# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 4) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 22, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678 "2025-02-22T21:08:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 108
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2141 "2025-11-22T17:06:37Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > For a rare change of pace, a GOOD Republican idea: MTG is leaving Congress in January. Right after her pension kicks in. What an amazing coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2142 "2025-11-22T17:20:05Z")
From the congress dot gov site: [https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RL30631](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RL30631) > [@](#): > > There are four possible retirement scenarios for Members who are covered by FERS. > > _ **Retirement with an immediate, full pension** _ is available to Members aged 62 or older with at least 5 years of federal service; aged 50 or older with at least 20 years of service; and at any age to Members with at least 25 years of service. > > _ **Retirement with an immediate, reduced pension** _ is available at the age of 55 to Members born before 1948 with at least 10 years of service. The minimum age will increase to 56 for Members born from 1953 through 1964 and to 57 for those born in 1970 or later. > > _ **Retirement with a deferred, full pension** _ is available at the age of 62 to former Members of Congress with at least 5 years of federal service. > > _ **Retirement with a deferred, reduced pension** _ is available at the minimum retirement age of 55 to 57 (depending on year of birth) to a former Member who has completed at least 10 years of federal service. The pension annuity will be permanently reduced if it begins before the age of 62 One thing can take with you after 5 years’ service is your health care insurance (now paying your own way). ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2143 "2025-11-22T18:50:57Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Firing Patel for being part of the hoax will make sure his base is angry at Patel for being part of the hoax and releasing the hoax files instead of looking at the actual files themselves. Plus, he’ll get to use the word hoax like a hundred times a day for a little while. This does seem a likely scenario. Patel is undoubtedly a Trump fan-boy, but also undoubtedly fails to be a Southern Baptist of Swedish extraction. So his status as scapegoat-in-waiting would make a lot of sense. He’s ready to be activated! > [@Chronos](#): > > Remember, her constituent is Putin. If she’s turning on him, it means that Putin no longer considers him useful. I hadn’t thought of Putin being involved in this (though I suppose he involves himself in a lot more than we know). Marge as the instrument to take down the less-useful Donald? It’s a stretch, but not impossible, I guess. I can’t see most of MAGA taking her as their new Dear Leader, though. It’s also the case that Xi will be doing all he can to keep Donald in place, no matter how much Putin wants him gone. Donald has made many of Xi’s dreams come true. And the work of bringing the USA to its knees isn’t over; Donald still has work to do! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2144 "2025-11-22T20:49:55Z")
Maybe Donnie has Putin and Xi locked in a bidding war for his services. So he alternates between destroying the USA in the way that most benefits Putin & Russia and the way that most benefits Xi and China. Either way he wins! Which is all he cares about. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2145 "2025-11-22T22:38:36Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Right after her pension kicks in. The pension is a nice add-on, but lets not forget she also made millions off a combination of [the right-wing grift, and insider trading](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rep-marjorie-taylor-greenes-net-123021582.html). She’s not going to be hurting for money unless she is spectacularly bad with money, which, as a Trump fan, she actually might be. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2146 "2025-11-22T22:48:24Z")
This situation reminds me of an old _Batman-Captain America_ comic team up, where the Joker is partnered with the Red Skull. Late in the book the Joker fully realizes what the Red Skull is all about and says, “I’ve been working with a _Nazi?!?_ I may be a criminal lunatic, but I’m an _American_ criminal lunatic!”. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2147 "2025-11-23T00:30:24Z")
[Here’s a novel idea: treat naturalized citizens as foreigners.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/nikki-haley-son-calls-ban-231416708.html) > [@](#): > > The son of former GOP presidential candidate **Nikki Haley** told **Tucker Carlson** that he believes “naturalized citizens should not be able to hold public office.” > > **Nalin Haley** appeared on _The Tucker Carlson Show_ on Thursday to discuss his personal views on politics and share with Tucker how he believes young people feel about white nationalist **Nick Fuentes** after Carlson’s controversial [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efBB0D4tf1Y) with him gained widespread [attention](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/heritage-foundation-defends-tucker-carlson-035038726.html) and [condemnation](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/dishonest-evil-social-media-reacts-141638953.html). > > When the topic turned to immigration, Haley told Carlson that during former President **Barack Obama’s** tenure, immigrants were no longer expected to assimilate. That’s fascinating he blames a Black man who was president in the 21st century for–let me check my notes–German, Italian, French, Polish, Russian immigrants for not assimilating. Oh, sorry. He wasn’t talking about _those_ immigrants (wink wink). > [@](#): > > “Immigrants historically have basically been expected to assimilate. And then around the Obama years was when you started to see a shift of like, ‘No, you don’t need to change. You can be who you are,'” said Haley. “No, you need to assimilate. You have to. Because without it, we lose our identity as a country.” > > He continued: > > > Why would we have people in here who don’t see themselves as one of us? And you have– that’s how you end up with places like Minneapolis with Little Somalia. These people isolate themselves and don’t integrate. You have parts of Miami where people literally don’t speak English at all, which is insane because if I was to move to another country and I was thinking, “where could I go to get a better opportunity? Oh, I know. Somewhere where I don’t speak the freaking language.” Genius, right? But it’s just unbelievable. And there’s so many different aspects to immigration that it’s not just the migration part of it, but a lot of other things that are just out of control. > > After Carlson asked Haley to elaborate, the young Haley told the host that “naturalized citizens should not be able to hold public office.” > > > So naturalized citizens should not be able to hold public office. Growing up here is a big part of understanding the country. We need to stop and limit the amount of foreign students that are coming into our universities. Some of them are spies, by the way, for foreign governments. But it’s also just we should put our kids first. And we should also not allow dual citizenship because that’s the stupidest idea. You’re either American or you’re not. And everyone wants to make it so complicated. That’s the thing that I don’t like about the past generation is they’re always about the rules, the process, and regulation. No, it’s really simple. You’re just America first. People should have their loyalty to America first. And if they can’t do that, then this ain’t the country for you. The United States has no control over how other countries determine if a person is a citizen of that country and, believe it or not, if someone they claim to be their citizen has an obligation to serve in that country’s military (mandatory conscription is still a thing in some places). But, hey, good job on showing how welcoming your party is, you ignorant bigot. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2148 "2025-11-23T00:55:37Z")
Not requiring immigrants to assimilate is the identity of our country. That’s how the Melting Pot works. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2149 "2025-11-23T04:15:34Z")
One might wonder what Nimarata Haley ate during her family’s very assimilated holiday dinners. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2150 "2025-11-23T04:20:02Z")
America First! Rallying cry of the KKK and Fascist sympathizers before, during, and after up to McCarthyism back in the WWII era. Gaining currency through its use by dear leader and these and other sycophants. It like a spelling list sent home with students. “Work these phrases, acronyms, ideas into your messaging. Should it be exposed as lies, double down, deflect, SOROS…” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2151 "2025-11-23T04:33:42Z")
I’m old enough to remember when Republicans wanted a constitutional amendment so Schwarzenegger could run for president. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2152 "2025-11-23T04:46:37Z")
Oh, this particular clown has no problem with the various German speaking communities, Russian speaking communities, Italian speaking communities. Those are, after all, white Europeans. It’s those chalk-challenged folks who speak such languages as Somalian and Arabic he has issues with. And, boy, does he have issues. I’m guessing those are mostly mommy issues. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2153 "2025-11-23T10:00:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’m old enough to remember when Republicans wanted a constitutional amendment so Schwarzenegger could run for president. Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too… ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2154 "2025-11-23T13:33:36Z")
What? it didn’t happen? [Demolition Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_Man_(film)) is not a documentary? `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2155 "2025-11-23T18:02:22Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Oh, this particular clown has no problem with the various German speaking communities, Russian speaking communities, Italian speaking communities. Those are, after all, white Europeans. It’s those chalk-challenged folks who speak such languages as Somalian and Arabic he has issues with. Oddly enough, 250 years ago or so, Germans, Italians, Russians and everyone else not from Britain _wasn’t_ considered white. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2156 "2025-11-23T18:15:40Z")
Satire in the truest sense. Thank you for your attention to this matter. [![](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/v200/50aa974d-e339-412f-92fc-932b8f6c1f82) ](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/v200/50aa974d-e339-412f-92fc-932b8f6c1f82) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2157 "2025-11-23T18:26:20Z")
The lead story on the New York Times website today is about scrutiny Kash Patel is facing for using a SWAT team to protect his girlfriend (such as when she sang the national anthem at the National Rifle Association convention in Atlanta in April) and for using a government jet for personal travel. This might be nothing (meaning legitimate criticism), or it might be insiders drumming up reasons to remove him. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2158 "2025-11-23T18:33:16Z")
If the story mentions the possibility of criminal charges, I don’t see how Trump’s personal DOJ goes along with it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2159 "2025-11-23T19:45:50Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > If the story mentions the possibility of criminal charges, I don’t see how Trump’s personal DOJ goes along with it Probably no criminal charges, but there’s been lots of speculation that they want to remove Patel. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/2160 "2025-11-23T19:51:35Z")
Scott Bessent has the best idea to lower inflation: move to a red state. > [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=107) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=109)