I love this headline: "The House speaker fiasco shows that Republicans are unable to govern"

[FSogol]

Last edited Wed Jan 4, 2023, 02:08 PM - Edit history (1)

After a new session begins, the first order of business for the House of Representatives is to pick a speaker. For a century this has been a mere formality, with the party in power having enough organization and respect for the country to move swiftly on to other matters. But on Tuesday the Republican party broke this streak of basic competence, failing in three separate ballots to come up with the votes to install Kevin McCarthy, the presumed frontrunner, as speaker.

With the group of hard-right irreconcilables opposing McCarthy getting larger rather than smaller as the day went on, it quickly became clear that the wannabe speaker had no plan for breaking the deadlock. If he hoped that his opponents would eventually tire of symbolism and bow down to practical reality, he was mistaken – for a large group of Republican lawmakers, particularly those in the far-right Freedom Caucus, symbolism is the entire purpose of holding office. They came to Washington not to construct but to destruct, and taking down McCarthy is just the beginning.

The spectacle of a party unable to even decide who should lead it is illuminating to voters, and Democrats should certainly celebrate these Republican misfortunes. It was the Democrats’ surprisingly strong performance in the fall’s midterms which put Republicans in this position to begin with. Having only a thin majority in the House means that McCarthy can easily be held hostage by his party’s most far-right members – not a good look for a party already suffering from the perception that it is extreme and out of touch.

But Republican irresponsibility doesn’t just endanger the party’s own electoral prospects – it also endangers the country. America needs a functioning House of Representatives with a responsible speaker in order to discharge basic functions like funding the government and increasing the debt limit. The stakes are huge, and gridlock is not an option. The last shutdown cost the economy $11bn, and a failure to increase the debt limit could be even worse, leading to the US defaulting on its debt and shattering the global economy.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/04/republicans-split-congress-govern-far-right

[Nac Mac Feegle]

1. The Republican Party has no wish to govern

They mean to rule. By any means necessary.

[ananda]

2. They were never able to govern.. and never planned to do so.

They want to go after Dems and act like bullies and
whiners the whole time.

[Stuart G]

3. Yes, the Republicans are fools, total fools. Proof: Last President before Biden..

and they fooled much of the country, 2015 election below, ..........But not my state of Illinois...

https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/president

[FSogol]

5. Thanks, I copied the link, but forgot to paste it. n/t

[sl8]

6. I do that, far too often. :) nt