Kevin McCarthy DROPS OUT, the House GOP in absolute chaos

[Torie]

Maybe if there is a God, Ryan will accept the Speakership, even though it will deflect from his more important work. I say that, because he has the gravitas and respect, that he will have more room to discipline the nutters, than anyone else in the House.  You can't shut down the government because you refuse to raise the debt limit, etc. And he is in a position, that he need not give the Freedom Caucus their pound of flesh. He does not need to promise anything to them, or anyone else.

Another alternative, is to let the chaos continue, until the moderate Pubs can cut a deal with blue dog Dems to get someone in, who will govern sensibly. It's intolerable that any small faction can hold the whole House hostage.

[Torie]

Boehner is not leaving until a replacement is selected, so he may end up being in place for a long time, poor thing.

[Torie]

The Freedom Club Republicans are out of control and threatening the stability of the government.  Obama should use his executive power to arrest them all for treason and declare their seats vacant.

Putting aside the wisdom of that (nutter), three factual errors in the above come to mind: 1) there is no executive power to arrest absent an indictment, requiring the involvement of the judicial branch, and of course the prosecutors office to pursue one, 2) refusing to elect a speaker or refusing to raise the debt limit, or whatever, is an exercise of legislative power set forth in the Constitution, and thus no crime at all, much less treason, and 3) Congress declares seats vacant, not the executive branch, and that would never happen absent conviction. Who knew?

[Torie]

You know you could have put that all in one post

Could 8 posts in a row by 1 user be a new record?

It must be. I am kind of surprised post padders have not thought of that approach before. Just break up one post, into ten!  If this becomes a fad, maybe we will need to come up with another term of use.

[Torie]

Dent v Brat on the Meet the Press can be watched here. Click on the image labeled GOP v GOP for Control of the Party. It was quite a food fight. Dent and Brat don't have much patience with each other. And Brat has a series of 10 demands Ryan must meet to get his vote. Pity none of the questioners focused on the matter of what happens if nothing gets passed, and then the government shuts down, as to what happens then. Playing out scenarios to the end game, and the consequences, seems to be the really salient issue. Dent did mention that some of it seems to be to let those who want to govern take the hit, and deliver the vote, to get something passed, so that the hard liners can crow they stayed true to Pub principles, without having to endure the consequences of the failure to govern at all. Let others take the hit, so that they can posture themselves as true blue and principled, rather than "Washington insider" trimmers.

[Torie]

Is there a chance Dent could be targeted for a primary? He's becoming awfully exposed.

Nah, PA is a machine state pretty much, and beyond that, just like in NY, that zone has more than its share of more moderate Pubs. I notice that almost every NY Pub Congressperson is in the Main Street Partnership, a more moderate group, for example. And he is very articulate. It makes no sense to shut the government down making demands that the public will never support, and won't even pass the Senate. The smart thing to do, is negotiate a budget that will pass the Senate, which is not subject to a filibuster, that has popular appeal, and then if Obama refuses to sign it, the onus of shutting down the government is on him. And that means all entitlements need to be funded (including Obamacare), because entitlements are a matter of law, and one needs new laws to change them, which will not happen while Obama is President. If you want entitlement reform, elect a Pub POTUS. You fail to do that, then no entitlement reform. That is how democracy works, and should work.

[Torie]

If the rumor mill is right, Ryan is taking the right approach vis a vis the Freedom Caucus. He might entertain some procedural changes, but will not start horse trading on policy in order to give the Freedom Caucus their pound of policy flesh. No Speaker I would think would be electable who goes anyway near there. When the Freedom Caucus will get the memo on that, remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Boehner sits in place, and should screw the FC every chance he gets, and totally marginalize them. That is what any group deserves when despite being a small minority of the Pub ranks, is holding them all hostage with their demands. I also hear rumors that business interests are telling some of them that they will be primaried, if they don't fold their cards on this one.

Here is  more chatter that suggests Ryan will just do it.