Starker on 5/1/2023 at 17:55
Apparently, they want Lord Dampnut to become the speaker, which... er... well.. I'm sure he'd do just fine. He seems like a real stickler for procedure and I'm sure he'll master all the fine nuances of vote wrangling in no time.
heywood on 5/1/2023 at 19:01
If you want to know what they're demanding, read this letter to McCarthy sent on Dec 8:
(
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23400811-speaker-dear-colleague-final-12822) https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23400811-speaker-dear-colleague-final-12822
I believe they will relent over the weekend when the spotlight isn't on them so much, because if they continue to hold out, the Republican caucus is going to need Democrats help to elect a speaker, and that will come with strings attached.
And I'm looking forward to seeing this process repeat itself with every major vote for the next 2 years. Not.
Starker on 6/1/2023 at 08:50
Honestly, the impression I'm getting is that the holdouts don't care about much else than getting attention and outMAGAing each other. McCarthy has bent over forwards and backwards for them and they don't seem to move an inch. He really must want that seat bad, if he's willing to humiliate himself to that extent.
Hell, he's getting less votes now, 11th time running.
heywood on 6/1/2023 at 13:09
Some of them say they're never going to vote for McCarthy no matter what. They're apparently hoping the party will get tired enough of re-voting to force McCarthy to step down for Scalise. Others are negotiating. McCarthy finally started to cave to some of their significant demands late yesterday.
Nicker on 6/1/2023 at 13:12
He's already distributed so much of his potential power as Speaker, in concessions to the MAGAts, the only thing he'll have to show for his compromises is a gavel. And he doesn't get to keep that.
heywood on 6/1/2023 at 14:01
True, but the concessions aren't permanent. If McCarthy is elected Speaker and the Republicans have a stronger showing in the next election, his power will grow.
demagogue on 6/1/2023 at 16:10
But power to do what? I think the writing on the wall is that the radical contingent is going to pull this ridiculous obstruction ritual on every vote on everything. And if Cheney et al's experience is any guide, it's the moderates that are going to be purged in the upcoming elections, so that contingent is just going to grow over time, making the problem worse.
On paper GOP voters are supposed to be exasperated by this bs, and that's the story behind the red trickle, but it's only had the perverse effect of making the clown caucus double down and the radicals only get more radical. And good lord the next presidential election will start grinding into motion this year on top of everything else. What a shitshow.
RippedPhreak on 6/1/2023 at 16:28
Even if they did elect a speaker, what important business would they start getting accomplished? Another $100 billion to Ukraine? (insert jerk-off motion here)
Congress doesn't do anything for us, so what does it matter? Might as well sit back and enjoy.
lowenz on 6/1/2023 at 17:04
Preserving West influence in the world is what makes US citizenship so special today (not in 1800)
With "isolationism" there are *NO* US as you know them (the only possible outcome is a Russian Federation-like state)
(so spending billions in wars is the bittersweet trade-off of liberalism as political-socio-economic system)
demagogue on 6/1/2023 at 17:45
Watching the 12th vote. We're in the D's, and so far McCarthy has flipped five defectors this round, and there's always a big applause by other Reps for each flip. It's still a crapshoot. He can only afford to have 5 defectors, and there's already 3. But it looks like light at the end of the tunnel.
Edit: Well the 6th defector voted now, so he's not going to be able to win this round either.
