I just saw the ticker tape news on the local channel that Gaetz will try to oust the liar McCarthy as speaker this week. That's all I have.

I say hooray, at least there's one Rep with cajones and is not afraid to go against the establishment.

Im all for it---but Im not expecting much from the effort.

So, Gaetz' bunch forced McCarthy to go to the Dems to prevent a shutdown, b/c Gaetz' bunch wasn't voting for anything proposed, and the price to pay for Dem help was funding for Ukraine, and now Gaetz' bunch wants to oust McCarthy for doing that.

Insane on all sides, lol.

And now there is a movement to oust Gaetz.

Republicans cannot get out of their own way when it comes to governing anything.

(10-02-2023 05:48 PM)TripleA Wrote:  So, Gaetz' bunch forced McCarthy to go to the Dems to prevent a shutdown, b/c Gaetz' bunch wasn't voting for anything proposed, and the price to pay for Dem help was funding for Ukraine, and now Gaetz' bunch wants to oust McCarthy for doing that.

Insane on all sides, lol.

And now there is a movement to oust Gaetz.

Republicans cannot get out of their own way when it comes to governing anything.

One of the problems is, McCarthy waits until the last damn minute to start working on a budget. Am I right or wrong on this? It's his House and he runs the House right?

(10-02-2023 05:48 PM)TripleA Wrote:  So, Gaetz' bunch forced McCarthy to go to the Dems to prevent a shutdown, b/c Gaetz' bunch wasn't voting for anything proposed, and the price to pay for Dem help was funding for Ukraine, and now Gaetz' bunch wants to oust McCarthy for doing that.

Insane on all sides, lol.

And now there is a movement to oust Gaetz.

Republicans cannot get out of their own way when it comes to governing anything.

Bunch of idiots. Ousting Gaetz? Ridiculous. And Gaetz going after McCarthy now, just a year before the election? And when 60% of Republicans voted with McCarthy?

(10-02-2023 05:48 PM)TripleA Wrote:  So, Gaetz' bunch forced McCarthy to go to the Dems to prevent a shutdown, b/c Gaetz' bunch wasn't voting for anything proposed, and the price to pay for Dem help was funding for Ukraine, and now Gaetz' bunch wants to oust McCarthy for doing that.

Insane on all sides, lol.

And now there is a movement to oust Gaetz.

Republicans cannot get out of their own way when it comes to governing anything.

Or---during the last 9 months McCarthy could have actually done what he promised he would do in writing when Gaetz gave him votes for speaker. Didnt pass the spending bills. Had to drag McCarthy kicking and screaming into the impeachment investigation. Still hasnt released all the Jan6th footage to the public. Gaetz asked for this stuff in writing because they didnt trust him----and it looks like they were right about McCarthy. I have no idea why anyone would want McCarthy as Speaker. At this point, the majority could literally hand the gavel to Jeffries and it wouldnt make much difference. Jefferies would at least have a good excuse for failure since he wouldnt have an actual majority.

This is the right in a nutshell.

It's why we deserve an idiot like Biden.

(10-02-2023 08:18 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(10-02-2023 05:48 PM)TripleA Wrote:  So, Gaetz' bunch forced McCarthy to go to the Dems to prevent a shutdown, b/c Gaetz' bunch wasn't voting for anything proposed, and the price to pay for Dem help was funding for Ukraine, and now Gaetz' bunch wants to oust McCarthy for doing that.

Insane on all sides, lol.

And now there is a movement to oust Gaetz.

Republicans cannot get out of their own way when it comes to governing anything.

Or---during the last 9 months McCarthy could have actually done what he promised he would do in writing when Gaetz gave him votes for speaker. Didnt pass the spending bills. Had to drag McCarthy kicking and screaming into the impeachment investigation. Still hasnt released all the Jan6th footage to the public. Gaetz asked for this stuff in writing because they didnt trust him----and it looks like they were right about McCarthy. I have no idea why anyone would want McCarthy as Speaker. At this point, the majority could literally hand the gavel to Jeffries and it wouldnt make much difference. Jefferies would at least have a good excuse for failure since he wouldnt have an actual majority.

All that is true. But it doesn't matter.

What the Gaetz bunch did was force McCarthy to put in the Ukraine funding, which was exactly what they didn't want.

Idiots vs. idiots can't get out of their own way. Nobody is the good guy here.

Another reason I hate both parties. One evil. one incredibly stupid, and can't agree on sh!t.

I'm perfectly fine with a let's shut down the government until we figure out a budget. I just don't think that's going to fly for most Americans and I recognize that. So while I'm perfectly fine with Gaetz strategy. I also recognize that it is not smart. It also backfired as instead of the house getting a budget passed with cuts in spending and increases in border security it was done with dems to prevent the republicans for being blamed for the shut down. Which it 100% would have if they couldn't even get a bill out of the house which they control.

Now if republicans could pass a bill which dems balked at in the Senate and wouldn't pass which shut down the government it would be a different story. That unfortunately is not what happened though.

Superb analysis, E.e., but I suspect it has no bearing on what motivated Matt Gaetz. It’s much simpler than that.

My own peanut-gallery suspicion is that he was burned to the core of his soul by all of the media attention being given to Lauren Boebert for yanking off her boyfriend in a public forum, and then to MTG who was doing a more effective job than he was capitalizing off of the Jamaal Bowman fire alarm incident, that he had to do something - - really anything - - to gain back some portion of that media attention, no matter how stupid or destructive.

It's why democrats never have to honestly run on issues or track record. Republicans are so Balkanized that they can't get out of their own circular firing squad. A big chunk of their supporters don't care what it burns down as long as 'Muhrica. Idiots get the gub'mint they deserve.

(10-03-2023 05:06 AM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote:  Superb analysis, E.e., but I suspect it has no bearing on what motivated Matt Gaetz. It’s much simpler than that.

My own peanut-gallery suspicion is that he was burned to the core of his soul by all of the media attention being given to Lauren Boebert for yanking off her boyfriend in a public forum, and then to MTG who was doing a more effective job than he was capitalizing off of the Jamaal Bowman fire alarm incident, that he had to do something - - really anything - - to gain back some portion of that media attention, no matter how stupid or destructive.

Sounds about right. A bunch of preening peacocks all of them.

(10-02-2023 11:46 PM)Eagleyed Wrote:  I'm perfectly fine with a let's shut down the government until we figure out a budget.

But republicans don't seem to have any interest in figuring out a budget. Probably because all they really seem to want to do is cut taxes, and when you are staring a multi-trillion dollar deficit in the face, cutting taxes is not a viable solution.

You can cut tax RATES by broadening the tax BASE. 40% of a trillion dollars is $400B, 30% of $1.5 trillion is $450B. Eliminate a bunch of exclusions and deductions, and the tax base grows substantially. That's the kind of math that both Bowles-Simpson and Domenici-Rivlin used, and that works. That's also the kind of math that Dick Gephardt and Bill Bradley and Ronald Reagan used in 1986. Europe figured that out in the 1990s and that, along with consumption taxes, is how they generate larger tax revenues as a percent of GDP than we do, without resorting to confiscatory tax rates.

If we adopted a similar approach, we could probably balance our budget with a flat tax rate between 15% and 20%. If we paired that with Bismarck universal private health care/insurance and some kind of universal basic income (UBI) like Milton Friedman's negative income tax (NIT) or the Boortz-Linder prebate/prefund, we could reduce spending at the same time and pay off the debt. How do those things work? Let's say that current health and welfare spending tends toward 75% admin/overhead and 25% benefits. How do you think that the top three counties in the USA for household income, and 7 of the top 12, are in the DC metro area? Let's say that Bismarck and the NIT/prefund/prebate approach could be run for 15% admin/overhead (the standard for private charities). So do the math, for the same money you could provide roughly 3.5 times the benefits.

I would be very happy if the republicans came up with a budget that reduced the deficit and debt while avoiding confiscatory tax rates. But they either don't know how to do that, or are not interested in doing it. Stupid party versus evil party.

How bad is it? When Bug eyes (Schiff) and Gaetz agree........you can't trust McCarthy.

Quote:California Rep. Adam Schiff and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz agree on at least one thing: They don’t trust Kevin McCarthy.

“I don’t know what happens to McCarthy’s speakership, but frankly the problem he’s having is we don’t trust him,” Schiff (D-Calif.) said Monday during an interview on MSNBC. “He broke his word with the president over the debt ceiling deal. His own conference doesn’t trust him.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/02...f-00119478

Kevin McCarthy says it's 'likely' he'll be vacated as House Speaker

Quote:Speaking to reporters outside the House chamber on Tuesday, beleaguered House Speaker Kevin McCarthy admitted that it's likely he'll be vacated as House Speaker. A vote on whether or not he'll retain the speakership is set for 1:30 pm on Tuesday. The motion to vacate the Speaker hasn't been used in over 113 years.

"Are you expecting Democrats to back you up then?" He was asked.

"Personally, I'm not," McCarthy said.

"Do you need their help to remain in leadership?"

"No, if five Republicans go with Democrats, I'm out," he said.

"Sounds likely," the reporter said.

"Probably so," McCarthy said.

The last time the motion was used was in 1910, when House Speaker Joseph Cannon asked his supporters to bring the motion as a show of strength.

McCarthy spoke to the complaints that spurred Florida's Matt Gaetz to bring the motion to vacate the chair. "At the end of the day, keeping government open and paying our troops was the right decision. I stand by that decision. And at the end of the day if I have to lose my job over it so be it. But I'm going to fight for the American public and I'll continue to fight."

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie both spoke out against Gaetz's motion, saying that essentially he has no plan for who should lead. Moreover, no other congressman would have the votes.

Gaetz said that his main concern is funding for Ukraine. While no funds were included in the 45-day stop gap measure passed on Friday to keep the government open, Gaetz alleges that a secret deal has been made, which was alluded to by President Joe Biden, in which McCarthy said that Ukraine funding would be authorized.

Gaetz is the right's AOC. Not too bright, dedicated to getting his face and name in the news, and generally a hypocrite.

So, they are getting rid of a California Republican that didn't keep his word? Sounds good to me.

(10-03-2023 12:47 PM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  So, they are getting rid of a California Republican that didn't keep his word? Sounds good to me.

And why does he wait until the last minute ?

Be careful what you wish for. You could wind up with Jeffries, lol.

If Jeffries is the next in line, then McCarthy is the best bet which isn't saying much. The biggest drawback on Jeffries is a small problem, he's unscrupulous and a gigantic liar. He makes Peloser look like an angel in comparison. I'll stick with the Rino as bad as he is, mini-McConnell. Two Irishmen in high powered positions, no wonder they resemble each other.