]

oK3WWu7Xztk

[boutons_deux]

the kind of MISgovernance you get when Repugs run the show, total disaster, no progress, all problems remained unsolved, even unaddressed.

Benghazi!

email!

baby brains!

whitewater!

crotch salute!

no Highway act

no defense budget

50+ votes to repeal obamacare!

non-stop threats to shutdown govt AND default on govt bond debt obligations.

etc, etc, etc

[boutons_deux]

Boner's lacrimosity is contagious

Some House Republicans Crying At News That McCarthy Dropped Out
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/members-crying-kevin-mccarthy-announcement

[Cry Havoc]

The GOP is a total farce right now. Hope the party completely splits at this point. Wouldn't hurt the Dems to break up, too. 4 parties would be a monumental victory for the American public.

[z0sa]

Disarray is the GOP. But bernies doing work out left too.

[hater]

It's a circus show tbh. :lol tea baggers

[ChumpDumper]

Apparently they are discussing bringing Newt back since he did so well the first time.

[baseline bum]

The GOP is a total farce right now. Hope the party completely splits at this point. Wouldn't hurt the Dems to break up, too. 4 parties would be a monumental victory for the American public.

It can't happen in this country, we're explicitly setup for two and only two political parties by how the president is elected.

[HI-FI]

The GOP is a total farce right now. Hope the party completely splits at this point. Wouldn't hurt the Dems to break up, too. 4 parties would be a monumental victory for the American public.
cosigned.

[Saved By Zero]

The GOP is a total farce right now. Hope the party completely splits at this point. Wouldn't hurt the Dems to break up, too. 4 parties would be a monumental victory for the American public.

http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly7s0wv84v1rn95k2o1_250.gif

[boutons_deux]

McCarthy could get the votes of the Billionaires' Boy Toys

[boutons_deux]

craigslist :

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQ0sAwYWoAETIgY.png:large


https://twitter.com/RepMarkTakano/status/652225913317421056/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

[boutons_deux]

Issa: I'm considering running for House speaker

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/09/rep-issa-im-considering-running-for-house-speaker.html

just another super dumb extremist politician with $450M in his pocket, fresh off his huge success as chairmanship of Benhagzi!

Thanks, California, for McCarthy and Issa

[boutons_deux]

This Document Reveals Why The House Of Representatives Is In Complete Chaos


Why the Freedom Caucus has so much power

The House Freedom Caucus, a relatively new group of about 40 Republicans loosely associated with the Tea Party, has an extraordinary amount of power in this process. Any potential speaker needs the support of 218 Republicans on the floor of the House. There are currently 247 Republicans in the House. That’s a large majority but without the Freedom Caucus, no candidate can get to 218.

What the Freedom Caucus actually wants

Yesterday, Politico published the House Freedom Caucus “questionnaire (http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000150-49be-d501-ab5d-6dbf7cd70000)” which it described as pushing for “House rule changes (http://www.politico.com/blogs/the-gavel/2015/10/house-freedom-caucus-rules-change-214591).” The document does do that. But it also does a lot more. It seeks substantive commitments from the next speaker that would effectively send the entire country into a tailspin.

For example, the document seeks a commitment from the next speaker to tie any increase in the debt ceiling to cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
http://cdn.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/09091627/socialsecurity-638x118.jpg

The United States will reach the debt limit on November 5 (http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/08/446707186/treasury-secretary-keeps-up-pressure-to-raise-debt-limit). If the limit is not raised prior to that point, the United States could default on its obligations. This could have disasterous effects on the economy of the United States and the entire world. In 2013, a Treasury Department report found “default could result in recession comparable to or worse than 2008 financial crisis (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/03/2726241/treasury-report-debt-ceiling/).”

Cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is extremely unpopular, even among Republicans (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/08/29/3696850/what-the-republican-elite-doesnt-understand-about-donald-trump/). These programs are sacrosanct to most Democratic members of Congress. There is effectively no chance that President Obama or Senate Democrats — both of whom would need to support such legislation — would agree to “structural entitlement reforms” in the next month under these kind of conditions.

The House Freedom Caucus essentially wants to make it impossible for the next speaker to raise the debt ceiling. But that is just the beginning.

The House Freedom Caucus also wants the next speaker to commit to numerous conditions on any agreement to avoid a government shutdown:
http://cdn.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/09092141/budget-638x141.jpg
The government will run out of money on December 11. Unless additional funding is approved before that date, the government will shut down (http://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-passes-government-funding-bill-prior-to-midnight-deadline-1443623598).

The House Freedom Caucus wants the next speaker tocommit to not funding the government at all unless President Obama (and Senate Democrats) agree to defund Obamacare, Planned Parenthood and a host of other priorities.

This is essentially the Ted Cruz strategy which prompted at 16-day shutdown in 2013 (http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/09/politics/ted-cruz-government-shutdown-planned-parenthood/). This would now be enshrined as the official policy of the Speaker Of The House.

The House Freedom Caucus wants the next speaker to commit to oppose any “omnibus” bill that would keep the government running.

Rather, funding for each aspect of government could only be approved by separate bills. This would allow the Republicans to attempt to finance certain favored aspects of government (the military), while shuttering ones they view as largely unnecessary (education, health).

Why McCarthy thinks the House might be ungovernable

For McCarthy, the document helps explain why he dropped out of the race. If he doesn’t agree to the demands of the House Freedom Caucus, he cannot secure enough votes to become speaker. But if he does agree to their demands, he will unable to pass legislation that is necessary to avoid disastrous consequences for the country.

McCarthy said that, even if he managed to get elected speaker, he doesn’t see how he would be able to have enough votes to extend the debt ceiling and keep the government open (http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/kevin-mccarthy-behind-decision-bail-house-speaker-214573).

Asked by the National Review if he thought the House was governable, McCarthy said, “I don’t know. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/425264/kevin-mccarthy-speakers-race-interview).”

Why no one wants to be speaker

Top Republicans are calling Paul Ryan and begging him to be speaker. But thus far, he hasn’t agreed to run. None of the candidates currently running appear to have substantial support.

The agenda of the House Freedom Caucus makes a difficult job effectively impossible. Agreeing to their demands means presiding over a period of unprecedented dysfunction in the United States.

Even if a candidate was able to become speaker without formally agreeing to the Freedom Caucus’ most extreme requirements, one would still have to deal with the group — and a larger group of House Republicans sympathetic to them — in order to get anything done.

This is why Boehner wanted out and why no one really wants to take his place.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/10/09/3711011/this-document-reveals-why-the-house-of-representatives-is-in-complete-chaos/

So the Billionaires' Boy Toys are fucking up govt, ok.

[ChumpDumper]

Yeah, this job is a career-ender. Ryan was fine with the responsibilities of being VP but now suddenly wants to have time for his family instead of being Speaker. Gingrich might actually work in a pathetic way. Otherwise they could hand it to the Tea Partiers and let them twist in the wind.

[boutons_deux]

Just one of the MANY NASTY unChristian CATHOLICS on the extreme right

Reminder: Paul Ryan is a wild-eyed, right-wing nut. He’s acceptable to the insane caucus because he is one of them

The various budgets and spending plans he has offered over the years are aimed, with a single-mindedness that should chill to the bone, at depriving low income people of food and health care so that rich people can own bigger yachts (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/us/politics/paul-ryan-budget.html). He has proposed eliminating not just Obamacare, but Medicare, the bulk of Medicaid and CHIP (http://www.cbpp.org/research/the-ryan-budgets-radical-priorities), and giving people “vouchers” instead of money to pay for their health care. Why vouchers? I don’t know. Maybe it just feels like you’re driving the knife in a little more than it would if you simply cut the funding off.

He also proposed raising taxes on the middle class in order to fund massive tax cuts for the wealthy (http://www.cbpp.org/research/the-ryan-budgets-radical-priorities).

Ryan justifies taking food from babies, pills from seniors, and money out of your wallet to give to rich people by simply assuming that if you’re not of the elite, it’s because you’re a lazy, no-good waste of space. He likes to argue that the social safety net (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/paul-ryan-welfare-reform_n_1368277.html) is “a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency”. If those hungry babies and senior citizens want their food and medication, I guess they just need to work harder!

Ryan also blithely assumes that if you are able-bodied, then the only reason you could possibly be out of work is you’re too busy sitting on your ass to get a job. His 2014 report on poverty, as Paul Krugman reported (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/opinion/krugman-the-hammock-fallacy.html), “notes that there has been a large decline in labor force participation, and it claims that antipoverty programs, which reduce the incentive to work, are a major reason for this decline.”

As Krugman points out, the research that Ryan leans on to justify this claim doesn’t not lead to that conclusion at all. In addition, other research shows that social mobility, which Ryan claims he is for, is actually improved by social spending (http://www.nber.org/papers/w18535). Kids who have a good meal and a warm bed to sleep in, it turns out, do better in school than ones who are starving in the streets.

Unsurprisingly, Ryan’s ugly assumptions that people are poor because they are lazy have a racist component to them, as well. “We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular,” he told Bill Bennett in 2014 (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/03/12/3394871/ryan-poverty-inner-city/), “of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.”

Ryan must also believe that people’s laziness causes bad weather, as he was one of the 67 Republicans who voted against a disaster relief package (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/right-wing-leftovers-1413) for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Ryan’s hostility to abortion and contraception runs deep. Boehner was drummed out, in part, because he was perceived as not eager enough to cut contraception funding to just Planned Parenthood.

But Ryan’s proposals have gone a step further, recommending that all Title X funding (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/paul-ryan-quiet-but-far-right-on-social-issues)—which makes contraception and STI treatment, but not abortion, more affordable for low income people—be zeroed out.

Indeed, Ryan is so opposed to women’s rights that he partnered up with the infamous Todd Akin to write Akin’s bizarre theories (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/19/712251/how-todd-akin-and-paul-ryan-partnered-to-redefine-rape/) about women’s bodies and rape into the law.

Akin sponsored a bill, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” reflecting this belief that narrowed the definition (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/19/712251/how-todd-akin-and-paul-ryan-partnered-to-redefine-rape/)of “rape” to “forcible rape”, i.e. unless you put up a fight and were subdued with violence, the non-consensual sex that was forced on you wasn’t rape.



Guess who was his co-sponsor on that bill? None other than Paul Ryan.


The it’s-only-rape-if-you-fought-back bill was his baby.

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/09/reminder_paul_ryan_is_a_wild_eyed_right_wing_nut_h es_acceptable_to_the_insane_caucus_because_he_is_o ne_of_them/

[boutons_deux]

Flashback to 5 years ago and promise of a new (now hilarious) generation of Republican leaders (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/08/1429416/-Flashback-to-5-years-ago-and-promise-of-a-new-now-hilarious-generation-of-Republican-leaders)



http://images.dailykos.com/images/169253/large/young_copy.jpg?1444327519

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQz_y_MWUAA_qvr.png

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/08/1429416/-Flashback-to-5-years-ago-and-promise-of-a-new-now-hilarious-generation-of-Republican-leaders?detail=email

[baseline bum]

They should elect Netenyahu speaker.

[hater]

Lets just face the fact that GOP has turned into a defacto nationalist party like the parties in Europe. This usually happens when countries start to struggle. Not good for any of us.

This possibly means the American empire is entering its last phase

[boutons_deux]

http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Paul-Ryan-e1371493637687-125x150.jpg

http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/help-us-paul-ryan-w-boehner.jpg

[boutons_deux]

GOP Donor Confronted McCarthy About Alleged Affair Before Exit

Hours before House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) abruptly announced Thursday that he was dropping out of the race for House speaker, a GOP donor reportedly confronted him in an email about an alleged affair with a congressional colleague.

The Huffington Post reported (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-mccarthys-exit-affair-allegations_5616f004e4b0082030a1e0a8) that the email, which it obtained from an anonymous source, was sent by a Chicago-based GOP donor named Steve Baer.

"Kevin, why not resign like Bob Livingston?" the email's subject line read, according to HuffPost. The reference was to a Louisiana Republican who resigned in 1998 over an extramarital affair after being designated as the successor to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA).

Notably, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) sent a letter (http://jones.house.gov/sites/jones.house.gov/files/10.6.15%20Letter%20to%20McMorris%20Rodgers.pdf) Wednesday to the chair of the House Republican caucus, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), urging that any leadership candidate take himself out of the running "if there are any misdeeds he has committed since joining Congress that will embarrass himself, the Republican Conference and the House of Representatives if they become public."

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith confronted Jones about the connotations of that letter (http://www.mediaite.com/tv/shep-smith-tears-apart-congressman-for-implying-mccarthy-had-affair-without-evidence/) in a Thursday interview after McCarthy dropped out of the race for speaker.

"What do you know about Kevin McCarthy I don’t know?” Smith asked.

"Well, I don’t know,” Jones replied. “This was written primarily because I’ve been here 20 years, and I remember the night that Newt stepped down, the next night Bob Livingston stepped down, and the chaos it put the Republican Party in.”

Smith wasn't buying that Jones' letter was a general entreaty to the Republican caucus at large. He asked Jones repeatedly why he would write the letter if he didn't have a particular member of Congress' transgressions in mind, but Jones repeatedly dodged that line of inquiry.

“Well anything you want to read into it, you’re welcome to read into it,” Jones eventually answered. “I gave you an honest answer. That’s all I can do.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/kevin-mccarthy-affair-rumors?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Billionaires threatening to blackmail McCarthy.

[boutons_deux]

Right-wing smear politics at its grossest: The anti-choice, women-hater caucus behind the Kevin McCarthy, Renee Ellmers affair rumor


http://media.salon.com/2015/10/ellmers_mccarthy-620x412.jpg

As Rep. Kevin McCarthy beats a hasty exit from the race for House Speaker, there was a sudden surge of rumors flying around that part of the reason for his sudden departure is threats that an alleged affair with Rep. Renee Ellmers would surface. The rumors, which seem to have started mainly—perhaps exclusively—in right-wing circles then quickly broke into the mainstream media (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-mccarthys-exit-affair-allegations_5616f004e4b0082030a1e0a8).


Both parties deny it, and the evidence for the affair is awfully thin, mostly a bunch of chatter from the same people who think Benghazi is a thing and that Planned Parenthood sells baby parts. In other words, not exactly the reality-based community. But there’s a long and hilarious history of self-righteous “family values” Republicans being outed as hypocritical adulterers (http://wonkette.com/594703/it-turns-out-we-werent-kidding-about-kevin-mccarthys-sex-scandal-huh), which is enough to push the allegations into the mainstream media.

I personally would love to believe this rumor. Both McCarthy and Ellmers are anti-choicers that would see your life derailed by private sexual choices, and so seeing them get the medicine they’d dish out to others would be delightful. But there’s reasons to be skeptical of this particular rumor.

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/09/right_wing_smear_politics_at_its_grossest_the_anti _choice_women_hater_caucus_behind_the_kevin_mccart hy_renee_ellmers_affair_rumors/

[boutons_deux]

Here are 8 perfectly horrible people the GOP should consider for their new House Speaker



http://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/house-speaker3-800x430.jpg

Since the floor is open to non-House members, we have some suggestions.

Ann Coulter

Occupation: Conservative commentator, best selling author and immigrant basher

Qualifications: When it comes to uncompromising conservative ideals, Coulter leads the pack regardless of political realities. High on the list of issues, and a worrisome issue that dogged Rep. McCarthy who represents a district with a large Hispanic population, is immigration. Coulter’s most recent book is entitled: “Adios, America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole,” which could easily be mistaken for a plank in 2016 GOP platform. Also, she is a woman and that would shush up the “War on Women” critics of the GOP.

Luke Gatti (AKA: drunk mac & cheese kid (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/watch-college-brat-who-called-cop-n-word-gets-taken-down-by-cafeteria-staff-during-mac-and-cheese-tantrum/))

Occupation: Former college student and side order gourmet

Qualifications: Gatti will not take “no” for an answer. If you want to shut down f*cking Obamacare, he will shut down f*cking Obamacare. Deport all f*cking undocumented immigrants? Consider them f*cking deported. The House Sergeant at Arms would have to wrestle him to the ground to keep him from pushing the f*cking GOP agenda through. Also, since he has been booted out of his second school, he’s available right f*cking now.

Alex Jones

Occupation: Radio host, vitamin salesman and alternate reality speculator

Qualifications: Conservatives think government is the problem. So does Jones and he has all the inside dirt (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/forget-his-911-truther-tirades-here-are-7-of-alex-jones-most-unhinged-conspiracy-theories/) on everything they are doing from chemtrails to the government using juice boxes to breed gay people to take over the world. The truth is out there…and Alex Jones knows where to find it.

Pharma Bro (aka Martin Shkreli)

Occupation: Former hedge fund manager, Pharma CEO and extreme capitalist

Qualifications: Shkreli is the personification of the free hand of the market allowing drug prices to float to their appropriate value level — as long as it is his free hand jacking up prices 5,500 percent overnight (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/ex-hedge-funder-buys-rights-aids-drug-and-raises-price-from-13-50-to-750-per-pill/). Wall Street would love an unabashed capitalist as the face of the GOP, particularly one who has the ability to defend anything with a smile on his face (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/ex-hedge-funder-who-hiked-aids-pill-cost-by-5500-percent-says-drug-still-underpriced/).

Kim Davis

Occupation: Christian, friend of the Pope and government worker

Qualifications: Many politicians talk the talk but fail to walk the walk. Not Davis. She will go to jail for her beliefs, is quite popular with the Christian right, and is the face of flyover country — a key GOP demographic. It is quite possible that Mike Huckabee (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/mike-huckabee-and-kim-davis-overalls-clad-husband-get-the-twitter-treatment-and-its-hilarious/) — and therefore God — would support her candidacy.

Ted Nugent

Occupation: Guitarist, NRA Board Member and unapologetic gun enthusiast

Qualifications: Virtually every GOP House member is in the pocket of the NRA, so Nugent’s nomination would find a considerable support from the gun rights group who would enjoy seeing own of their own people in the high profile GOP leadership position. Nugent is also not afraid to take on the president whom he previously called a “subhuman mongrel (http://www.rawstory.com/2014/02/ted-nugent-calls-obama-subhuman-mongrel-cnns-wolf-blitzer-flips-out/).”

Rush Limbaugh

Occupation: Radio host and conscience of conservatives

Qualifications: For years Limbaugh has been called the voice of conservatism and he has been one of John Boehner’s biggest critics. Why not hand the speaker’s gavel over to him and let become the face of the party? Limbaugh has never compromised on any issue –even when it costs his radio syndicator millions in revenue. That is called “putting your money where your mouth is” — although it has been his bosses who have taken the financial hit (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/rush-limbaugh-advertisers-cumulus_n_3237496.html) and not him since he has a fat contract.

Donald Trump

Occupation: GOP presidential nominee, television reality star and billionaire businessman

Qualifications: Trump is the de facto face of the Republican Party right now whether they like it or not. But choosing him as the new Speaker would get him out of the race and open the door for someone who stands a ghost of a chance against the eventual Democratic nominee. As the Speaker he could propose “huge” policy plans and then let the voting members hammer out the details — a mainstay of his campaign so far. Trump also has tons of television experience which would come in handy for the Sunday morning shows when John McCain is not available.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/here-are-8-perfectly-horrible-people-the-gop-should-consider-for-their-new-house-speaker/

[Infinite_limit]

I voted Obama in 2008, I sure as hell am not making that mistake again with Hillary/Bernie

[Winehole23]

Lets just face the fact that GOP has turned into a defacto nationalist party like the parties in Europe. This usually happens when countries start to struggle. Not good for any of us.Especially when the Democrats strain to outdo them.

GWB was a true radical rightist, but Obama outdid him. He enhanced the power of the government considerably and diversified the global war on terror. Went way past anything Bush dared to.

[Winehole23]

Obama's repudiation of torture was phony. Not sure whether it's considered a virtue or a fault, but he outdoes GWB in brazenness.

[Winehole23]

Didn't he just bomb fellow Nobel Peace Prize winners in Afghanistan?

[boutons_deux]

Especially when the Democrats strain to outdo them.

GWB was a true radical rightist, but Obama outdid him. He enhanced the power of the government considerably and diversified the global war on terror. Went way past anything Bush dared to.

eternal GWOT was a dubya/dickhead strategy, including assuming eternal war powers to the Exec. OBL let that genie out of the magic lantern, the MIC cheered and ran with it, fulfilling the MIC's 3 MILLION wishes to keep amusing and enriching itself.

McLiar or Bishop Gecko would not have restrained the MIC, GWOT, growth black ops to 100K people, US military presence in the 150+ countries, welcome or not. the "logic" of American empire, NSA/CIA/MIC/non-conscripted "professional" military is unstoppable. neocon Hillary certainly wouldn't stop it, and hippie Bernie probably couldn't stop it.

[boutons_deux]

Kevin McCarthy Enters Rehab After Admitting Struggles with Nouns, Verbs

WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has entered rehab to deal with his “struggles with nouns and verbs,” an aide to the congressman has confirmed.

According to the aide, McCarthy abruptly dropped out of the race for Speaker of the House because his difficulties with those two parts of speech had “spiralled out of control.”

“There was an intervention, in which people who care about the congressman sat him down and showed him video of himself talking,” the aide said. “He agreed that he needed help, although it took people awhile to realize that’s what he was trying to say.”

A source familiar with McCarthy’s struggles, however, cast doubt on that official story. “It’s not just nouns and verbs,” the source said. “It’s adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns. Kevin’s going to be in rehab for awhile.”

In a brief statement to reporters, McCarthy offered a blunt assessment of his situation. “It bad,” he said. “But soon it be less badder.”

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/kevin-mccarthy-enters-rehab-after-admitting-struggles-with-nouns-verbs

[boutons_deux]

After Boehner, House Hard-Liners Aim to Weaken Speaker’s Clout

“I want to see a change in the culture of Washington D.C.,” said Representative Barry Loudermilk, a freshman from Georgia who is a member of the Freedom Caucus that helped drive Mr. Boehner from office. “The way you do that is not who you elect, but it’s the process. It’s the procedures.”

“How are we going to change the process, how are we going to make it a more bottom-up versus a top-down structure?”

The changes would include stripping the speaker of his outsize power over the Republican steering committee, which appoints the chairmen for all committees as well as for Appropriations subcommittees. The changes would also reduce the leadership’s tight control over what bills and amendments reach the House floor.

But top officials said they could not imagine the Freedom Caucus winning huge concessions, which they said amounted to giving the party’s hard-right flank more power with little requirement or incentive to compromise.

“A lot has to do with the process, how we empower individual members to represent the people back home because they are very frustrated, they don’t feel that Republican members are representing them,” Mr. Fleming said. “Our Republican base — 60 to 62 percent have said in polling that Republicans in Congress have betrayed them, and we need to get that trust back.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/us/politics/after-boehner-house-hard-liners-aim-to-weaken-speakers-clout.html?_r=0

"the people back home" are fringe, rightwingnut minority that has not right to dominate the majority.

fucking naive redneck, gerrymandered, Billionaire Boy Toys

[boutons_deux]

The Roof Falls In On Republicans As Conservatives May Sink Paul Ryan Next

House Republicans are frantically trying to convince Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to run for Speaker of the House, but there is a problem, the same Republicans who sunk John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy may target Ryan next.Politico reported (http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/paul-ryan-house-freedom-caucus-214627):

After leaving the House Republican Conference in a state of suspended upheaval, the rebellious group of conservative lawmakers that helped oust one speaker then short-circuited his would-be successor is intentionally laying low and deciding how to respond if Rep. Paul Ryan decides to run for speaker.…..

But conservatives strongly disagree with Ryan’s position on immigration and his role in crafting the bipartisan 2013 Ryan-Murray budget deal. He’s been criticized by the far right for being a staunch proponent of immigration reform and his work with Democrats to find a compromise to address the growing number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S.

The conservatives in the House want a Speaker who is ideologically pure. They want someone who will commit to running the House their way. Paul Ryan fits neither of these requirements. If Ryan were Speaker, he would behave a lot like the current House leadership. Ryan wouldn’t trigger government shutdowns, and he wouldn’t fight the ideological fight on non-economic issues that conservatives in the House are lusting after.

If Ryan runs for Speaker, it is possible that the conservatives will deny him the votes he needs to be elected. There have long been rumors that Ryan doesn’t want the Speaker job because his long-term goal involves running for the Senate and/or White House. The last thing Paul Ryan needs is to be next failed stepdad who tried to lead the dysfunctional House Republican family.

House Republicans are looking for Paul Ryan to be their white knight, but the latest GOP savior could drown in a swamp of conservative crazy.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/10/roof-falls-republicans-conservatives-sink-paul-ryan.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

[baseline bum]

Holy fuck, Paul Ryan isn't far enough right to lead those faggots? :lmao

Who do they want, fucking Louie Gohmert?

[boutons_deux]

Gerrymandering may prove a Pyrrhic victory for the GOP

The next House speaker, whoever he may be, will almost certainly face crippling mutinies by the 45 Republican rebels

these ideological insurgents know they can defy their party leadership without fear of punishment from the voters.

How will they get away with it? The answer is gerrymandering. Yes, gerrymandering has been around since the dawn of American politics, but it's a far different game today, played on a national scale with 21st century software.

In 2009, Republican Party leaders decided to heed Karl Rove, the campaign guru, who told them pragmatically, "He who controls redistricting can control Congress."

Following the Rove dictum, the party poured $30 million, mostly raised from corporations, into what it called "RedMap," a strategy to dominate the once-a-decade redistricting process in 2011 by capturing majority control of as many state legislatures as possible in the 2010 election.

RedMap was a smashing success. In 2010, Republicans picked up 675 legislative seats nationwide, giving the GOP control of legislatures in states that held 40% of all House seats, versus Democrats with only 10%.

In the 2012 election, they saw the fruit of their labor. Republicans came out with a 33-seat majority in the U.S. House, even though they lost the popular vote.

entrenched the rump faction of anti-government extremists who toppled Boehner and will menace his successor.

So sharply targeted was the 2011 gerrymandering effort that all but two of the 45 anti-Boehner rebels — most of them now organized as the Freedom Caucus — are guaranteed reelection in politically engineered districts that insulate them from Democratic challengers.

Their congressional districts are so stacked in their favor that, in 2014, they beat their Democratic opponents by an average of 38 percentage points. Only two had competitive general election races. Three had such slam-dunk districts that no Democrat even bothered to oppose them.

With protected political monopolies back home, the rebels take little or no political risk and pay no political price for opposing their speaker and adopting extremist positions that bring Congress to a halt.

It matters little that the rebels are junior members of Congress. More than two-thirds were elected in the tea party class of 2010 and the RedMap classes of 2012 and 2014. More than 85% of them come from a GOP-gerrymandered state, which emboldens them.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-1007-smith-gerrymandering-20151007-story.html

... aka Billionaires/BigCorp Boy Toys.

[boutons_deux]

Flimflam Fever

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/10/08/opinion/100815krugman2/100815krugman2-blog480.png

Apparently desperate Republicans are pleading with Paul Ryan to become Speaker of the House, because he’s “super, super smart (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/10/08/why-paul-ryan-doesnt-want-to-be-house-speaker/).” More than anyone else in his caucus, he has the reputation of being a brilliant policy wonk.

And that tells you even more about the dire state of the GOP. After all, Ryan is to policy wonkery what Carly Fiorina is to corporate management: brilliant at selling himself, hopeless at actually doing the job. Lest we forget, his much-vaunted budget plan proved, on even superficial examination, to be a ludicrous mess of magic asterisks.

His big contribution to discussion of economic policy was his stern warning to Ben Bernanke that quantitative easing would “debase the dollar”, that rising commodity prices in early 2011 presaged a surge in inflation. This guy’s delusions of expertise should be considered funny.

Yet he may indeed be the best they have.

Nonetheless, it would be a huge mistake for him personally to take the job. Where he is, he can cultivate his wonk image, with nobody in the press willing to disturb the illusion.

In a direct leadership role, he’d have no place to hide.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/flimflam-fever/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Opinion&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

the dollar is so strong it's hurting US exports

commodity prices are mostly in the pits (loss of demand from China)

[pgardn]

I pity the fool who uses a Krugman reference in the same post exposing anyone being wrong on Economic policy. Name an economist who has escaped being wrong. Weak stuff boots. Weak.

Ryan having no need for the fray given his current standing was quite enough thank you.

[boutons_deux]

I pity the fool who uses a Krugman reference in the same post exposing anyone being wrong on Economic policy. Name an economist who has escaped being wrong. Weak stuff boots. Weak.

Ryan having no need for the fray given his current standing was quite enough thank you.

where, in your weakest shit, has Krugman been wrong?

Ryan is just another Ayn Rand-licking Catholic asshole.

[boutons_deux]

Epic Republican fight explodes on Meet the Press between two congressmen (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/11/1430663/-Epic-Republican-fight-explodes-on-Meet-the-Press-between-two-congressmen)

If anyone doubted that the Republican Party is in fact in turmoil, this morning's uncivil exchange between Dave Brat (R-VA) and Charlie Dent (R-PA) on Meet the Press should dispel any doubts.

Dave Brat took exception to statements that Charlie Dent (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/10/08/republican_rep_charlie_dent_calls_for_bipartisan_c oalition_to_select_new_speaker.html) has been making about marginalizing the intransigent Republicans that have been holding the Republican Party hostage.

Charlie Dent's comments fed the brawl started by Dave Brat on Meet the Press as both accused each other of siding with Nancy Pelosi.

The cognitive dissonance was very apparent.

Both factions within the Republican Party have circumvented their own caucus to work with Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats to get around their inability to coalesce on several issues.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/11/1430663/-Epic-Republican-fight-explodes-on-Meet-the-Press-between-two-congressmen#?detail=facebook?detail=email

[boutons_deux]

Brooks screws up and finally get something right

The Republican Party is producing "leaders of jaw-dropping incompetence"

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/13/9521719/david-brooks-republican-party

[boutons_deux]

Latest Unease on Right: Ryan Is Too Far Left

He is being criticized on issues ranging from a 2008 vote to bail out large banks to his longstanding interest in immigration reform (http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/11/exclusive-numbersusa-president-paul-ryan-terrifying-open-borders-seeps-every-pore/) to his work on a bipartisan budget measure (http://www.redstate.com/2015/10/09/paul-ryan-is-a-dangerous-pick-for-conservatives/). On Sunday night, the Drudge Report — a prime driver of conservative commentary — dedicated separate headlines to bashing Mr. Ryan on policy positions.

Even a self-congratulatory book outlining how Mr. Ryan and two other Republican House leaders drafted Tea Party (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/tea_party_movement/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) candidates to help them take over the House in 2010 — “Young Guns” — is being recast by some (https://www.conservativereview.com/Commentary/2015/10/paul-ryan-is-the-absolute-worst-choice-for-speaker) as a manual of how to be traitorous to conservatism.

“The kingmakers are so desperate for someone to carry their liberal priorities that they are trying to force Congressman Paul Ryan (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/paul_d_ryan/index.html?inline=nyt-per) into a job he does not want.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/us/politics/latest-unease-on-right-ryan-is-too-far-left.html?_r=0

[MultiTroll]

We knew this guy was a massive jellyfish, but oh my....

Kevin McCarthy Compared Relationship With Trump to Spouses Fighting (businessinsider.com) (https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-mccarthy-compared-relationship-with-trump-to-spouses-fighting-2024-1)

I wonder who the bitch is in the relationship?

[Thread]

We knew this guy was a massive jellyfish, but oh my....

Kevin McCarthy Compared Relationship With Trump to Spouses Fighting (businessinsider.com) (https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-mccarthy-compared-relationship-with-trump-to-spouses-fighting-2024-1)

I wonder who the bitch is in the relationship?

He was warned, Mult, repeatedly & at length. His regrets are his own. I've no sympathy for him.

Same with this Johnson RINO. He's already started up.

Let us proceed...