# 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:** 495
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9881 "2013-06-20T21:10:56Z")
I’ve noticed internet conservatives always have outrageous anecdotes handy to emotionally support radical change in legislation based on extreme statistical outliers that are based on lies. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9882 "2013-06-20T21:24:46Z")
Your stepson is lying. He is making good money, yes, but not at this job but selling “candid” photos of you in the shower. Sold us liberals here a bunch, $10/ea, that we keep in front of us when we answer your polemics. Offers no end of amusement, which is fairly uncommon for pictures of nekkid Republicans. By the way, you should have that wart looked at. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9883 "2013-06-20T21:26:59Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Your stepson is lying. He is making good money, yes, but not at this job but selling “candid” photos of you in the shower. Sold us liberals here a bunch, $10/ea, that we keep in front of us when we answer your polemics. Offers no end of amusement, which is fairly uncommon for pictures of nekkid Republicans. > > By the way, you should have that wart looked at. That’s not a wart. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9884 "2013-06-20T22:18:20Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > The problem is that you’re apparently willing to look at one data point at the far, far right of the bell curve and assume it applies to everyone. Which, I don’t know, maybe explains the pathology of your postings. > > [But here’s the point.](http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2010/07/emmers-minimum-wage-fallout-who-makes-100000-waiter-or-bartender) Emmer’s point is apparently that minimum wage is too expensive for restauranteurs to pay. But minimum wage is about $19K/year. So if a waiter is making $80K/year in (let’s generously assume) 20% tips, then the restaurant is hauling in $400K/waiter. I think most businesses would be \* delighted \* to bring in $380K/worker after wages. Even if you assume an overhead of 100%, that still means $360K/worker. > > Conversely, if business is so crappy that you can’t even afford $19K/year in salary, then what kind of tips are your servers bringing home? Not enough to get by on, I would think. This was a well reasoned response; I didn’t stop to do the math. Emmer’s point is truly a SRIOTD! Any comment **Clothahump**? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9885 "2013-06-20T22:28:43Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > This was a well reasoned response; I didn’t stop to do the math. Emmer’s point is truly a SRIOTD! > > Any comment **Clothahump**? Don’t worry, he has 2 stepsons ---
**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:** [June 20, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9886 "2013-06-20T22:58:27Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > > [@Gyrate](#): > > > > Texas Representative Michael Burgess feels that we should reduce the timeframe allowed for abortions to the 15-week mark because… > > > > …wait for it… > > > > […he’s seen a fetus masturbating.](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/17/republican-cites-masturbating-fetuses-to-support-new-abortion-restrictions/) > > With almost 10,000 posts in this thread I think we need a > _Stupid Republican Ideas – Greatest Hits_ > > I nominate this one. You have to read my friend Tina’s column in The Contributor today: [Editor’s Column: Elders v. Burgess](http://thecontributor.com/editors-contribution/editors-column-elders-v-burgess) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9887 "2013-06-20T23:00:22Z")
> [@](#): > > She is a nationally recognized advocate of **bullying prevention efforts** , delivering presentations to community leaders and students about the **most effective methods of combating peer-to-peer harassment**. Now that right there is irony. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9888 "2013-06-21T01:40:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Maine’s Republican Governor, Paul LePage, touched off a round of criticism on Thursday when he made a vulgar remark about a Democratic state senator. > > LePage said during a television interview that Senator Troy Jackson, with whom he has sparred recently over budget issues, “claims to be for the people, but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline.” [http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/20/us-usa-maine-vaseline-idUSBRE95J17L20130620](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/20/us-usa-maine-vaseline-idUSBRE95J17L20130620) I guess the stupid idea here is that Republicans apparently use Vaseline for anal sex. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9889 "2013-06-21T01:55:35Z")
WD 40 smells bad. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9890 "2013-06-21T03:51:35Z")
Peer-to-peer harassment ? That’s getting berated in the comments over at the Pirate Bay, right ? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9891 "2013-06-21T07:17:48Z")
> [@irae](#): > > Most waiters are forced by local regulations to work fully clothed, and don’t have the opportunity to groom the kind of steady clientele to which you refer. I believe this is called a “burn”. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9892 "2013-06-21T13:01:59Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > That’s not a wart. …it’s a talking point! ---
**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:** [June 21, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9893 "2013-06-21T13:37:26Z")
Maine governor lePage, apparently annoyed by news reporting that he views as hostile, has decided not to comment on his actions, and has pretty much cut off access to government information to the press, forbidding state agencies to release, for example, the governor’s schedule. This is beyond absurd: > **[Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC | Watch Rachel Maddow Live](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show)** > > More about the MSNBC Rachel Maddow Show airing weeknights at 9 PM. Watch Rachel Maddow tonight or online with updated video & episodes at MSNBC. The governor’s actions that prompted this are equally outrageous. See the linked report. (Sorry, I couldn’t find a print edition of this that goes into it in any detail) edited to add: Here’s a link to the Maine Telegram’s report on Maine Environmental Protection head Patricia Aho: > **[The lobbyist in the henhouse: Whose interests is Maine’s DEP commissioner...](https://www.pressherald.com/2013/06/16/whose-interests-is-maines-dep-commissioner-serving/)** > > For two years, public servant Patricia Aho has overseen Maine's environmental protection. But whom does she really serve? A seven-month investigation by the Telegram points to her former corporate clients. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9894 "2013-06-21T13:47:13Z")
Here’s a piece from ABC about Paul lePage cutting off access to three newspapers: [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/maine-governor-stop-talking-newspapers-19441585](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/maine-governor-stop-talking-newspapers-19441585) ---
**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:** [June 23, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9895 "2013-06-23T23:48:59Z")
[http://thinkprogress.org/education/2013/06/23/2200541/under-gop-plan-states-would-be-free-to-take-money-away-from-poorest-schools/?mobile=nc](http://thinkprogress.org/education/2013/06/23/2200541/under-gop-plan-states-would-be-free-to-take-money-away-from-poorest-schools/?mobile=nc) **Under GOP Plan, States Would Be Free To Take Money Away From Poorest Schools** > [@](#): > > Indeed, according to Education Week, states would no longer be obligated to break out educational achievement statistics by demographic subgroups, restricting our ability to even understand what the flaws in our educational system look like. The magazine notes that A-PLUS’ reintroduction comes as House conservatives are already preparing a reauthorization of No Child Left Behind that would seriously curtail the federal government’s role in education. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9896 "2013-06-24T00:30:47Z")
Well, it wouldn’t do to give these children ambitions above their station. Just get them the three R’s and get them to vocational training. Typewriter repair, perhaps. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9897 "2013-06-24T12:21:00Z")
If they had not have been so lazy, they would have been living in a better area. Poor people are so stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9898 "2013-06-24T12:42:48Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Since he’s correct, what’s the problem? > > My stepson is a waiter. He’s one of the newest on staff in the restaurant and last year he knocked back just over $75k. The guys that have been there a while and who have a steady clientele all make $100k or so. Some of them have refused a promotion to manager because it would mean too big a cut in pay. So fucking what??? It’s what happens when you 1. Get paid for performance. 2. Are good at what you do. It’s very common for commissioned salespeople to make more than their managers or the people that own their companies, even. It’s why good salespeople often stay in “on the ground” sales throughout their entire careers. And really, does it hurt the business owner’s bottom line if a waiter cleans up in tips? Would it be better to hire shitty waiters just so you can “keep them in their place”? The business owner should be thrilled that his waitstaff is so good, it is probably good for business. In the same vein the commissioned salesgirl that can make 500K a year will be in high demand. These guys are really about nothing more than keeping the working classes down in order to ensure a surplus of underpaid labor. And for all you job creators out there: If you can’t afford to pay your adult full time employees a living wage, then you don’t deserve to be in business and the world would be a better place if your company went under so their market niche could be assumed by someone that was…you know…\* good\* at business-running. And when your adult full time employees have to rely on food assistance and Medicare to survive then I, as a taxpayer, am subsidizing your bad business skills and that pisses me off. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9899 "2013-06-24T16:08:34Z")
> **[Texas abortion bill sponsor doesn't know what a rape kit is](https://www.salon.com/2013/06/24/texas_abortion_bill_sponsor_doesnt_know_what_a_rape_kit_is/)** > > Jodie Laubenberg thinks rape kits are the same thing as abortions, says they allow women to "get cleaned out" **Texas abortion bill sponsor doesn’t know what a rape kit is** > [@](#): > > One such amendment would have called for an exemption to the ban in cases of rape and incest; state Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, felt such an exception was unnecessary because “in the emergency room they have what’s called rape kits where a woman can get cleaned out,” she said, incorrectly comparing the procedure to collect physical evidence after a sexual assault to an abortion. Pretty darned stupid, especially for someone on the public health committee, but really stupid GOPers seem to get themselves on science and other technical type committees. They should stick to the county music committee and other similar ones. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/9900 "2013-06-24T16:23:34Z")
I rarely (have to) comment on this thread, but that is some real pig-ignorant stoopid. ^ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=494) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=496)