I didn’t apologize for it, never condoned it - just making the point that it was based on logical argument. I can’t see how you got that from what I wrote.
Ryan is the leader, that’s the point. That job sucks eggs and he took it, has done nothing with it and has no control whatsoever over it.
Forget clearing the swamp, Ryan is up to his ass in teagators.
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I was stunned by that comment from Beck. I think it was sincere fear on his part but fear of what exactly I am not sure. Could it be he sees the violence being unleashed and realizes it could eventually be aimed at him? I think many RWNJ grifters are in danger of losing more than their spoils. The monsters can not make headway with Democrats. They can not bring us down. We don’t need them. The GOP talking heads/elected “elites” need them and are fair game. Republicans ginned up this hatred for decades and now it is coming for them. They should be scared.
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Bravo. I hope you can get a wider audience for this excellent piece.
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Yes, I think some on the right wing are genuinely scared. Just looking at the wild behavior at the Trump rallies is enough to be scared.
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Thanks, rollinnolan.
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Super. Well done. I hope this will see broader exposure.
Thank you, randyabraham.
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Dear Spiderpig,
Picture this, a warm spring day in 1973 at the Belmont Stakes and Secretariat (!!!) was taking the lead for the Triple Crown. . .
This is what I think of every time I think of Hillary winning.
see, I knew you would like it! 
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Thanks, meta.
Lol, let’s keep our fingers crossed.
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They agreed to a framework, which included passing a series of budget bills through out the year. So far Ryan has passed zero of those, and will be forced to instead pass a single, “omni” spending bill in the following months. Or pass a Continuing Resolution. Or cry and watch the Tea Partiers force another shutdown.
And yes, the reason why each of those smaller bills have been sidelined is directly result of the Freedom Caucus playing their games.
The original framework was hammered out by Boehner, and was meant to be a parting gift to Ryan…cleaning out the barn so Ryan can start with a clean slate. The intent was to remove these shutdown/budgetary exercises from the playing field until after the 2016 elections.
But Ryan, in pursuit of his “new vision” for how the House should be run, immediately starting surrendering the powers a Speaker does have, to the Freedom Caucus, who of course had no use for Boehner’s framework. If Boehner was cleaning out the barn, Ryan was busy handing over the main support beams to the very people who want to see it collapse.
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Thanks for that. Any predictions on how it’s most likely to shake out? An actual (partial) government shutdown this close to the election? Shutdown brinksmanship but then a Continuing Resolution (or a series of them) to kick the can down the road past the election?
My guess is a CR (or series of them), probably with very little fanfare or showy brinksmanship. Trump has probably but enough fear into enough Congress critters,that they have enough worries about their own campaigns to want to introduce another shutdown into the mix. (Remember, one of the leaders of the Freedom Caucus already went down in a primary in Kansas) Plus, it gives them something to slap Hillary in the face with when she takes office in January.
But, as always, predicting the minds of the tea partiers is a fool’s errand. Largely because what they have between their ears only bears a passable resemblance to a functioning, reasonable, mind.
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Thank you! I just copy and pasted your post into my notes so I can read it whenever I feel overwhelmed by the chaos and stupidty of this election.
Political conversations have become impossible for me lately, even with dear friends. One couple I adore is so vehemently pro Sanders I’ve been avoiding them for months. Just being in the same room with them has become painful! They are convinced that HRC is the Queen of the Darkness who will put boots on the ground in Syria, make the rich richer, steal lie cheat blah blah blah. Thanks a lot Bernie – good luck reeling your nutcakes back in!
Meanwhile, I have nightmares that people like them, who could have voted HRC, will stay home and give us a Trump presidency. Which will trigger a civil war, which will trigger WWIII, which the USA deserves thanks to our horrendous Iraq war karma – right down the rabbit hole!
Your post was just the breath of clarity and sanity I needed this morning!!
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Thank you, edys, and glad I can be of service!
I agree the budget negotiations will be quiet and all about Doing No Harm and threading the needle.
With some of the Big Business Republican donors now backing opponents of the Freedom Caucus, what do you feel will be the leverage – if any – of Democrats of getting anything on their wishlist, or at least protecting some of their priorities, since they may be needed to get a deal across the finish line?
Very little. Its still going to be a republican House and a republican Senate. In fact, I believe the fiscal year technically ends AFTER the elections (but just barely…11/14), so if Ryan wants to, or bumbles his way through until that date, and take a gamble, it would be lame duck House and Senate making the choices, which would have very little inclination to give Democrats anything. And if Ryan has to reach out to Pelosi in late Sept, October…it almost certainly means we will be facing a potential shutdown.
The gamble, of course, is that he can hurry through an entire budget in less than a week following the elections. With his caucus, I don’t think that is feasible. And, probably more importantly, trying to do so will mean that the very weeks leading up the election will be saturated with news about not making the budget deadline.I REALLY don’t think he wants to go there.
The smart move is to quietly start lining up the votes once all the primaries are finished, and then move quickly.and again, under the radar, to pass a CR that will cover things until January. But smart move, Ryan…who knows?
Doesn’t the fiscal year end on September 30?
“There must be two Americas: one that sets the captive free, and the one that takes a once-captive’s new freedom away from him, and picks a quarrel with him with nothing to found it on, then kills him to get his land.”
Mark Twain
Trump, Congressional Republicans, et.al.
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I do hope he has massive migraines for the next few years! He deserves it. That and chronic insomnia as he wrestles with Democrats, his own caucus and those crazed Freedom Caucus members. A pox on his House, I say!