# 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:** 405
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8081 "2013-01-05T12:44:28Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > It’s, almost certainly, already illegal to carry a hammer in Texas if you intend to use it as a weapon,CMC Conversely, would that make it legal to carry an assualt weapon, if you intend to use it as a hammer? ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8082 "2013-01-05T12:48:24Z")
Italian plumbers relieved! ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8083 "2013-01-05T14:18:22Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Upon reflection I think this is actually a good thing for Bachmann to be doing. It’s totally pointless and will lead to nowhere which is good. > > This keeps her and her crazy notions away from legislation that could do actual harm. I envision an 80 year old Michele Bachmann slowly approaching the podium with her walker and her Depends, demanding an end to Obamacare in the 2050s. Everyone looks away in silent embarrassment. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8084 "2013-01-07T20:49:30Z")
Bill Kristol, in 2013, says that Chuck Hagel is unqualified to be Secretary of Defense. [In contrast, Bill Kristol, in 2000, said that Chuck Hagel was fully qualified to be Vice President.](http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/01/07/1407481/kristol-hagel-vice-president/) ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8085 "2013-01-07T21:04:30Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > It’s, almost certainly, already illegal to carry a hammer in Texas if you intend to use it as a weapon,CMC Didn’t Tom Delay go to jail for a few years? ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8086 "2013-01-07T21:40:01Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Bill Kristol, in 2013, says that Chuck Hagel is unqualified to be Secretary of Defense. > > [In contrast, Bill Kristol, in 2000, said that Chuck Hagel was fully qualified to be Vice President.](http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/01/07/1407481/kristol-hagel-vice-president/) Yeah, but everyone know the VP doesn’t actually _do_ anything. The SoD is a real job! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8087 "2013-01-07T22:19:13Z")
Nope, government jobs aren’t real, remember? They don’t count as “jobs created by Democrats”. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8088 "2013-01-08T17:59:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Bill Kristol, in 2013, says that Chuck Hagel is unqualified to be Secretary of Defense. > > [In contrast, Bill Kristol, in 2000, said that Chuck Hagel was fully qualified to be Vice President.](http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/01/07/1407481/kristol-hagel-vice-president/) I’m not real keen on the idea of another GOPer in the cabinet. Better John Kerry for that spot and someone else for State. I hope this nomination is defeated. We need someone in charge who will be happy to oversee the downsizing of the bloated Pentagon budget. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8089 "2013-01-08T18:01:58Z")
Hagel will. He has been a trenchant critic of the defense budget for years. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8090 "2013-01-08T18:52:29Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > I’m not real keen on the idea of another GOPer in the cabinet. Better John Kerry for that spot and someone else for State. > > I hope this nomination is defeated. We need someone in charge who will be happy to oversee the downsizing of the bloated Pentagon budget. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Hagel will. He has been a trenchant critic of the defense budget for years. I suspect this is the real reason behind the opposition to his nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8091 "2013-01-08T19:49:15Z")
I don’t know squat about US political procedure, so I was wondering what ability the President has to get around Pubbies blocking the nomination of Cabinet nominees. Can the President appoint whom he wants to a position that is inferior to the cabinet position, and then let that person more or less take on the tasks of the cabinet position on an interim basis while the nominee for the cabinet positon goes through the ratification process? If this is possible, it would make sense to nominate the best person for the job, and appoint someone the Pubbies truely hate, as opposed to just plain hate, to the inferior position, so as to encourage the Pubbies to ratify the nominee rather than extend the period during which the person they truely hate is busy as a beaver doing whatever it is that Pubbies despise so much? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8092 "2013-01-08T19:55:32Z")
No doubt part of it, another part is his lack of wild enthusiasm for Israel. At least some of this is signaling and gestures. Obama wants that impossible middle ground, being a friend to Israel but not necessarily willing to die for Israel. I think he mostly wants Hagel’s credibility and intelligence in regards to being a wise steward in a time of budget cuts. But he already knew that Hagel was not beloved of the pro-Netanyahu hard-liners, and he also knows what a major hurdle that can be, so I can’t convince myself he isn’t signaling to them. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8093 "2013-01-08T20:26:45Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I don’t know squat about US political procedure, so I was wondering what ability the President has to get around Pubbies blocking the nomination of Cabinet nominees. Not a ton. Congressional approval of certain appointments is just a built in balance to the Executive Branch. The problem, obviously, is that no one expected this check to be wielded in this way (one party refusing to bring up for a vote, or filibustering every vote not because of the quality of the candidate, but because of that party’s feelings towards the President). One option is the Recess Appointment: > **[Recess appointment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_appointment)** > > In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the president is empowered to nominate, and with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the Senate, make appointments to high-level policy-making positions in federal departments, agencies, boards, and commissions, as well as to the federal judiciary. A recess appointment under Article II, Section 2, Clause 3 ... ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8094 "2013-01-08T20:35:04Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I don’t know squat about US political procedure, so I was wondering what ability the President has to get around Pubbies blocking the nomination of Cabinet nominees. > > Can the President appoint whom he wants to a position that is inferior to the cabinet position, and then let that person more or less take on the tasks of the cabinet position on an interim basis while the nominee for the cabinet positon goes through the ratification process? > > If this is possible, it would make sense to nominate the best person for the job, and appoint someone the Pubbies truely hate, as opposed to just plain hate, to the inferior position, so as to encourage the Pubbies to ratify the nominee rather than extend the period during which the person they truely hate is busy as a beaver doing whatever it is that Pubbies despise so much? This is what the constitution says about presidential appointments: > [@](#): > > [The President] shall nominate, and, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. So in the case of “inferior officers,” Congress can pass a law saying that the president, a court, or a department head may appoint without the consent of the Senate. And most important positions in executive departments are indeed subject to such a statute, giving a cabinet member or other department head such authority. Now, what I don’t know is where “inferior officer” ends and “civil service job” begins. At some point, if the president is blocked from appointing _anyone_, I would think that certain functions would have to be performed on an acting basis by a civil servant. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8095 "2013-01-08T21:03:28Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > But he already knew that Hagel was not beloved of the pro-Netanyahu hard-liners, and he also knows what a major hurdle that can be, so I can’t convince myself he isn’t signaling to them. Yes, he’s signaling with one finger. Which is the level they understand, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8096 "2013-01-08T21:11:23Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Can the President appoint whom he wants to a position that is inferior to the cabinet position, and then let that person more or less take on the tasks of the cabinet position on an interim basis while the nominee for the cabinet positon goes through the ratification process? No. The Vacancies Act basically requires that if there’s an open position subject to Senate confirmation, that job can only be carried out by another official who has already been confirmed by the Senate, or by someone who pretty much has to be a career civil servant. The President can’t go off and appoint a “career civil servant” (wink wink, nudge nudge) and then the next day make that person the acting secretary of whatever. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8097 "2013-01-08T21:33:56Z")
What happens then to the decisions that are typically made by the appointee? Do they simply not get done? Nobody can sign for him, so to speak? For example, its been brought up that Republicans have stopped the appointment of a Director for the ATF for 6 years. I’m assuming the ATF employees, from the 2nd in command and down to the janitors are just sitting around collecting checks waiting for an appointment, they must have day-to-day duties. If, for example, some big attack happens that requires the ATF Director to approve of some direction in which the agency is supposed to go, can’t those be made by someone else? If not the 2nd in command, then how about the president himself? Can’t he order the bureau to do something? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8098 "2013-01-08T21:58:10Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > What happens then to the decisions that are typically made by the appointee? Do they simply not get done? Nobody can sign for him, so to speak? > > For example, its been brought up that Republicans have stopped the appointment of a Director for the ATF for 6 years. I’m assuming the ATF employees, from the 2nd in command and down to the janitors are just sitting around collecting checks waiting for an appointment, they must have day-to-day duties. If, for example, some big attack happens that requires the ATF Director to approve of some direction in which the agency is supposed to go, can’t those be made by someone else? If not the 2nd in command, then how about the president himself? Can’t he order the bureau to do something? No, the work continues to be done. There are three major options: the deputy to the position does the job; the President personally designates someone else who is Senate-confirmed to do the job; or the President can designate certain senior career civil servants to do the job, typically a GS-15 or above. A civil servant can only be selected if he was in that position for several months (I forget how many) prior to the position being vacated. Any of those individuals can do the job of the vacant officer with full authority. There are also limitations on how long one of those individuals can serve in the acting capacity, in order to prevent a non-confirmed individual from becoming a de facto permanent appointee, but those time limits are more complex and I don’t want to go into it. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8099 "2013-01-09T01:52:50Z")
> [@](#): > > **Birthers Suggest Impeaching Chief Justice John Roberts** > > . . . if he swears in President Barack Obama for a second term later this month. Oh boy. _(I think it’s safe to assume all birthers are Republicans, isn’t it?)_ ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8100 "2013-01-09T01:54:57Z")
Great strategy, do it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=404) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=406)