Kevin McCarthy DROPS OUT, the House GOP in absolute chaos

[Mr. Morden]

Probably false, but it'd be hilarious if it wasn't.

Looks like that story has been deleted, but from the URL, it looks like it was about Renee Elmers.  So for those who are unaware...

A GOP donor has apparently alleged that Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Renee Ellmers had an extramarital affair:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/renee-ellmers-affair-rumor-kevin-mccarthy-thanks-gop-lawmakers-for-support-214607

The donor is described as “a discredited troublemaker” by those in McCarthy’s orbit, however:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Bob Livingston 2.0?

[Joe Republic]

"Absolute chaos", you say?  Don Young has no time for such nonsense; he has places to be.

[TJ in Oregon]

[TJ in Oregon]

It's intolerable that any small faction can hold the whole House hostage.

No, it's totally deserved. Establishment ought to have raised years ago and primary every single mmber of the Liberty Caucus.

It's a self-inflicted wound.

That's the thing, the GOP establishment was oblivious to the festering problem 5 years ago when they still had the chance to stop it. They were riding the Tea Party wave and didn't seem to care that the hard right's promises kept getting more and more impossible to achieve.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

NO.

And it'd be strange to be missing him before he has even actually left....

[Torie]

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

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The GOP is essentially holding him hostage lmao

[mencken]

It's intolerable that any small faction can hold the whole House hostage.

No, it's totally deserved. Establishment ought to have raised years ago and primary every single mmber of the Liberty Caucus.

It's a self-inflicted wound.

I am sure that would have gone over wonderfully for the Republican Party to endanger the reelection of the people who best represent their base. You would have seen dozens more Dave Brats in that scenario.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The GOP is essentially holding him hostage lmao

Well, at this point he has nothing to lose, so why not use his powers for good and bring to the floor compromise bills that can get passed with Democrat support?

[Green Line]

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.

[TJ in Oregon]

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.

That would embolden them like nothing else. Heck, I would support the Freedom Caucus if Obama tried to do that.

[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?

[Green Line]

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?

Yes but Obama has already proven all of that Constitution stuff to be irrelevant in taking executive action.  One more couldn't hurt, right?

[TJ in Oregon]

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?

Yes but Obama has already proven all of that Constitution stuff to be irrelevant in taking executive action.  One more couldn't hurt, right?

Sure but this would be a whole 'nother order of magnitude. Like, an armed rebellion might be likely at the point when the president can arrest sitting congressmen for treason and declare their seats vacant for opposing his political policies.

[hopper]

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.

That's "The House Freedom Caucus".

[hopper]

The GOP is essentially holding him hostage lmao

Well, at this point he has nothing to lose, so why not use his powers for good and bring to the floor compromise bills that can get passed with Democrat support?

Yeah I hear that "Immigration Reform Bill" is in a drawer somewhere collecting dust.

[hopper]

It's intolerable that any small faction can hold the whole House hostage.

No, it's totally deserved. Establishment ought to have raised years ago and primary every single mmber of the Liberty Caucus.

It's a self-inflicted wound.

Again its not "The Liberty Caucus" its "The House Freedom Caucus" they are 2 different Caucuses.

[hopper]

It's intolerable that any small faction can hold the whole House hostage.

No, it's totally deserved. Establishment ought to have raised years ago and primary every single mmber of the Liberty Caucus.

It's a self-inflicted wound.

That's the thing, the GOP establishment was oblivious to the festering problem 5 years ago when they still had the chance to stop it. They were riding the Tea Party wave and didn't seem to care that the hard right's promises kept getting more and more impossible to achieve.

The Tea Party Caucus, and "The House Freedom Caucus"  are 2 different caucuses. If it was "The Tea Party Caucus" that would have led to Boehner's ouster Boehner would have been finished as Speaker a long time ago.

[hopper]

I'm not talking about the Republican Party platform, Wulfric. Or even conservatism.

The Republican Congress needs to be taken out back and shot.

They are just fundamentally not serious about governing.

You're right.  The Republican Congress doesn't fight Obama hard enough and actually force him to veto bills, putting him and the Democratic party on the record on the wrong side of public opinion.  Instead, they've been preemptively surrendering on things like the Iran treaty, where the mushy establishment created a rule that only 1/3rd of the Congress is needed to ratify a treaty instead of the constitutionally required 2/3rds.  This has justifiably enraged the Republican base, and is coming back to haunt the establishment wing of the Republican party.  While it's not clear whether the infidelity allegations or his gaffes are truly what did McCarthy in, the establishment wing of the party is reaping what it sows.  

Why is compromise always a one-way street, where conservatives must always yield to so-called moderates?

I will honestly agree. The Republicans have control of both chambers and Obama's veto pen is gathering dust. If they can't get bills to a Democratic President's desk for veto, why should I believe they'll get bills to a Republican President's desk for signage?

They are not serious about governing.

Well they did get one bill to his desk that he vetoed which was "The Keystone Pipe Line" which he vetoed. Obama always threatens a veto.

Why should you believe that the Republicans will get bills to a Republican Presidents desk? Because a Republican is President would be the answer.

[hopper]

I'm not talking about the Republican Party platform, Wulfric. Or even conservatism.

The Republican Congress needs to be taken out back and shot.

They are just fundamentally not serious about governing.

You're right.  The Republican Congress doesn't fight Obama hard enough and actually force him to veto bills, putting him and the Democratic party on the record on the wrong side of public opinion.  Instead, they've been preemptively surrendering on things like the Iran treaty, where the mushy establishment created a rule that only 1/3rd of the Congress is needed to ratify a treaty instead of the constitutionally required 2/3rds.  This has justifiably enraged the Republican base, and is coming back to haunt the establishment wing of the Republican party.  While it's not clear whether the infidelity allegations or his gaffes are truly what did McCarthy in, the establishment wing of the party is reaping what it sows.  

Why is compromise always a one-way street, where conservatives must always yield to so-called moderates?

Its called "The Iran Nuclear Agreement" there isn't the word "Treaty" in the title of the bill so therefore it doesn't require 2/3 of a House or Senate Majority. Every Republican voted against "The Iran Nuclear Agreement" so what else do you want? The Republican Base is still mad about "ObamaCare" even though every Republican voted against it at the time. What can you do?

[hopper]

Like someone said on twitter "Benghazi committee tries to take out Hillary, takes out McCarthy instead".

It goes something like that, yeah.

[hopper]

Kevin McCarthy is just a joke. He can't do anything about the Black Lion.

Who is "The Black Lion"? Is that a rapper?

[Bacon King]

You know you could have put that all in one post

[Türkisblau]

You know you could have put that all in one post

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

[Landslide Lyndon]

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?

Yes but Obama has already proven all of that Constitution stuff to be irrelevant in taking executive action.  One more couldn't hurt, right?

And we wonder why the Republican party is such a mess when one of its voters writes with a straight face all that BS.