# 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:** 421
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8401 "2013-01-29T17:55:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Congressman Mo Brooks (R-AL) is deeply concerned that we need to balance the budget. And so he’s proposed to do so by introducing a constitutional amendment which does nothing except [prove that he has absolutely no idea what branch of government controls spending;](http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/279423-gop-lawmaker-make-budget-deficits-an-impeachable-offense) Sounds like a sneak attempt to give the Republican House the power to impeach future Democratic presidents on a whim. If Congress simply does not pass a budget, there’s little the President can do about it. So hey! Instant impeachment! ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8402 "2013-01-29T18:01:40Z")
The whole idea that a budget must be balanced is dumb anyway. Why would you pay up front for a bridge or a road or a jet that will last 10-20 or even 100 years? Why not finance using the future stream of tax payments to match the future stream of benefits? ---
**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 29, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8403 "2013-01-29T18:06:31Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > The whole idea that a budget must be balanced is dumb anyway. Why would you pay up front for a bridge or a road or a jet that will last 10-20 or even 100 years? Don’t you know, the federal budget is just like a household budget, and when Joe & Jane Sixpack sit down at the kitchen table to pay their bills, they can’t spend more than they earn for very long. It’s just like that, right? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8404 "2013-01-29T18:19:09Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Don’t you know, the federal budget is just like a household budget, and when Joe & Jane Sixpack sit down at the kitchen table to pay their bills, they can’t spend more than they earn for very long. > > It’s just like that, right? Exactly, that is also why the federal goverment spends about 30% on housing, 10% on education, 20% on healthcare, 30% on food…right? ---
**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 29, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8405 "2013-01-29T18:39:10Z")
… and 20% on fighter planes, just like every American household. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8406 "2013-01-29T18:43:41Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Don’t you know, the federal budget is just like a household budget, and when Joe & Jane Sixpack sit down at the kitchen table to pay their bills, they can’t spend more than they earn for very long. > > It’s just like that, right? Yep! And Joe & Jane never go into debt. No mortgage, no car loan, no credit card. They scrimp and save and put their coins in a jar on the fridge before they get that 80 inch HD TV. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8407 "2013-01-29T21:09:06Z")
You republicans! Again, making stupid ass remarks. Before you are bitching about Obama’s new proposal as if it is the worst thing in the world. Seriously, you’re only limited to 10 round magazines. 10 rounds is **plenty**! And now you’re bitching about something that’s not even a freaking human? Good riddance. Seriously, if you get it done in the first trimester, why should it matter? It’s not a human yet; it’s in its development stage. As long as you get it done in the first trimester, it’s fine! It’s her choice. What is so bad about stopping a baby from developing? It’s not like you’re murdering someone because the things is not even a baby yet! The baby doesn’t give a shit, as it doesn’t even know it’s fucking being developed. Abortion should completely be legalized as long as it is done within the first trimester. Man, where do you stupid republicans get this messed up ideas from? I’d really like to know. Republicans, republicans, republicans…:rolleyes::smack::mad: ---
**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 29, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8408 "2013-01-29T23:22:38Z")
Another Teahadist Chicken hawk squawking about Democratic war heroes. [http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/\_news/2013/01/29/16753966-ardent-fans-of-the-us-military?lite](http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/29/16753966-ardent-fans-of-the-us-military?lite) > [@](#): > > Cruz notes that the Senate has “two pending nominations, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel.” Describing the nominees, Cruz added, “Both of whom are very prominently…” > > After pausing for a few moments, the event’s moderator said, “Anti-us?” Cruz responded that Kerry and Hagel are “less than ardent fans of the U.S. military.” > > Perhaps Ted Cruz would benefit from a reminder about the men he’s attacking. John Kerry is a decorated war hero who was awarded combat medals including the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. Chuck Hagel is a decorated war hero who was awarded combat medals including the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. > > Cruz, meanwhile, who apparently considers himself an “ardent fan of the U.S. military,” has never worn a uniform, except maybe on Halloween. There’s an almost 40 minute YouTube video of the talk at the link. During the talk he also went along with the Teahadist legislative economic hostage taking strategy and reiterated his desire to privatize social security. I can see why the Teahadists continue to dumb down the education system in Texas. They need under-educated voters to get guys like this elected. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8409 "2013-01-30T01:09:49Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > And now you’re bitching about something that’s not even a freaking human? Good riddance. Seriously, if you get it done in the first trimester, why should it matter? It’s not a human yet; it’s in its development stage. As long as you get it done in the first trimester, it’s fine! It’s her choice. What is so bad about stopping a baby from developing? It’s not like you’re murdering someone because the things is not even a baby yet! The baby doesn’t give a shit, as it doesn’t even know it’s fucking being developed. Abortion should completely be legalized as long as it is done within the first trimester. > > Man, where do you stupid republicans get this messed up ideas from? I’d really like to know. > > Republicans, republicans, republicans…:rolleyes::smack::mad: My whoosh detector is sadly prone to malfunction, so I’m really not sure where you’re coming from with this, but… abortion **is** completely legal, in fact constitutionally protected, as long as it is done within the first trimester. (Actually, the protections extend further, to the critical point of “viability”, which is not very precisely defined but definitely includes the first trimester of pregnancy.) Plenty of jurisdictions have instituted laws making access to abortion more difficult, even within this constitutionally protected period, but AFAIK the courts since _Roe_ have never supported any law actually making first-trimester abortion illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8410 "2013-01-30T01:32:41Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > My whoosh detector is sadly prone to malfunction, so I’m really not sure where you’re coming from with this, but… He posted the identical post in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=679824), so I don’t know if it is a malfunction or not… ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8411 "2013-01-30T01:34:02Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > My whoosh detector is sadly prone to malfunction… How’s your “insincere detector”? 'Cause I got a weird vibe from that post, like, “I don’t really believe what I’m saying” or “I’m playing a part here…” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8412 "2013-01-30T02:00:25Z")
> [@digs](#): > > How’s your “insincere detector”? Well fuck me, I thought they were basically the same thing. 😕 Maybe that explains the problems I’ve been having with it. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8413 "2013-01-30T12:07:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > … and 20% on fighter planes, just like every American household. From your mouth to my wife’s ears… ---
**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:** [January 30, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8414 "2013-01-30T15:14:45Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Don’t you know, the federal budget is just like a household budget, and when Joe & Jane Sixpack sit down at the kitchen table to pay their bills, they can’t spend more than they earn for very long. > > It’s just like that, right? Well I tell ya, I’d be a _fool_ to go out and buy 20 years’ worth of six packs all at once. Not only would I go bankrupt, but where would I even put them 😕 ---
**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:** [January 30, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8415 "2013-01-30T15:48:39Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Another Teahadist Chicken hawk squawking about Democratic war heroes. > > [http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/\_news/2013/01/29/16753966-ardent-fans-of-the-us-military?lite](http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/29/16753966-ardent-fans-of-the-us-military?lite) > There’s an almost 40 minute YouTube video of the talk at the link. > > During the talk he also went along with the Teahadist legislative economic hostage taking strategy and reiterated his desire to privatize social security. > > I can see why the Teahadists continue to dumb down the education system in Texas. They need under-educated voters to get guys like this elected. Senator Ted Cruz (Asshat - Texas) throws his hat in the ring for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination. ---
**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 30, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8416 "2013-01-30T23:01:24Z")
Tennessee trying to catch up to Arizona, South Carolina, et al. [http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/01/30/1514051/dont-say-gay-tennessee/](http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/01/30/1514051/dont-say-gay-tennessee/) > [@](#): > > . . . SB 234, still bars Tennessee teachers from discussing any facet of “non-heterosexual” sexuality with children in grades K-8. But the newest iteration also includes a provision requiring teachers or counselors to inform the parents of some students who identify themselves as LGBT. State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R), who authored the bill the first time around and again introduced it this time, calls out students who might be “at risk,” but leaves the interpretation of that behavior to the teacher: . . . In other words, teachers must out potentially gay kids to their parents. The first comment: > [@](#): > > chazr\_99 (signed in using yahoo) > Well if they are going to go this far, might as well make said students wear a pink triangle so that everyone will know what they are. > **[Video Games Are 'A Bigger Problem Than Guns,' Says Actual U.S. Senator](https://kotaku.com/video-games-are-a-bigger-problem-than-guns-says-actual-5980247?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow)** > > On MSNBC today, U.S. senator Lamar Alexander (a Tennessee Republican) set a new benchmark for insanity by claiming that games are worse than guns. > [@](#): > > On MSNBC today, U.S. senator Lamar Alexander (a Tennessee Republican) set a new benchmark for insanity by claiming that games are worse than guns. Not only insanity, a lie picked up directly from the NRA. How does the NRA explain the fact that Japan usually has fewer than 100 gun deaths a year yet has the most advanced, and no doubt the most violent, video games around and they are widely available throughout the country? ---
**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:** [January 31, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8417 "2013-01-31T00:24:48Z")
Japan? Violent? Here’s the thing … tentacle rape isn’t \*legitimate \*rape, so it doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8418 "2013-01-31T00:53:40Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Not only insanity, a lie picked up directly from the NRA. It’s just a transparent attempt to deflect the argument away from guns. I’d wager that none of these people really believe that video games are at fault. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8419 "2013-01-31T17:00:53Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Tennessee trying to catch up to Arizona, South Carolina, et al. > > [http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/01/30/1514051/dont-say-gay-tennessee/](http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/01/30/1514051/dont-say-gay-tennessee/) > > In other words, teachers must out potentially gay kids to their parents. You missed some of the best parts: > [@](#): > > The new bill makes more allowances for classroom discussion of homosexuality. But it requires a school nurse, counselor or administrator to tell parents about discovering any “urgent safety issues.” > > That includes homosexual behavior, says state Senator Stacey Campfield of Knoxville. > > “I can’t speak from personal experience, but being homosexual in and of itself is not deadly or dangerous. The act of homosexuality is very dangerous.” I love how he clarifies that he can’t speak from personal experience, in case you might jump to the conclusion that he is one of those light in the loafer pansy types. He’s just looking to protect our children from the life-threatening gayness. ([local NPR story](http://wpln.org/?p=45131)) ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8420 "2013-01-31T20:11:49Z")
[Idaho lawmaker: Obamacare is like ‘Jews boarding the trains to concentration camps’](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/31/idaho-lawmaker-obamacare-is-like-jews-boarding-the-trains-to-concentration-camps/) \*A Republican lawmaker in Idaho is defending her comparison of President Barack Obama’s health care reform law to the Holocaust because private insurance companies were like “the Jews boarding the trains to concentration camps” and that the federal governor would eventually “pull the trigger” to destroy them. In an email sent to supporters and messages posted on Twitter last week, state Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll warned that a health care exchange proposed by Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter (R) was “replacing capitalism with socialism.” “The insurance companies are creating their own tombs,” Nuxoll wrote in the letter obtained by The Spokesman-Review. “Much like the Jews boarding the trains to concentration camps, private insurers are used by the feds to put the system in place because the federal government has no way to set up the exchange.”\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=420) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=422)