Donald Trump, US President #47, US President #45, convicted felon, twice impeached, four times indicted, liable of rape, convicted for financial fraud, guilty of hiding hush money payments to porn actress in attempt to influence 2016 elections

To post in this sub-forum you must have made 100 posts or have Trust status or have completed our ID Verification

Forums › Politics › Donald Trump, US President #47, US President #45, convicted felon, twice impeached, four times indicted, liable of rape, convicted for financial fraud, guilty of hiding hush money payments to porn actress in attempt to influence 2016 elections

1 | ... | 1781 | 1782 | 1783 | 1784 | 1785 | 1786 | 1787 | 1788 | 1789 | 1790 | 1791 | ... | 2317

13925 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#3018040 6-Jan-2023 20:52

https://www.floridabulldog.org/2023/01/two-years-after-the-stop-the-steal-insurrection-what-did-roger-stone-do-with-money/

Astonishing, a convicted felon turns out to be a thief! When is this coward going to prison (again)?

kingdragonfly

11190 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3018044 6-Jan-2023 21:45

Substile "a speaker has not being elected" VIII

Boebert and Hannity Clash, Republicans Turn On Trump Amid GOP Speaker Chaos

Late Night with Seth Meyers: A Closer Look

kingdragonfly

11190 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3018057 6-Jan-2023 22:19

From Wikipedia:

"A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature.

This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers".

They try to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party."

House Republican whip is Tom Emmer, (who apparently loves crypto-currencies)

Here's Tom, in better days.

quickymart

13925 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#3018073 7-Jan-2023 06:13

Oh dear. And this is from a local Arizona paper.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2023/01/06/kari-lake-duly-elected-governor-neverland/69783091007/

quickymart

13925 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#3018093 7-Jan-2023 09:23

McCarthy has gained some votes this morning from the holdouts, but still not enough to reach the magical 218 (per CNN):

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79250 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#3018095 7-Jan-2023 09:24

The "good" Republicans should just vote for Jeffries and stop the circus.

Oh, that's right. Those seem to be hard to find these days.

geekIT

2417 posts

Uber Geek

#3018105 7-Jan-2023 09:40

I don't understand how this Speaker voting works. Democrat Jeffries has been ahead of McCarthy in (AFAIK) almost every round of voting. Why hasn't he won?

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey

quickymart

13925 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#3018106 7-Jan-2023 09:41

The winner needs 218 votes to become speaker.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79250 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#3018109 7-Jan-2023 09:43

The speaker of the House debacle is the Maga revolution eating its children | Jan-Werner Müller | The Guardian

Autocrats around the world, after a pretty bad 2022, must be delighted: just in time for the second anniversary of the Capitol insurrection, the US is providing a spectacle of democratic dysfunction for stunned global audiences to behold. But the Republican faction holding the country hostage – the farthest right inside what de facto has become a far-right party – wants to convince us that this is simply what democracy looks like – messy and frustrating, but all happening for the sake of a better result in the end. The Groundhog Day-style procedures are dignified as – in the words of failed speaker of the House candidate Byron Donalds – a “deliberative, open process” necessary for the “constitutional republic that is America”.

The fact is that the Republicans blocking Kevin McCarthy’s bid for speaker are not crazy when they suggest that good-faith debate within the same political party can be beneficial for a democratic polity. Except that their political performance art is really about a refusal to accept a loss – the very core of the Trumpist playbook. This is not what democracy looks like; this is what acting out a belief in minority rule looks like.

What the anti-McCarthy faction is doing is a miniature version of what the Republican party as a whole has increasingly adopted as a strategy at least since the 1990s: even if your stances are unpopular and you fail to win majorities, you somehow still want to govern. Except that this strategy is now consuming the party’s own leadership; the revolution is devouring both its radical children and the parents, like McCarthy, who benevolently looked on as the kids learned how to rampage during the Trump years.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18657 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3018115 7-Jan-2023 09:54

quickymart:

The winner needs 218 votes to become speaker.

Not exactly. The winner needs a majority of votes cast. If every elected representative votes, as is currently the case, 218 are needed. If some leave or cast a neutral vote, the number needed reduces.

In typical partisan fashion, all Democrat reps are voting for the Democrat, which totals 212 votes. But not all Republicans are voting for McCarthy. If some simply didn't vote, he could win with less than 218. So far that has not been the case. The Democrat could also win with another 6 votes, but no Republican has voted for the Democrat and that is unlikely to happen.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Sideface

9350 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3018117 7-Jan-2023 09:59

The Washington Post - Opinion - McCarthy’s fate is irrelevant. The terrorists have already won.

06 Jan 23

This is insurrection by other means: Two years to the day since the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol, Republicans are still attacking the functioning of government.

McCarthy opened the door to the chaos by excusing Donald Trump’s fomenting of the attack and welcoming a new class of election deniers to his caucus.

Now he’s trying to save his own political ambitions by agreeing to institutionalize the chaos - not just for the next two years but for future congresses as well.

On Thursday, [McCarthy] formally surrendered to the 21 GOP extremists denying him the job.

He agreed to allow any member of the House to force a vote at will to “vacate” his speakership - essentially agreeing to be in permanent jeopardy of losing his job.

He agreed to put rebels on the Rules Committee, giving them sway over what gets a vote on the House floor, and in key committee leadership posts.

He agreed to unlimited amendments to spending bills, inviting two years of mayhem.

He agreed that the McCarthy-aligned super-PAC, the Conservative Leadership Fund, would no longer work against far-right extremists in the vast majority of Republican primaries.

Essentially, McCarthy tried to placate the crazies in his caucus by giving up every tool he had to maintain order in the House.

Sideface

quickymart

13925 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#3018118 7-Jan-2023 10:03

Yes sorry you're right Rikki, I neglected the "present" voting option. CNN has a good explainer here:

Why we could see more “present” votes today?

This is something to watch. The speaker is elected by a majority of the 435-member House, which is normally 218. But "present" votes or absences lower the threshold to reach a majority.

There is already one open seat caused by the death of Virginia Democrat Rep. Donald McEachin. If enough of the 20 hardline Republicans voted "present," it could enable Rep. Kevin McCarthy to win with fewer than 218 votes. Two "present" votes lower the threshold for a majority by one vote.

435 - 1 open seat = 434; 218 is a majority.
434 - 1 "present" vote = 433; 217 is a majority.
434 - 3 "present" votes = 431; 216 is a majority.
434 - 5 "present" votes = 429; 215 is a majority.
434 - 7 "present" votes = 427; 214 is a majority.
434 - 9 "present" votes = 425; 213 is a majority.

However, the trick only works up to this point since the Democratic nominee, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, has had 212 votes. If 11 Republicans voted "present," Jeffries would become House speaker.

That means McCarthy still needs to flip at least 11 Republicans who have voted against him even if the other nine voted “present.”

There are also other reasons a member-elect could vote "present." Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana did it already as a sort of protest of McCarthy. She didn't want to support the hardliners who are trying to block his speakership, but she did want to signal to McCarthy that he needs to wrap this up or move aside.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18657 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3018123 7-Jan-2023 10:22

McCarthy has sold the rest of his soul to the devil and is expected to win the next ballot.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

geekIT

2417 posts

Uber Geek

#3018124 7-Jan-2023 10:26

quickymart:

Why we could see more “present” votes today. This is something to watch. The speaker is elected by a majority of the 435-member House, which is normally 218. But "present" votes or absences lower the threshold to reach a majority.

Aha! So a 'Present' vote means, 'I'm here but I'm not voting for anyone'.

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey

quickymart

13925 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#3018132 7-Jan-2023 10:43

Rikkitic:

McCarthy has sold the rest of his soul to the devil and is expected to win the next ballot.

He's going to find it extremely difficult as Speaker to get anything done though. Hell even Nancy Pelosi never had it this tough.

1 | ... | 1781 | 1782 | 1783 | 1784 | 1785 | 1786 | 1787 | 1788 | 1789 | 1790 | 1791 | ... | 2317