# House Speaker Contest **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770 "2022-11-12T00:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 74
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1461 "2023-01-06T07:33:34Z")
I read somewhere that an unintended consequence of curtailing earmarks was that it made it harder to control rogue legislators. Curious what others think about this. > Soon the MAGA queen, in a glaze of Brilliantine > will perform on guillotine, what a scene, what a scene. > He’s washin’ dishes and baby clothes > He’s so ambitious he even sews > But don’t forget folks > That’s what you get folks, for courtin’ MAGA ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1462 "2023-01-06T07:58:00Z")
I’ll bet Scalese will start to eat into KM’s totals tomorrow, despite pretty well no likelihood of the former getting anywhere near enough votes that KM or HJ have. > [@outlierrn](#): > > Soon the MAGA queen, in a glaze of Brilliantine > will perform on guillotine, what a scene, what a scene. Heh - I was gonna do: _Soon Miss MTG_ _In a glaze of vaseline_ _Will complain about vaccines_ _What a scene, what a scene_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1463 "2023-01-06T08:31:56Z")
As long as we’re doing song parodies about this debacle, I’ll offer this, as something that the Never-Kevins might sing: _Members, there’s no need to feel down,_ _I said, members, 'cause McCarthy’s a clown,_ _I said, members, there’s no need to frown,_ _There’s no need to vote Mc-Car-thy._ _Members, let’s make America great,_ _I said, members, you choose America’s fate,_ _You can vote now, and I’m sure you will see,_ _There’s better choice than Mc-Car-thy._ _It’s time to vote for the M.A.G.A.,_ _It’s time to vote for the M.A.G.A.,_ _It’s got everything_ _That A-mer-i-ca needs,_ _Let’s make Mc-Car-thy concede…_ ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1464 "2023-01-06T08:37:21Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > I’m wondering if the Democrats would vote for a moderate Republican who would promise to only push the actual Republican legislative agenda and not allow a two-year circus of fake “investigations” into Hunter Biden et al. > [@Horatius](#): > > I don’t want them to “hurry the process along”, since we need it clearly established beyond even an unreasonable doubt that the GOP has entirely shit the bed with this mess. But at the same time, I want them to have a plan for how to finally end the shit show, because at some point the House is going to have to actually do something, or the entire US government will grind to a halt. There is no legal or parliamentary mechanism by which the Democrats or anyone else can compel GOP leadership to honor any kind of promises made in any such arrangement. The Republicans are not a normal political party and this is not a normal Congress. As soon as the GOP gets their hands on the steering wheel — _regardless_ of who is Speaker — they will immediately cast aside any semblance of responsibility or American honor and will proceed directly to the business of destroying democratic governance. There will be no budget. There will be no infrastructure rescue. There will be no naming of post offices or indeed any legislation of any kind. It will be “all culture war, all the time,” day in and day out, in service to the urgent priority of securing permanent minority right-wing rule in the face of escalating demographic challenges. This is extremely important to understand: The conflict inside the Republican party is not a matter of moderate conservatives who want to govern versus extremist conservatives with a harder political agenda. The schism in the GOP is between fascists who want to destroy democracy methodically and legally, and lunatic ideological terrorists who _also_ want to destroy democracy but who believe the procedural approach is too slow, carrying the risk that the enemy wokerati will have an opportunity to regroup and fight back, and therefore they want to nuke everything immediately. It is not in the interest of the Democrats, the left generally, or indeed any sane American to make any of that possible. It _is_ in our interest to stand back and allow the Republicans to continue savaging one another, because it keeps their hands off the controls. > [@flurb](#): > > Of course, the House may be unable to address them _with_ a Speaker so maybe it doesn’t matter. Indeed. Yes, normal governance will suffer badly with a nonfunctional House. But with GOP as currently constituted and led, there _is_ no normal governance. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1465 "2023-01-06T09:02:46Z")
Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1466 "2023-01-06T11:34:29Z")
I just want to thank everyone who has kept this thread going with updates on the voting numbers. It moves so fast! ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1467 "2023-01-06T12:16:50Z")
How many members does it take to expel house members¿? I’m thinking of four or five I’d like expelled for sedition etc. Gop agrees to elect Jeffries, who agrees to step down immediately after the house has voted to expel certain members. Discuss? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1468 "2023-01-06T12:17:03Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Welcome to vote…… what number again? What day is it today? Groundhog Day? I wonder what the odds are that they’ll still be at it by Groundhog Day 😱. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1469 "2023-01-06T12:17:04Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > For all the R crowd hated Pelosi, they trusted that if they made a deal, it would go through. Thus, even when she had slim margins, she could get those who disliked her to be willing to make a _deal_ (in both her own party and the opposition). Which made her an exemplary politician, and honest at least by the standards above, and certainly beyond that She also understood that she needed to work with people. She was willing to compromise within her own party when moderates needed to vote a certain way and she found ways so that they could while still accomplishing her goals. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1470 "2023-01-06T12:43:52Z")
This is what happens when you have a bunch of people who refuse to compromise. It works when it’s the Democrats who are forced to compromise, but in this situation, the Republicans, each of whom wears a “No Compromises” patch like a badge of honor, are being forced into dysfunction by their own stubbornness and stupidity. But, that’s what they sold to their voters, so I guess they’re delivering on what they promised. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1471 "2023-01-06T12:44:26Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Gop agrees to elect Jeffries, who agrees to step down immediately after the house has voted to expel certain members. > Discuss? How do you keep the GOP from simply reinstating those members? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1472 "2023-01-06T12:50:24Z")
I think we’re getting to the point where we’ll start to see some cracks in the holdouts. The next big spotlight will be for the “gang of \_\_\_\_\_” to appear from within the Freedom Caucus, heroically and patriotically working with “moderates within the party” to nominate a new speaker. But it’s a prisoner’s dilemma. If they all hold out, they all keep the power in a drama that probably peaked yesterday. If a new bloc emerges, it moves into the next act and steals the show. The holdouts among the holdouts will be made completely irrelevant while the new bloc reaps all the tasty rewards from the new guy. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1473 "2023-01-06T12:56:53Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > But it’s a prisoner’s dilemma. If they all hold out, they all keep the power in a drama that probably peaked yesterday. If a new bloc emerges, they move into the next act and steal the show. I doubt yesterday was the peak. Per CNNs Manu Raju, there’s at least 4 Republicans who won’t be in attendance today. Presumably all are McCarthy Republicans. Yes, that lowers the threshold to 216, but it also means he has to get all 20 of the holdouts to get there from his base for today of 196. This is almost certainly going to stretch out into next week. The real drama, if we even get there, will be when there’s still 5 to 8 hardcore Never Kevin’s who won’t budge because their goal is to create chaos. Not the Chip Roy crew, but the Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert group. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1474 "2023-01-06T12:59:22Z")
Because they’re pissed at them for creating this crisis to begin with¿? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1475 "2023-01-06T13:00:26Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Because those 20 are the most self-centered, most petty, most Trump-like, most insane, most stupid people in the party. Cast them into the outer darkness, and it’s a pretty safe bet that they’ll just vote “no” on absolutely everything, no matter who proposed it, just to throw sand into the gears. Jim Jordan and MTG are both backing McCarthy and I haven’t heard of most of the people in the group of 20. Here are the current set of concessions that have been negotiated: > [@The Hill](#): > > Norman said the concessions offered by McCarthy include a guaranteed floor vote to establish term limits for all House lawmakers; an open amendment process, providing rank-and-file lawmakers with more power to alter legislation; adoption of the so-called Holman rule, which grants Congress new powers over federal agencies; and a 72-hour rule — requiring three full days for lawmakers to read bills before they hit the floor. While I’d question the effectiveness of these changes, the general theme of them does seem to be to cut down the amount of power wielded by the establishment, AKA “the swamp”. The message would be that they’re idealists, moving things towards greater democracy and the power of the people to make decisions. Many, here, would seem to be all for that. So to be sure, you could view these as the crazy bunch. But there’s also the possibility that they’re the **honest bunch** , who actually want to drain the swamp. Previous efforts to rein in corruption by taking the activities of the government to the people have mostly shown that the people can’t be bothered to police politicians and, if anything, encourages populist leaders of the sort most likely to abuse their position, steal from the people, take bribes, etc. So I, personally, disapprove of their proposals. But if you’re a pro-democracy idealist who trusts the people, wants politics to be more open, and for legislators to be able to legislate free of the party whip, then you might want to cheer for the group. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1476 "2023-01-06T13:06:43Z")
Nah. There’s the old saying that the only honest politician is the one who stays bought. Maybe the group of crazies is “honest” in that respect, but they aren’t concerned with any swamp draining so much as owning the swamp themselves. Matt Gaetz? Lauren Boebert? Chip Roy? Paul Friggin’ Gosar? And the rest? That group hasn’t exactly covered themselves with glory, nor shown they are interested in the least in greater democracy moreso than using their own populist cred to limit democracy to their own sort. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1477 "2023-01-06T13:10:00Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > How many members does it take to expel house members [Two thirds.](https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-5/) > [@](#): > > **US Constitution, Article I, clause two:** > Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > How do you keep the GOP from simply reinstating those members? Once a member is expelled, the seat is vacant. The only way to fill it is with an election. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1478 "2023-01-06T13:10:36Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > So to be sure, you could view these as the crazy bunch. But there’s also the possibility that they’re the **honest bunch** , who actually want to drain the swamp. ![](https://media0.giphy.com/media/enCWEo0vG25Ow/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47vvw4sgjz4xy52frqvjlrhwjmrh4qgbspq4szjy26&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1479 "2023-01-06T13:14:06Z")
Honest doesn’t mean good or sane. They’re all different words. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1480 "2023-01-06T13:18:22Z")
As long as you avoid the specific people involved, maybe you could pretend these are idealistic crusaders fighting for democracy. But again, Matt Gaetz? Lauren Boebert? Chip Roy? Paul Gosar? The only way in which they may be ‘honest’ is in the ‘stays bought’ sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=73) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=75)