Yeah, the guy who gave coveted committee seats to “Jewish Space Laser” woman should probably never open his mouth about anti-Semitic anything. He’s buddy-buddy with one of the loudest anti-Semites in the nation.
But some of his best friends are “Jew-ish”!
I don’t know a whole lot about Victoria Spartz, but she does represent the Congressional district next to my own, so I do see her ads and things like that.
She was born in Ukraine, during the Soviet period. She’s strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine (she still has family there, as I understand it), calling it a war crime. On the other hand, she’s also been critical of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s handling of the war, and thinks that weapons provided by the U.S. are not getting where they’re supposed to be going. Word is that she’s planning to run for the Senate in 2024.
In general she does seem to be pretty conservative, but I don’t think she’s as flat-out bonkers as a Gaetz or an MTG.
…and that’s the kind of thing on which reasonable people can disagree. A concern that the equipment being provided isn’t being used in the most effective way is legitimate, even if we might disagree with her conclusions. But it’s not completely insane to suggest we take a look at such things.
Compare that to some of the other Republicans, who would abandon Ukraine in a second if they had the power.
We need more people like this in the Republican party.
We probably do, but it won’t be Victoria Spartz. She announced a few days ago that she will not run for re-election in 2024, nor is she planning to run for any other office (there was speculation that she might run for an open Senate seat). Maybe she’s tired of it all.
Well, I know I am. This is just so depressing. Every Republican worth even a wet fart is just giving up to the crazies, which means this will never get fixed. The problems with the Republicans must be fixed by Republicans, this is not something the Democrats can do anything about, aside from just beating them in as many elections as possible.
But if all the even remotely decent Republicans are giving up, there will be no one left with any interest in even trying to fix things.
Reviving this thread because, enraged by the debt limit compromise that McCarthy successfully steered through passage in the House, hardcore member of the Freedom Caucus have brought the chamber grinding to a halt. Specifically, they voted against the rule for consideration of legislation that would restrict federal regulation of gas stoves. Not because they oppose the bill, but because they claim that McCarthy violated “unspoken promises” he made to secure the Speakership by passing the debt limit increase. None of them can seem to articulate what exactly it is they want, but for now the House is unable to pass much of anything as long as these members are having their snit (and Democrats continue to vote against Republican measures.)
It sounds so childish of the Freedom Caucus. My cousin is related to one of their reps and he told the guy ‘we didnt vote for you to be pithy. Get yourself to back to work.’
My point is constituents don’t have to react with apathy but can shame their representatives to get back to work, if they’re intimately related. I’m like that with my family intimates too, spurring them into taking on their responsibilities. Their being big shots is only ok if they actually do their jobs
Does your cousin have a lisp?
Ooh that’s great. I love that!
OK now that’s a dumb explanation even for them. Resent him for something they imagined he was agreeing to? Or rather for something they say now that they imagined him promising? OTOH they must be pretty sure their voters will fall for that, though
It’s the liberals’ fault. If the liberals don’t have a consensus, the Freedom Caucus can’t pin down what the opposite is.
On the one hand, I don’t want them to pass that particular bill. On the other hand and both feet, I don’t want them to shut down the House, which might at least theoretically do some of the things that need doing.
Come on, with these guys you know the options are:
- Do nothing.
- Do the wrong thing.
Nothing is the better option.
Well, to be fair, the “unspoken promises” part is simply editorializing from the WP. I don’t believe that is a direct quote from a Representative, Republican or Democrat. Representatives of either stripe say enough stupid crap that there is no need to put words in their mouths.
Actually, there isn’t much that the House needs to do. They need to pass the appropriations bills for next fiscal year, but those won’t come to the floor until the fall and are likely to pull some Democratic votes anyway.
But McCarthy wants to spend this time passing messaging legislation like the idiotic “big government is coming for your gas stove!!” bill. All the Freedumb Caucus is doing with their blockade is preventing Republicans from passing bills to address their donors’ and voters’ priorities.
And that’s a bad thing?
Yes, yes! Let them fight among themselves - it’s about all they got at this point. Less is more in this case.
If spoken promises aren’t worth the paper they are written on, what is the worth of “unspoken” promises? Can they even be violated?
This is the Freedom Caucus’ MO – because these “promises” were made in backroom deals and never committed to paper, they can claim that they were promised whatever they want. (And to be fair, it’s only a small subset of the House Freedom Caucus that is participating in this maneuver.) McCarthy has flat-out said he never promised the things they’re now trotting out.
But it doesn’t matter, because it’s not really about outrage over a broken promise. The only move the Freedom Caucus knows is hostage-taking, and this is their flimsy excuse for it. But they’ve also shown that they’re terrible at getting what they want out of their hostage taking, so I’m sure they’ll just piss away even more of their power with this manuever.