Discussion for article #242183
This is a giant slap in the face of the Freedumb Caucus. My guess is Ryan made this deal a condition for his accepting the job of Speaker. During the next year and 1/2 the Freedumb Caucus can pass meaningless vote after meaningless vote making radio talk show hosts and gray headed fools everywhere happy, but they won’t have a chance to bring down the country.
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We’ll see if there’s enough votes for it. Something tells me that Republicans will find a way to screw it up.
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The ability to pass the sort of housekeeping measures that are part and parcel of governing is certainly a good thing, though that should never have been in doubt. But when it comes to actually addressing the problems of the country, we are still at gridlock. Maybe a modest increase in the gas tax to fund badly needed infrastructure can get through (maybe), but beyond that, prospects look dim. And then what happens in 2017, assuming Hillary wins the White House, the Dems pick up a few seats in the Senate (possibly even regaining control) and maybe even a few in the House (though almost certainly not enough to take control)? Then Ryan is right back where Boehner was a month ago. Can his more sober (in all senses of the word) demeanor get him through the ideological rocks? Seems doubtful, but who knows?
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Does this mean that idiotic procedural policy called “The Hastert Rule” has been finally abandoned by the House leadership?
Assuming this deal passes, it’s not just an enormous gift to Ryan but also to the eventual Republican nominee for President. It would be a real disadvantage to have to run as the candidate of the party that caused major economic crisis by having the country run up against the debt ceiling. Of course, every one of their candidates will denounce the deal, not because they really believe it to be bad but because they will be afraid to acknowledge that it was the right deal to make. Oddly, for all of his enormous flaws as a potential candidate, Trump might be the only candidate who conceivably could support the deal, although I wouldn’t bet on it.
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I am with you except for this observation; I believe the Republicans could shut down the government, cause a default that puts us back in recession and by Spring the American voters would have forgotten about it and it would have zero impact on the elections in November 2016. It is a sad fact that the shelf life of important stuff is only about two months or less in this country but I believe that is the case.
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Or the G.O.P. would have convinced them that it was actually Obama’s fault.
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[Boehner’s “…offering the current Ways and Means chair an enormous gift: a big, almost-miraculous fiscal deal that takes off of the table most of the contentious issues facing Congress between now and the 2016 election.”]
Translation: Ol’Zombie Eyes Ryan is going to be a great Speaker as long as he doesn’t try to govern, or lead or actually have to do anything. Got it! How Republican.
And his ‘successful’ Speakership lasts ONLY as long as he doesn’t have to deal with the FreeDumb’ Caucus…and that’s not going to be very long.
The only somewhat successful position (or job) Paul Ryan has ever had? You remember. And it was only for one summer. This is how disgraced the Speaker’s position has become by the Republicans. It has devolved, as it passed from one of the most successful Speakers in modern history under Pelosi to one of the most inept and abject failures in US history under Weeper Boehner, into a FUBAR punchline and sad joke:
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Unfortunately, not. Leonard Pitts reports that Ryan apparently as vowed to abide by the anti-American Hastert Rule.
This only shows that Boehner knew all along that he was wrong to allow his crazy caucus to hold him (and the country) by the balls, but was willing to do it just so he could keep power.
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Boehner could spare Ryan further, and just withdraw his resignation. Tell the TP to STFU, they had their big opportunity and they blew it, so go ahead and do something about it if they’re organized enough.
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Maybe I’ve missed some important discussion of the details of Mr. Ryan’s conditions for assuming the role of Speaker, but it has seemed to me that everyone is being very vague about the nature of those details.
That strikes me as representing a huge opportunity for either progress or disaster, depending upon the exact nature of the “devil in the details.”
takes off of the table most of the contentious issues … then there will be little for the nut jobs to eat
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I am serious here–why couldn’t Boehner have done this a year ago, on his own watch?
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Yes, won’t Republicans demand that our representatives READ THE BILL?!?!?
I don’t think we should take this is anything other than it is. When there is a benefit for them, the GOP, in a deal they can “get her done”. IN this case it’s a political one. Debt ceiling and spending bill stunts haven’t helped the GOP and this self serving bill puts that out of the way until after the 21016 election. That’s all this is. Its a delay in the bullshit for self serving political reasons. They are intransigent when it come to getting these things done for the USA but they snap right to it when it is for them.
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Don’t like it, tell the DNC to take back the house. Maybe run in some uncomfortable places. Maybe even move beyond the 19 states the Democrats need to win the Presidential.
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The deal could also split the Right and force Republican candidates to denounce the deal, further alienating themselves from most of the electorate who want to see Congress get things done.
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"“[I]f Boehner can pull this off it will help Ryan a lot,” In a nutshell.
There’s that dang pink tie. Certainly not a fashion save.