# 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:** 2215
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44289 "2020-05-05T17:42:23Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > Travel industry must be complaining. I thought it would be the oil refineries and gas station owners. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44290 "2020-05-05T18:16:44Z")
Chris Christie: Open the economy. If people die, they die. > **[Chris Christie Says U.S. Needs to Reopen and Accept More Deaths](https://www.thedailybeast.com/chris-christie-pushes-for-reopening-says-americans-have-to-accept-more-coronavirus-deaths)** > > “The message is that the American people have gone through significant death before,” Christie said he would tell the American people. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44291 "2020-05-05T21:45:15Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Chris Christie: Open the economy. If people die, they die. > [Chris Christie Pushes for Reopening, Says Americans Have to Accept More Coronavirus Deaths](https://www.thedailybeast.com/chris-christie-pushes-for-reopening-says-americans-have-to-accept-more-coronavirus-deaths) s “People who die should get a medal for taking one for the country”, Christie said. “We’ll call it the Presidential Medal of Freeedom [mispeled of course]. President Trump will mail them. Families will display the medals (with Trump’s visage) proudly at the wakes and viewings.” Trump after hearing about the idea, “I prefer heros who aren’t dying.” /s ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44292 "2020-05-05T22:06:05Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > s > > “People who die should get a medal for taking one for the country”, Christie said. > “We’ll call it the Presidential Medal of Freeedom [mispeled of course]. President Trump will mail them. Families will display the medals (with Trump’s visage) proudly at the wakes and viewings.” > > Trump after hearing about the idea, “I prefer heros who aren’t dying.” > > /s Maybe they can just toss handfuls of those medals into the mass graves. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44293 "2020-05-05T23:00:11Z")
Mass graves indeed: [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/trump-is-pursuing-a-herd-immunity-strategy-—-whether-intentionally-or-not/ar-BB13BXsQ](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/trump-is-pursuing-a-herd-immunity-strategy-%e2%80%94-whether-intentionally-or-not/ar-BB13BXsQ) Check out the charts in that article of various countries’ infection rates. In the civilized world, cases spike and then fall off a cliff. Here in the US, it by looks like we are on track to sacrifice 1-3 million on the altar of redneck anti-intellectualism on our journey to herd immunity. Congratufuckinglations, rednecks of America! You may have succeeded in putting an end to American greatness itself, all because you’re credulous morons obsessed with your hateful prejudice against liberals, a demographic which, as described in the redneck media, is actually The Bogeyman and not a real group of Americans at all. You. Fucking. Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44294 "2020-05-06T00:27:27Z")
Sounds like Christie has also succumbed to [the horrifying illness](https://youtu.be/aFsfajmqVow) that plagues our nation… ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44295 "2020-05-06T01:29:23Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Chris Christie: Open the economy. If people die, they die. > [Chris Christie Pushes for Reopening, Says Americans Have to Accept More Coronavirus Deaths](https://www.thedailybeast.com/chris-christie-pushes-for-reopening-says-americans-have-to-accept-more-coronavirus-deaths) By an absolutely astonishing coincidence, not _ **one** _ of those people advocating ‘opening the economy’ has any remote intention of putting _themselves_ in harm’s way. No: that’s for _other_ people to do. Chris Christie isn’t going to risk exposing \*himself \*to the virus—you can count on that! ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44296 "2020-05-06T02:46:53Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Maybe they can just toss handfuls of those medals into the mass graves. ☹ Or they can bestow on them Tan the Conman’s highest honor: piss on their graves, just like they’re pissing on everything else. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44297 "2020-05-06T03:07:20Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > By an absolutely astonishing coincidence, not _ **one** _ of those people advocating ‘opening the economy’ has any remote intention of putting _themselves_ in harm’s way. > > No: that’s for _other_ people to do. Chris Christie isn’t going to risk exposing \*himself \*to the virus—you can count on that! Not so! He’ll be right out there with his family on the beach, soaking up rays; not hiding at home, mixing with the crowds. [https://www.google.com/search?q=chris+christie+on+the+beach&rlz=1CATTSD\_enUS774US774&oq=Chris+Christie+on+the+beach&aqs=chrome.0.0l4.9450j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=chris+christie+on+the+beach&rlz=1CATTSD_enUS774US774&oq=Chris+Christie+on+the+beach&aqs=chrome.0.0l4.9450j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) Wait!? He’s no longer governor of New Jersey where he can close down state beach parks for his own use. /never mind. Vote 2020 ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44298 "2020-05-06T19:26:18Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > s > > [mispeled of course]. > /s heh - (quite aside from the horrifying message) you made me laugh… assume this was intentional? ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44299 "2020-05-06T22:00:25Z")
yep ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44300 "2020-05-07T02:18:57Z")
**As Hunger Swells, Food Stamps Become a Partisan Flash Point** \*Democrats are seeking to raise benefits as research shows a rise in food insecurity without modern precedent amid the pandemic. But Republicans have balked at a long-term expansion of the program. \* > **[As Hunger Swells, Food Stamps Become a Partisan Flash Point (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/us/politics/coronavirus-hunger-food-stamps.html?smid=em-share)** > > Democrats are seeking to raise benefits as research shows a rise in food insecurity without modern precedent amid the pandemic. But Republicans have balked at a long-term expansion of the program. > [@](#): > > … > Democrats want to raise food stamp benefits by 15 percent for the duration of the economic crisis, arguing that a similar move during the Great Recession reduced hunger and helped the economy. But Republicans have fought for years to shrink the program, saying that the earlier liberalization led to enduring caseload growth and a backdoor expansion of the welfare state. > > For President Trump, a personal rivalry may also be in play: In his State of the Union address in February, he boasted that falling caseloads showed him besting his predecessor, Barack Obama, whom Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker, hadderided as “the food stamp president.”Even as the pandemic unfolded, the Trump administration tried to push forward with new work rules projected to remove more people from aid. > > Mr. Trump and his congressional allies have agreed to only a short-term increase in food stamp benefits that omits the poorest recipients, including five million children. Those calling for a broader increase say Congress has spent an unprecedented amount on programs invented on the fly while rejecting a proven way to keep hungry people fed. > > “This program is the single most powerful anti-hunger tool that we have and one of the most important economic development tools,” said Kate Maehr, the head of the Chicago food bank. “Not to use it when we have so many people who are in such great need is heartbreaking. This is not a war that charity can win.” > … First they want free money. Now they want [del]free[/del] cheap food. \ That would interfere with their constitutional right to starve. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44301 "2020-05-07T02:32:43Z")
\*\*The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List. \*\* \*A New York Times analysis found more than 60 environmental policies officially rolled back under Mr. Trump and another 34 rollbacks still in progress. \* > **[The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s...](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html)** > > The White House has dismantled major climate and environmental policies focused on clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals. Here’s how it adds up. > [@](#): > > After three years in office, the Trump administration has dismantled most of the major climate and environmental policies the president promised to undo. > > Calling the rules unnecessary and burdensome to the fossil fuel industry and other businesses, his administration has weakened Obama-era limits on planet-warming carbon dioxide emissionsfrom power plantsand fromcars and trucks, and rolled back many more rules governing clean air, water and toxic chemicals. Several major reversals have been finalized in recent weeks as the country has struggled to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. > > In all, a New York Times analysis, based on research fromHarvard Law School,Columbia Law Schooland other sources, counts more than 60 environmental rules and regulations officially reversed, revoked or otherwise rolled back under Mr. Trump. An additional 34 rollbacks are still in progress. > … When the Dems move back in, they’re going to find everything in shambles. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44302 "2020-05-07T03:10:55Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > \*\*The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List. \*\* > \*A New York Times analysis found more than 60 environmental policies officially rolled back under Mr. Trump and another 34 rollbacks still in progress. \* > [The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List. - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html) > When the Dems move back in, they’re going to find everything in shambles. If the laws were so poorly written that Trump can dismantle everything without Congressional consent, then they need to be rewritten anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44303 "2020-05-07T03:24:18Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > If the laws were so poorly written that Trump can dismantle everything without Congressional consent, then they need to be rewritten anyway. What?? 😕 ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44304 "2020-05-07T04:12:33Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > If the laws were so poorly written that Trump can dismantle everything without Congressional consent, then they need to be rewritten anyway. Laws are words. If you are stopped for running a red light at a deserted intersection at 2am, the officer has the discretion to strictly enforce the letter of the law or to decide it was no big whoop and let you go on your way. The flex in the legal code is the only thing that makes it tolerable. The executive branch is tasked with enforcing the spirit/letter of the law. If the administration decides to interpret them in an inconsistent or contrary manner, the laws, _any laws_, mean nothing. Or mean that the administration is simply behaving lawlessly. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44305 "2020-05-07T15:10:56Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Laws are words. If you are stopped for running a red light at a deserted intersection at 2am, the officer has the discretion to strictly enforce the letter of the law or to decide it was no big whoop and let you go on your way. The flex in the legal code is the only thing that makes it tolerable. > > The executive branch is tasked with enforcing the spirit/letter of the law. If the administration decides to interpret them in an inconsistent or contrary manner, the laws, _any laws_, mean nothing. Or mean that the administration is simply behaving lawlessly. Yes, laws are just words, but some words are easier to ignore than others, and some can even be ignored in a perfectly legal way. The use of regulations enables a flexibility that allows a government department to adjust to new realities without needing to go through the whole process of re-writing a law, and getting it passed again. When the department in question is acting in good faith, this is usually a good thing. But here’s the thing: anything that is currently in a regulation, can be put into the law, if the people writing the laws decide that the department isn’t acting in good faith. That makes it far harder for them to just ignore the words, and puts them in the position of actually having to break the laws, rather than just rewrite or reinterpret the regulations. Consider a law about pollution. You could write a general law that prohibits dumping pollutants into public waterways, and then refer to regulations for the definition of “pollutant”. This way, if I come up with some new kind of pollutant never before known (see nuclear waste for a historically recent example), you can just amend the regulation to include this new waste. But if I manage to lobby (bribe, flatter, coerce) the President into pushing to deregulate my new pollutant, the legislature could, in theory, amend the law to explicitly include my pollutant, without needing reference to a regulation. It would be hard to pass that, but it would also be just as hard to then toss it out later. And now that they’re in violation of an actual law, they can be actually sued for that, when they might not have been in the case of merely re-writing a regulation. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44306 "2020-05-07T16:26:05Z")
Christie must have his eyes on some appointed position in the Trump mis-administration. Sucking up to Cheeto in Chief is a well- proven way to get hired. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44307 "2020-05-07T16:49:20Z")
Yeah, but not when you’ve put his son-in-law’s father in jail. It’s obvious to anyone with half a brain that no matter how loyal Christie shows himself to be, Kushner will never let him get anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44308 "2020-05-07T18:28:38Z")
**Trump Campaign Manager calls their effort “The Death Star”** Really. > **[Trump Campaign Calls Itself The Death Star Because Of Course It Does](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-campaign-death-star-brad-parscale_n_5eb43509c5b646b73d294c4a)** > > Twitter users are wondering if Team Trump has actually seen "Star Wars." > [@](#): > > If a planet-destroying death machine doesn’t inspire confidence in the American people, what will, right? > > On Thursday, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale caused a great disturbance in the Force by tweeting about the president’s “juggernaut” of a reelection bid, calling the campaign the “Death Star.” > > “For nearly three years we have been building a juggernaut campaign (Death Star). It is firing on all cylinders. Data, Digital, TV, Political, Surrogates, Coalitions, etc. In a few days we start pressing FIRE for the first time,” he wrote in the tweet. > > A follow-up tweet elaborated: “I didn’t give our campaign the name, Death Star, the media did. However, I am happy to use the analogy. The fact is, we haven’t used it yet. Laugh all you want, we will take the win!” > > … > > Actually, the media ― specifically, The Atlantic ― was just quoting a Republican strategist, according to Newsweek’s Andrew Feinberg. > > … > > For those who are unaware of the Death Star, it’s the ginormous space station designed by the evil Empire in the “Star Wars” movies. Oh, but that’s not all! Each iteration of the weapon comes complete with its very own planet-destroying laser! > > It’s also notable that the Death Star gets blown up in the end, which Twitter was quick to remind Team Trump. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2214) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2216)