# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1647
**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:** [March 12, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32922 "2017-03-12T19:49:14Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Paul Ryan says he doesn’t know how many people will lose coverage under Trumpcare, “It’s up to people,” Ryan said. “People are going to do what they want to do with their lives.”](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/paul-ryan-number-who-will-lose-coverage-up-to-people) What a horse’s patoot. His 2018 opponent should definitely run that clip–just the one exchange (Dickerson: _How many people are going to lose coverage?_ Ryan: _I can’t answer that question. It’s up to people. People are going to do what they want to do with their lives_.) Then, maybe, a few clips of people who lost coverage due to Ryan’s plan, despite not “want[ing] to.” Finally, a quick run-down of the lavish, comprehensive health plan enjoyed by Ryan himself and his family. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32923 "2017-03-12T19:56:24Z")
Meanwhile, Tom Price is promising ponies for everyone: > [@](#): > > “I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially in the process that we’re going through, understanding that they’ll have choices, that they can select the kind of coverage that they want for themselves and for their family, not that government forces them to buy. So there’s cost that needs to come down, and we believe we’re gonna be able to do that through this system. There’s coverage that’s gonna go up.” [http://www.mediaite.com/tv/hhs-sec-tom-price-on-health-care-plan-i-firmly-believe-that-nobody-will-be-worse-off-financially/](http://www.mediaite.com/tv/hhs-sec-tom-price-on-health-care-plan-i-firmly-believe-that-nobody-will-be-worse-off-financially/) Better coverage AND lower costs: he firmly believes it! ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32924 "2017-03-12T22:46:48Z")
It appears the GOP line of the day regarding the AHCA is about “the government not forcing Americans to buy something they don’t want.” Both Ryan and Price were spouting that line of thinking this weekend. So, duh … if you’re young and healthy, you “don’t want” health insurance, right? So you wouldn’t buy it unless you were “forced” to, correct? Doesn’t this take us right back to the problem of how you deal with coverage for pre-existing conditions without some kind of mandate? This Republican loathing of any kind of “mandate” just blows up the entire rickety system of the ACA. Not to mention the entire purpose of insurance is people pay in whether or not they need health care at the moment, with the understanding everybody gets to share in health care coverage when they do need it. Letting people decide when they want to jump in or out of the system is a recipe for disaster, isn’t it? This irrational hatred of Obamacare seems to have blinded Republicans to basic logic. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32925 "2017-03-13T00:15:40Z")
You know, the two biggest complaints about Obamacare were that people were being forced to buy coverage that didn’t want to and that the premiums were too high. Anybody that thinks you can change the latter without having the former please raise your hand. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32926 "2017-03-13T01:12:56Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > This irrational hatred of Obamacare seems to have blinded Republicans to basic logic. I think that gives them too much credit. The Republican Party has completely elevated ideology over logic for the last 20 years at least. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32927 "2017-03-13T01:18:25Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32928 "2017-03-13T02:18:49Z")
Sarah Palin calls Trumpcare socialist. > **[Sarah Palin Blasts GOP Health Care Plan As 'Socialism'](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sarah-palin-gop-socialism_n_58c4ca63e4b0ed71826d1b54?section=politics)** > > But she's counting on Trump to "fix" the proposal that's "Republican in name only." ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32929 "2017-03-13T02:43:44Z")
[Steve King goes full on white racist.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/03/12/gop_congressman_steve_king_tweets_white_supremacist_rhetoric.html?utm_content=inf_10_2641_2) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32930 "2017-03-13T14:12:00Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Steve King goes full on white racist.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/03/12/gop_congressman_steve_king_tweets_white_supremacist_rhetoric.html?utm_content=inf_10_2641_2) What a piece of shit! What a sad state of affairs we have going on. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32931 "2017-03-13T14:54:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Steve King goes full on white racist.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/03/12/gop_congressman_steve_king_tweets_white_supremacist_rhetoric.html?utm_content=inf_10_2641_2) For the eighty-thousandth time (at least), I hereby apologize to the country and the world on behalf of all Iowans for this racist lump of dead-eyed Congressman. I have no idea why the folks in the western part of my state keep sending him back to Washington every two years. Why, you’d think he’d have calves the size of cantaloupes by now, with all those trips back and forth across the country, hauling all those weighty racist ideas! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32932 "2017-03-13T17:32:15Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Steve King goes full on white racist.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/03/12/gop_congressman_steve_king_tweets_white_supremacist_rhetoric.html?utm_content=inf_10_2641_2) This Pig Shit For Brains is in the news every week. Its what he does. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32933 "2017-03-13T19:05:01Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > [House Republicans would let employers demand workers’ genetic test results](https://www.statnews.com/2017/03/10/workplace-wellness-genetic-testing/) > > This one might qualify for stupid idea of the week. This bill was sponsored by [Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Foxx), who put the letter “C” in the word Cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32934 "2017-03-14T01:21:13Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Meanwhile, Tom Price is promising ponies for everyone: > > [American Health Care Act | Mediaite](http://www.mediaite.com/tv/hhs-sec-tom-price-on-health-care-plan-i-firmly-believe-that-nobody-will-be-worse-off-financially/) > > Better coverage AND lower costs: he firmly believes it! Well, there are ways — not just in any that Price would like. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32935 "2017-03-14T15:47:22Z")
_Camp of the Saints_. Has this not been addressed yet? \* [Camp of the Saints](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Camp_of_the_Saints)\* is an obscure French novel, written in 1973 by Jean Raspail, that Steve Bannon has been quite fond of mentioning when addressing immigration: > [@](#): > > “It’s been almost a Camp of the Saints-type invasion into Central and then Western and Northern Europe.” - Oct 2015. > > “The whole thing in Europe is all about immigration. It’s a global issue today — this kind of global Camp of the Saints.” - Jan 2016 > > “It’s not a migration, it’s really an invasion. I call it the Camp of the Saints.” - Jan 2016 > > “When we first started talking about this a year ago, we called it the Camp of the Saints. … I mean, this is Camp of the Saints, isn’t it?” - Apr 2016 > [(quotes culled from HuffPo)](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-bannon-camp-of-the-saints-immigration_us_58b75206e4b0284854b3dc03) Now I see that Rep. Steve King, while not doing a fucking thing to walk back his, “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies,” bullshit, [recommended none other than\* Camp of the Saints\* on the radio today.](http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/14/politics/kfile-steve-king-prediction/index.html) _Camp of the Saints_ is a flat-out racist novel, the plot of which centers around Third World invasion and then destruction of the “White Culture.” The main antagonist of the book is an Indian named Turdeater. A plot point revolves around “doing the right thing” and murdering 800,000 Indians or being stupid and allowing them to migrate. Naaaah … nothing white supremacist about any of that. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32936 "2017-03-14T15:50:51Z")
There’s no question Steve King is a white supremacist. There’s also no question that as a group becomes a minority, it starts to think and vote like a minority. And minority groups tend to think and vote primarily in terms of the interests of their group. They also become less shy about directly making racial appeals. White liberals might want to start taking their own advice from way back when and seek to understand the root causes of white radicalization and how to address their grievances, those that are legitimate anyway. Bonus question: do you feel bad for white Americans who leave the US and live overseas where they become a minority and face discrimination? What would you suggest is the just remedy for such a situation? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32937 "2017-03-14T16:05:04Z")
What the hell are you babbling about? You’re agreeing with me that Steve King is a white supremacist, but you’re agreeing with Steve King that we whites should be afraid of becoming a minority? Guess what? I’m not afraid of that at all. Only lily-livered conservatives think that way. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32938 "2017-03-14T16:05:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > … > > White liberals might want to start taking their own advice from way back when and seek to understand the root causes of white radicalization and how to address their grievances, those that are legitimate anyway. > > … They’re not legitimate. The root causes is them being constantly lied to and they like it. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32939 "2017-03-14T16:08:38Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > What the hell are you babbling about? > > You’re agreeing with me that Steve King is a white supremacist, but you’re agreeing with Steve King that we whites should be afraid of becoming a minority? Guess what? I’m not afraid of that at all. Only lily-livered conservatives think that way. No, I’m observing that whites are starting to act like a minority, an observation that Nate Silver made in regards to white voting behavior in a tweet on election day. As for whether we should be worried, there’s no question that our economic and social status would decline as a minority. That’s the nature of being a minority. There may be some kind of justice in that, but expecting whites to not worry about it is nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32940 "2017-03-14T16:10:57Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > They’re not legitimate. The root causes is them being constantly lied to and they like it. You’re thinking of Middle Eastern Arabs. We’re talking about white people here.😃 I get what you’re saying, joking aside, but there are legitimate beefs. #1 being, when did we put this “whites heading toward minority status” thing to a democratic vote? Let’s be clear, this is not something that is just going to happen naturally, although natural birth rates will certainly alter the demographic balance of the country. But immigration policy also has a big effect, and we did decide through the democratic process to restrict immigration to a certain level. A level which has not been enforced, and has failed to be enforced in defiance of the will of the people. That’s a legitimate grievance, even if you think the people(probably mostly white people, but also a lot of blacks) are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32941 "2017-03-14T16:14:33Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > There’s no question Steve King is a white supremacist. There’s also no question that as a group becomes a minority, it starts to think and vote like a minority. And minority groups tend to think and vote primarily in terms of the interests of their group. They also become less shy about directly making racial appeals. > > White liberals might want to start taking their own advice from way back when and seek to understand the root causes of white radicalization and how to address their grievances, those that are legitimate anyway. :rolleyes: Even when/if white Americans become a minority, they will not be a **historically disadvantaged** minority. This racist shit has far less to do with any genuine contemporary demographic issues than with the timeless phenomenon of white racists getting antsy when they worry that they’re losing control of their underdogs. This was just the same back in the day of the nativist and “America First” movements. Furthermore, your insinuation that similarly radicalized non-white groups get more thoughtful consideration is laughable. African-Americans, for example, are a historically oppressed minority group who still experience a lot of racist discrimination. But the nutty [“black supremacist” fringe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_supremacy) who explicitly advocate for the destruction or subjugation of white people don’t get anywhere **near** the respect and legitimacy that white supremacists do. There are white supremacists in fucking Congress and the White House, ffs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1646) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1648)