Re: dysfunction junction
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 11:00 pm
actually, I want not so much to 'save the GOP' but some semblance of a functional second party. Right now, In Delaware, we have one-party rule, thanks to a Tea Party hijack of the state GOP. It always makes me uneasy when one party(in our case, the Dems) doesn't have to work to win elections.
Still, on the topic, I heard an option last night which I'd never considered. Sit down for this one, Pud. Apparently, while Boehner has agreed to stick around for a few extra weeks as both a Congressman and Speaker(note, you lose a GOP vote when he departs), he claims that he will not do so for long. Without an elected Speaker, you can't convene the House, and for all intents, Congress is shut down(I bet they'll somehow keep getting paid). Most in the House don't wish it to get to that, but the growing sense is that there are far more entrenched 'traditional' Republcans than there are 'Tea Party' hardliners. Further, apparently there are enough of them willing to take the risk in the primaries to seek out a compromise Speakership with the Dems. That would NOT mean Pelosi as Speaker, but WOULD likely entail a power sharing arrangement around committee chairs, the whole nine yards. It would, as is this whole Speakership debacle, be unprecedented, uncharted waters. As a political wonk, this is all great fun to watch. This is History happening before your eyes.......either way, we'll all pay the price for whatever clusterfuck emerges, so you may as well enjoy the spectacle.
Still, on the topic, I heard an option last night which I'd never considered. Sit down for this one, Pud. Apparently, while Boehner has agreed to stick around for a few extra weeks as both a Congressman and Speaker(note, you lose a GOP vote when he departs), he claims that he will not do so for long. Without an elected Speaker, you can't convene the House, and for all intents, Congress is shut down(I bet they'll somehow keep getting paid). Most in the House don't wish it to get to that, but the growing sense is that there are far more entrenched 'traditional' Republcans than there are 'Tea Party' hardliners. Further, apparently there are enough of them willing to take the risk in the primaries to seek out a compromise Speakership with the Dems. That would NOT mean Pelosi as Speaker, but WOULD likely entail a power sharing arrangement around committee chairs, the whole nine yards. It would, as is this whole Speakership debacle, be unprecedented, uncharted waters. As a political wonk, this is all great fun to watch. This is History happening before your eyes.......either way, we'll all pay the price for whatever clusterfuck emerges, so you may as well enjoy the spectacle.