Posted on 01/08/2023 4:52:08 AM PST by MtnClimber
Expect the changes to the people’s business-as-usual to be mostly cosmetic under Kevin McCarthy’s reign as speaker of the House.
"If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” That seems to be Kevin McCarthy’s favorite mantra. Friday night, on the 15th vote for speaker of the House, he finally got his moist little palm around Nancy Pelosi’s still-warm gavel. Welcome to the new Republican-ish speaker of the House!
The contest was brutal, occasionally absurd, and the occasion of hilarity and consternation among the punditocracy on both the Right and the Left. The Left clucked their tongues about the “chaos” on view on the other side of the aisle. Some among the GOP agreed and wondered why “their side” could not govern as effectively as the Democrats. Would Nancy Pelosi have put up with this level of dissension among the Democratic rank and file? Others said, no, no, the 20 freedom caucus members (and others) holding up the inevitable were just giving the world a reality show, live-action look at how “democracy” (if not quite Our Democracy™) works and should work.
I am of two minds about that. My own take is that McCarthy is an unreliable ally for those on the Right. He was only too happy to shovel billions of your and your children’s money to Ukraine while doing little to secure our southern border. McCarthy is from California, so, naturally, he likes to spend money. He even got behind such improvident and mendacious schemes as raiding Medicare to pay for the U.S. Postal Service. He was happy to fund the January 6 kangaroo court, grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, and support mandates for the useless—indeed, dangerous—COVID vaccine for the military. In plain terms, his voting record is only intermittently conservative.
Kevin McCarthy, in short, is a swamp creature masquerading as a swamp critic. The Swamp loves its own, and so it was no surprise that McCarthy eventually prevailed, just barely. He did so at considerable cost to the power of the speaker’s office but also considerable benefit to people who care about accountability.
McCarthy had to make many concessions to his vociferous opponents in order to entice enough of them to his side (or in the case of a couple, to absent themselves from the House so that McCarthy could win with fewer than 218 votes). Henceforth, a single Congressman can move to remove the speaker. A new committee modeled after the “Church Committee” will be empaneled to investigate abuse by the FBI, the CIA, and other intelligence services. More generally, three members of the Freedom Caucus are guaranteed seats on the nine member and all important Rules Committee. That’s not a majority, but it is an agenda-influencing percentage.
There were other important concessions, though how and indeed whether they will happen is not clear. I am keen on term limits, and so were the holdouts. They got McCarthy to agree to put the matter to a vote, though I don’t know anyone who believes that this popular idea (popular with those not holding office, that is) has a ghost of a chance of passing.
More promising is the agreement to end the profligate and insulting practice of passing huge “omnibus” spending packages at the last possible moment so that, as Nancy Pelosi said about a previous assault on fiscal sanity, you “have to pass it to know what is in it.” Henceforth, or so it was agreed, members of Congress will get at least 72 hours to read bills before they are required to vote on them. That is bad for earmarks, good for accountability.
The bottom line is that McCarthy’s prerogatives as speaker have been curtailed, which is a good thing. Also, he has made public promises on important matters that it will be difficult to walk away from without cost. At the same time, I get the distinct feeling that not a lot is going to change. Will there be a meaningful investigation of the January 6 protest at the Capitol? (Where was Nancy Pelosi? Why was the offer of deploying the National Guard not accepted? Who, finally, is Ray Epps and was he correct in saying he “orchestrated” the protest and entry into the Capitol?) Will the partisan and grotesquely un-democratic actions of the January 6 committee presided over by anti-Trump fanatics receive the scrutiny they deserve? I doubt it.
I expect the changes to the people’s business-as-usual to be mostly cosmetic under the reign of this new McCarthyism. I might, of course, be proved wrong. I hope I will be.
Above all, what just happened in Washington reminded me that Democrats as a group understand power and how to use it much better than Republicans do. The 18th-century Whig writer and politician Horace Walpole once remarked that “no country was ever saved by good men, because good men will not go to the length that may be necessary.” That Machiavellian observation may be unedifying. It may also be true. I note that Donald Trump, much to the surprise of some, endorsed McCarthy after the third vote ended in failure. Trump’s support did not seem to move the needle much one way or the other. Perhaps that is a sign of his faltering political support. Perhaps it is a sign of his canniness. We’ll know the answer to that soon.
I hope that kevin took note of the level of opposition that his swampy image has caused. I hope members keep reminding him that if he does not grow a conservative backbone that they will unite to oust him.
Rush couldn't have said it better.
Trump was making calls to the holdouts the night McCarthy won the vote.
By working this hard for McCarthy, Trump has left me looking for someone else for 2024. If someone is available, they will get my primary support.
No one remembers the chaos and consternation that the Democratic Party faced with the emergence of the ‘squad’ in their fight. There never was a fight for leadership within the Democratic Majority. It was hyped up just like the situation now with the Republicans. The Uniparty is big on projection of fighting within the ranks, but the reality is that the same old folks are running the country. And it ain’t the ‘people’.
John Bolton is running. DeSantis is running. Pence is running. Pompeo is running. and who knows the other ‘candidates’ that the uni=party is offering to you. But the one they are pushing is DeSantis. I wonder why that is? The whole trick is to throw a shiny object out there to give the appearance of a ‘conservative protagonist and then destroy them as soon as the people are fooled. Don’t look behind the curtain because it is the same old man pushing the buttons.
I LOVE Trump however this last move of backing McCarthy has left me lacking in enthusiasm for him lately!! McCarthy is utter SCUM, BACKSTABBING SCUM!!!
Sessions, Barr, Wray, Romney, Graham...all RINO backstabbers. Now McCarthy. Trump NEVER learns. If only he would lobby for the J6 political prisoners half as much as he did for McCarthy. If only RINOs could fight Democrats half as much as they fight America First.
If I had to guess, I’d say that Trump was helping McCarthy so that after McCarthy won, Trump could say “You owe me”. But I think this was foolish. McCarthy is a backstabber. Even if Trump had single-handedly given the speakership to McCarthy (he didn’t), McCarthy would still be a Deep State tool dedicated to destroying Trump. There never was any up-side to supporting him.
Bolton, Pence and Pompeo are non-starters.
DeSantis is proving that he is a strong conservative governor who knows how to take on the smear and lies of the left.
One reason he gets support is because he is electable and a rising star.
Kristi Noem may run and she has proven credentials.
Trump is not up to this job anymore.
He doesn’t and will not. There are 201 fellow congressmen that stood firm with him throughout all the votes. They are the swamp too. They don’t give two shites about you or your children. They don’t care about freedom. They willingly spend you and your children’s futures into oblivion.
I’m completely fed up with Republicans. I’m tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I will be completely clear about Trump too. I now categorize him as the lesser of evils. I’ve thought about this and what little I can do. The door is wide open now. Trump has to earn my vote. That begins with campaigning for cuts in spending and cuts in government. The way to get rid of the swamp is by making them unemployed. Although, the argument needs to be made before that happens. Trump needs to make that argument. All Republicans need to make that argument.
Since we are stuck with increased government spending for a year given Republicans caving on the omnibus appropriations bill, we have to wait and see what they do. I have about zero expectation that next year’s spending will be equal or less than this year’s. Republican reputations are ruined. It takes action to fix that.
Currently, Republicans are different from Democrats in one way. They are willing to spend America into oblivion slower than Democrats. Eff that. I’m almost of the mindset of that to just let everything fall apart so people understand what has caused America’s demise so things can be started anew and with the potential for my grandchildren to live in a better America than it is now.
What a maroon, what a word salad rant.
Was McCarthy elected Speaker or not?
I voted for Trump twice. He was a fantastic POTUS.
Like many FReepers, I came around to Trump late in the primary because I did not trust him. I lived in NYC and heard plenty of interviews where he expressed leftist views. He was invited to Chelsea Clinton’s wedding and attended.
But his repeated losses and inability to fight against ballot harvesting, his attacks on DeSantis days before the 2022 midterms, his support for Dr Azz and his support for McCarthy have ended my support for Trump.
Instead of defending Trump’s strong efforts to make McCarthy speaker, you try to attack me for not liking it.
It shows you are vapid.
I'll take vapid over fickle and untrustworthy seven ways to Sunday, goulash.
Enough with the lies. McCarthy was am American hero.
The old McCarthy was a hero. The new one is scum.
Yes indeed!
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