Boehner swells in House rank

As of next year, he will be the offical Speaker of the House.

It'll be interesting. Pelosi had a reputation for always scavenging up the votes she needs, but Boehner may be too hard-headed and bloated ego-wise to do the job effectively. But who knows, maybe he'll rise to the occasion.

Face it. Dick jokes are more productive than debating politics on an internet forum where everyone save for 1-2 people is below the age of 25, all agree with each other and hate the party who just won.

edited 2nd Nov '10 9:31:14 PM by Angrbor

May that repulsive creature come to regret his actions.

^ u mad?

Pelosi threw away her "mandate to govern" on shit that was politically unpopular and prone to backlash. To say nothing about unrestrained fiscal irresponsibility.

Unrestrained fiscal irresponsibility? That's just following the grand traditions of the Bush administration.

^ And that was not liked by a great many conservatives.

It's a strawman to say we were in lockstep with Bush on absolutely everything.

inb4 lock I guess?

What Tom said - not all conservatives - or liberals - agree with everything their party preaches.

Of course they don't.

They just all vote that way!

Yes, because elected officials always do what the people who voted for them expect.

Well, do you vote for issues, or do you vote for congressmen? If you vote for congressmen, are your votes whatever their votes are? Because, if so, when you vote for a Republican congressmen, your votes are the same votes that the congressman does, and since Republican Congressmen apparently always side with their own party (with exaggeration of always being a little much), you can pretty much say Republicans always vote with their party. Well, not always. But very frequently.

since Republican Congressmen apparently always side with their own party

They do now. It used to be a bit different.

Note the non-past non-future tense ;D

They used to say that herding Democrats was like herding cats, but I think it's more like herding Republicans is now like herding empty cardboard boxes.

However, there's a small chance that some of those boxes have gained sentience and weight. Though ironically their int score may have decreased.

edited 4th Nov '10 12:57:16 AM by GlennMagusHarvey

Left wing parties in most countries is like herding cats, lots of views and not much centralisation. It's kinda the point of being more liberal anyways.

I guess for this new speaker, it's a wait and see. I just hope he's not going to become "I hate healthcare" one-issue man. America's got a lot of stuff to do.

^ Yeah like undoing the damage 4 years of the Democratic House of Representatives did to our financial future. We're on the same road as Greece and all the other debt ridden austerity-forced nations in Europe and if we don't restrain our spending we will be bankrupt within very short order.

Blatant Lies, Tom, but if it makes you better to feel that way, go right ahead. I can't help but notice that Republicans have been on that particular fantasy trip every time there's a Democratic White House/Congress, yet it has miraculously failed to happen.

I read an MSNBC blog today (Red Tape Chronicles, if anyone cares) that asserts that the greatest financial problem we face today is the 10 million pending foreclosures, which the Democrats attempted to solve with the largely failed HAMP program but the Republicans have failed to address at all.

Incidentally (but predictably, if you follow Sullivan), the blog lays the blame for HAMP's embarassing track record at the feet of the banks who fail to complete modifications, followed by the failure of regulators to force them to do so. Of course, Republicans want to let the banks do whatever and gut regulators, so hey, things can only improve.

edited 4th Nov '10 11:32:52 AM by Fighteer

^ In 4 years we went from 7 trillion and change in national debt to over 13. 5+ trillion dollars of unaccounted for waste and deficits by the Democratic controlled Congress and that's supposed to be reassuring of the future of our country's finances?

He's from nearly the same generation of politician as Pelosi (both elected before the '94 revolution). I don't see how he's "swelling" really, since he is minority leader and it's not uncommon for minority leaders to take top positions once they're not in the minority anymore.

Yeah, and you can thank Dubya and his lax regulatory policies for the financial crisis that led to that spending. Not to mention two unproductive wars. I suppose you're from the fiscal philosophy that believes you can save your way out of a recession. If you truly believe that then there's no point in debating with you.

Edit: Dammit, I got trolled by Tom again. Gotta stop.

edited 4th Nov '10 11:39:28 AM by Fighteer

^ Well recent events have made it abundantly clear we cannot spend our way out of this downturn. We've thrown trillions at it and have little to show for it.

Not enough trillions, thanks to the Republicans gutting recovery efforts. This is one place where Keynesian economics comes to the forefront. You recover from a recession by stimulating demand. Lowering taxes does not stimulate demand nearly as much as increased direct spending, because the primary beneficiaries of reduced taxes are the rich who save it rather than spend it.

Anyway, Obama did lower taxes.

edited 4th Nov '10 11:42:28 AM by Fighteer

The stimulus package was practically nothing but tax cuts.

This thread is an On-Topic conversation based on a pun relating to erections.

How has this not been locked yet?

They used to say that herding Democrats was like herding cats, but I think it's more like herding Republicans is now like herding empty cardboard boxes.

American politics is Maru! (I wish.)

^^ OTC = On-Topic Conversations. Nothing more, nothing less. I suggest you quit being so stiff. Like Boehner.