# And the Republicans Show That They Are Not Serious About Governement **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631 "2010-03-24T15:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/21 "2010-03-24T17:52:42Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I apologize to the person who works in **C3** ’s doctor’s office…obviously that person wouldn’t be the one who decided not to accept “the new national healthcare plan”. That would have to be the proprietor/doctor, which actually makes it even WORSE! My god…if I’d heard that about my doctor’s office they’d be losing at least four patients immediately. No one that stupid is sticking sharp things in my body. Yes, it is the doctor (this is a pediatrician’s office, by the way) that’s leading the way, but the “person I know” (who, I will admit, is my aunt) is totally on board and all excited about her part in the Revolution! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/22 "2010-03-24T17:58:38Z")
Hope she’s equally excited about her part in the unemployment office line. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/23 "2010-03-24T18:04:27Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Erm… I’m kind of in favor of that one. Of COURSE you’re in favor of it. That’s the whole point. The Democrats are forced to vote Nay on these amendments, or else start the whole shebang over again. Then when election season rolls around, it’s “Senator So-and-So is in favor of giving Viagra to rapists and child molesters!” ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/24 "2010-03-24T18:09:07Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Erm… I’m kind of in favor of that one. Lots of people are. The problem is that 1. It can’t be passed without going back to the House 2. It can’t be passed at all under the rules of reconciliation (which the Republicans are distinctly aware is the case) 3. And here’s the seven hundred million dollar reason: Congressman Democrat is in favor of helping violent sexual offenders keep committing crimes…is this the sort of person you want representing you in Washington? Vote Mr. Republican to the Senate in November. He’ll protect your children. ETA: or…er…what Drain Bead said in about half as many words as I did. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/25 "2010-03-24T18:12:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > When was the Justice Department not a political entity, again? This is exactly so. So why talk about how politicized it is now when it’s always been that way? > [@](#): > > Anyway, what the hell is an “apolitical” person? Somebody who doesn’t vote? Perhaps you mean career lawyers… like Eric Holder (formerly also a member of the judiciary), Elena Kagan, David Ogden and Thomas Perelli? Not necessarily career lawyers. There are lots of them that advocate for specific causes and organizations largely because of their political beliefs. I’m thinking of attorneys that execute the policies that they work under without prejudice, or attorneys that have a base of published works that may favor one position or another but are based upon jurisprudence rather than political beliefs. It is not terribly difficult to find people like that. But a political party actively seeks people who agree with their particular bent, which only makes sense when the goal is to shape the legal system or to retain power. That’s not to say that they can’t go in an apolitical direction, rather that they won’t. And since they won’t, again, it’s absurd to maliciously accuse one party of politicization when it is a common characteristic of all involved. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/26 "2010-03-24T18:36:20Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > This is exactly so. So why talk about how politicized it is now when it’s always been that way? Because there have always been political appointments there and career, apolitical ones. What shifted was the politicization of the career appointments. We were told in 2003/4 by our career services department at law school to make damn sure we were Federalist Society Members if we were going to apply. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/27 "2010-03-24T18:48:02Z")
It hasn’t been polarized to THIS extent, **Airman**. This is not business as usual. It’s a whole new level. Mitch McConnel decided that the Republicans would unify against any kind of HCR even before Obama was sworn in. The content of the legislation was irrelevant. The Republicans have now abandoned even the _pretense_ of normal government and are simply putting on a full court press to stop Obama from achieving _anything_, even if they would normally ideologically agree with it. The HRC Bill was filled with Republican additions and left out the thing Dems wanted most (a public option), but all we’re hearing from the Republicans is that it was “jammed down our throats.” This complete desertion of any attempt to actually do their jobs and try to craft legislation in order to focus purely on an all out, _ad hominem_ assault on the President is something new, not old. Dems didn’t flat out refuse to work with Bush. Pubs didn’t do it to Clinton. Dems didn’t do it to Reagan. This is new. It’s incredibly short-sighted too, since they will never get a filibuster proof majority in both houses, so their best case scenario would involve payback in kind, not a gusher of new conservative legislation. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/28 "2010-03-24T19:07:04Z")
Jesus, what a bunch of [fuckin’ crybaby sore losers](http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/24/senate/index.html): > [@](#): > > For the second day in a row, GOP lawmakers used an obscure Senate rule to prevent committees from meeting more than 2 hours after the chamber convened its business or after 2 p.m. Eastern. That’s technically against the rules, but usually lawmakers agree to let those meetings go on anyway. Not this week. So an Armed Services panel hearing on U.S. Pacific Command and policy toward North Korea, scheduled for 2:30 p.m.? Canceled. An appropriations subcommittee meeting on the budget for the Office of Personnel Management? Not happening. The same fate befell a hearing on contracts for training the Afghan national police, another on how a Drug Enforcement Administration crackdown on bogus prescriptions is affecting pain management for nursing home patients and a meeting to discuss two judicial nominations. (At least the potential judges must be used to the delays; the GOP has already slowed judicial confirmations down as much as possible.) > > What makes the tactic a little mystifying is that it does nothing at all to block consideration of the healthcare reform bill. The Senate is chugging through 20 required hours of debate on the bill now. Committees have nothing to do with it. Republicans are already busy filing silly amendments to do things like ban rapists from getting the government to pay for Viagra, or to require the District of Columbia to hold a referendum on the city’s new law allowing gay marriage. (Raise your hand if you can figure out how that one relates to healthcare reform.) Those ploys, at least, can screw up the healthcare bill or delay a final vote on passage. But stopping committees from meeting just looks petulant. > > “It’s pure unadulterated obstructionism for the sake of obstructionism,” Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Salon. In a separate statement, he mocked the GOP. “Let me get this straight: in retaliation for our efforts to have an up-or-down vote to improve health care reform, Republicans are blocking an Armed Services committee hearing to discuss critical national security issues?” Manley said… > > Expect hijinks like that to continue for the rest of the week. And expect Democrats to vote to pass the healthcare reform budget reconciliation package when all is said and done, regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/29 "2010-03-24T19:13:21Z")
I would love to hear any of our resident Republicans (or quasi-Republicans like **Sam Stone** ) try to defend that shit. Isn’t there anything Reid can do to stop this bullshit? Jesus, what children. Don’t try to tell me that the lunatic fringe isn’t running that party. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/30 "2010-03-24T20:02:39Z")
As far as repeal goes, I think they’re doubling down. When the rest passes, as it will, they don’t want to admit they fought 14 months for nothing, especially when they had everyone convinced it would lose. So they bray about repeal so as to cover up their screwup, confident that their target audience is too stupid and innumerate to realize repeal is impossible. In that, they are right. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/31 "2010-03-24T20:04:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Isn’t there anything Reid can do to stop this bullshit? Not until January 2011. Rules can’t be changed midterm without 60 votes (or is it 66? No matter). > [@](#): > > Jesus, what children. Don’t try to tell me that the lunatic fringe isn’t running that party. If they’re running it, they’re not the fringe, by definition. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/32 "2010-03-24T20:23:42Z")
Well, some cars are mid-engined, some are rear-engined, but most are front-engined… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/33 "2010-03-24T20:27:15Z")
“Government is like a car. Select R to go backward, D to go forward.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/34 "2010-03-24T20:28:16Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > “Government is like a car. Select R to go backward, D to go forward.” > > 😃 So the Japanese government never stops? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/35 "2010-03-24T20:30:53Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I would love to hear any of our resident Republicans (or quasi-Republicans like **Sam Stone** ) try to defend that shit. Please. I don’t see how this kind of crap is possibly defendable; if it is a solid healthy working democracy that you want, it has got to go. ---
**Author:** ![Vambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vambo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/36 "2010-03-24T20:37:14Z")
I see a separation due to irreconcilable differences. It’s brewing in Canada too and has nothing to do with the Quebec separation question. That the Republicans are rudderless only allows the nastiness that has been bubbling just below the surface to show. The Democrates are learning to fight fire with fire, slowly and before long the war for North America will begin. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/37 "2010-03-24T21:08:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I would love to hear any of our resident Republicans (or quasi-Republicans like **Sam Stone** ) try to defend that shit. > > Isn’t there anything Reid can do to stop this bullshit? Jesus, what children. Don’t try to tell me that the lunatic fringe isn’t running that party. I’m just remembering with interest [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536360) which noted that a certain Senator was trying to get movement on a bill about employment contract arbitration by linking the issue to a horrific case of rape. The politics of the issue were pretty clear - vote against the bill and you appeared to be supporting rape, sexual abuse and all kinds of nasty things. This was pointed out - and didn’t trouble you in the least. Proof is in the link. I’ve said before on these boards that while I may wish for a more civil political sphere I will not advocate for unilateral disarmament for my side. Putting on the gloves when your opponent has bare knuckles and a crowbar isn’t smart. So I’m happy Senator Coburn did this, and I hope he keeps it coming. I recall that Senator Coburn worked with Senator Obama on major legislation in the past, so he isn’t opposed to such and presumably will support it again sometime. But if the Democrats insist on passing this kind of legislation in this kind of way, and even do things like stage a health care summit [with no intention of working bipartisan solutions out](http://www.slate.com/id/2248735/) then that may have to wait a time. I realize this won’t be a popular answer. Tough. It is the same answer you’d get from about half the country, and more polite than some. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/38 "2010-03-24T21:30:16Z")
What are these bipartisan solutions of which you speak? Please tell me what the Republicans wanted besides to “start over”? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/39 "2010-03-24T22:05:15Z")
He ain’t got shit. No Republican does. They decided to try and sink Obama’s presidency a year ago, and now they’re just sad that it didn’t work,\* this time\*. They’ll be trying again, because that’s all they have. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631/40 "2010-03-25T00:58:10Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > He ain’t got shit. No Republican does. They decided to try and sink Obama’s presidency a year ago, and now they’re just sad that it didn’t work,\* this time\*. They’ll be trying again, because that’s all they have. The Republican outrage every day seems to be increasingly of the nature of “hey, _they_ can’t do that. Only _we_ can do that. Why aren’t they playing fair?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republicans-show-that-they-are-not-serious-about-governement/533631.md?page=3)