# 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:** 548
**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:** [October 6, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10941 "2013-10-06T14:11:38Z")
Yup. It would appeal to people who consider themselves to be regular guys. Remember that the Flintstones and the Honeymooners were tremendously popular because they presented regular guys trying their best to care for their families while trying to hold down jobs. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10942 "2013-10-06T14:33:04Z")
I think he was using the Flintstones metaphor in the way Fred and Barney threw on the brakes to their car, by jamming their feet against the ground. The Tea Party is committed to stopping progressive change, by brute force if necessary. A crappy metaphor, but the only one I can figure makes any sense. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10943 "2013-10-06T15:22:36Z")
Jamming their bare feet against the ground to stop the car makes sense of what he said, but that being said, what he said was senseless, for causing more people to have to go barefoot by defaulting on the US debt is something only a truly ignorant fool would do. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10944 "2013-10-06T15:29:07Z")
Here is, by far, the stupidest Republican idea in this entire thread: [Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says Congress should tie debt ceiling authorization to ‘Obamacare’ changes](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/texas-sen-ted-cruz-says-congress-should-tie-debt-ceiling-authorization-to-obamacare-changes/2013/10/06/30c4b7f4-2e91-11e3-9ddd-bdd3022f66ee_story.html). What a fucking idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10945 "2013-10-06T15:39:37Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > The Flintstones?? 😕 Riding a brontosaurus at work? Ordering brontoribs that you know will flip the car? keeping dino as a pet? using a mini-Pteradactyl as a record player? Yanking on dniosaur’s tail to signal the end of the work shift? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10946 "2013-10-06T15:51:14Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Riding a brontosaurus at work? Ordering brontoribs that you know will flip the car? keeping dino as a pet? using a mini-Pteradactyl as a record player? Yanking on dniosaur’s tail to signal the end of the work shift? [Yabba-doo, yabba-dabba-dabba-doo, now!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtV_nQKhkdY) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10947 "2013-10-06T16:19:44Z")
[I wanna be a Flintstone.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53baYQPcC4s) ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10948 "2013-10-06T16:39:36Z")
I like how it’s gotten to the point where victory for the Dems is just keeping the government running. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10949 "2013-10-06T16:44:14Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I think he was using the Flintstones metaphor in the way Fred and Barney threw on the brakes to their car, by jamming their feet against the ground. The Tea Party is committed to stopping progressive change, by brute force if necessary. A crappy metaphor, but the only one I can figure makes any sense. Ted Yoho [isn’t exactly known](http://wonkette.com/529341/civil-rights-legend-ted-yoho-vows-to-honor-mlk-and-rosa-parks-by-killing-obamacare) for good metaphors. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10950 "2013-10-06T22:42:55Z")
> **[Boehner says U.S. on path to default if Obama won't negotiate](https://www.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-recall-most-furloughed-workers-easing-shutdown-pain-010238595--business.html)** > > By Caren Bohan and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican House Speaker John Boehner vowed on Sunday not to raise the U.S. debt ceiling without a "serious conversation" about what is driving the debt, while Democrats said it was... Not surprising, but **Boehner says U.S. on path to default if Obama won’t negotiate** Making a naked extortionist threat is not exactly the way to win friends and influence people. Meanwhile he still refuses to allow a clean CR bill to come to the floor. > [@](#): > > White House spokesman Jay Carney said Boehner should prove he does not have the votes for a clean bill, known as a “continuing resolution,” or CR, by putting a bill on the House floor. “The Speaker says there are ‘not enough votes’ to pass a clean CR? If he’s right, why not prove it?” Carney said via Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10951 "2013-10-06T22:51:45Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > Here is, by far, the stupidest Republican idea in this entire thread: > > [Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says Congress should tie debt ceiling authorization to ‘Obamacare’ changes](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/texas-sen-ted-cruz-says-congress-should-tie-debt-ceiling-authorization-to-obamacare-changes/2013/10/06/30c4b7f4-2e91-11e3-9ddd-bdd3022f66ee_story.html). > > What a fucking idiot. History will name it the Great Boehner-Cruz Depression… ---
**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:** [October 7, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10952 "2013-10-07T12:12:52Z")
Oct 6, 2013 California Republican Party convention on Saturday: Featured **Sexist Anti-Hillary Buttons: ’2 Fat Thighs, 2 Small Breasts’, ‘1 left wing’** [http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/06/2738641/republican-convention-features-sexist-anti-hillary-buttons-2-fat-thighs-2-small-breasts/](http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/06/2738641/republican-convention-features-sexist-anti-hillary-buttons-2-fat-thighs-2-small-breasts/) Apparently they were comfortable going back to their sexist, anti-women roots. Soon after a reporter tweeted a photo of the buttons, they were removed so at least some Republican in California had an ounce of common sense. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10953 "2013-10-07T15:21:20Z")
That’s Republican outreach to women. The outreach to gays mocks her fashion sense. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10954 "2013-10-07T16:11:25Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-ted-yoho-government-shutdown-is-the-tremor-before-the-tsunami/2013/10/04/98b5aa8c-2c3c-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-ted-yoho-government-shutdown-is-the-tremor-before-the-tsunami/2013/10/04/98b5aa8c-2c3c-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html) > > **For Rep. Ted Yoho, government shutdown is ‘the tremor before the tsunami’** Teddy also thinks a government default will “Bring Stability To The World Markets”. Right. [http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/07/2740271/yoho-debt-ceiling-markets/](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/07/2740271/yoho-debt-ceiling-markets/) Well, in ten days we can know the answer to whose judgement is correct, Teddy’s or most economists and business people. For the record, I predict the economists and business folks know more. > [@](#): > > Few agree with Yoho that a failure to raise the debt ceiling, which would mean the United States government would not have adequate funds to pay for all of the debts it owes and would likely default on at least some, would be beneficial. Last week, the Treasury Department released a report that warned that a default could create “a recession more severe than any seen since the Great Depression.” > > It came to this conclusion by looking at the consequences of the near default in 2011, which led to a sharp decline in consumer and business confidence, a hit to the financial markets, and a slow down in job growth. The impact on the financial markets from nearly defaulting on the debt and getting a first-ever downgrade on the debt from Standard & Poor’s “persisted for months.” The brinkmanship that time around also meant a $2.4 trillion drop in household wealth, an $800 billion drop in retirement assets, and a hit to mortgages. It increased the government’s borrowing costs by $1.3 billion. > > This all happened even though the U.S. didn’t actually default in 2011. If that were to happen, investors could become unwilling to lend to the country, leaving it with an immediate cash shortfall and creating unknowable (yet clearly devastating) ripple effects throughout the markets and the global economy. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10955 "2013-10-07T16:18:19Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Oct 6, 2013 > California Republican Party convention on Saturday: > > Featured **Sexist Anti-Hillary Buttons: ’2 Fat Thighs, 2 Small Breasts’, ‘1 left wing’** > > [http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/06/2738641/republican-convention-features-sexist-anti-hillary-buttons-2-fat-thighs-2-small-breasts/](http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/06/2738641/republican-convention-features-sexist-anti-hillary-buttons-2-fat-thighs-2-small-breasts/) > > Apparently they were comfortable going back to their sexist, anti-women roots. > > Soon after a reporter tweeted a photo of the buttons, they were removed so at least some Republican in California had an ounce of common sense. Hillary. Left-wing. Jesus K! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10956 "2013-10-07T16:26:14Z")
I was debating on making this it’s own thread but this seems like a good place for it. [Arizona Is Only State To Stop Welfare Checks During Shutdown](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/arizona-is-only-state-to-stop-welfare-checks-during-shutdown) From the article: > [@](#): > > Federal officials have told state welfare directors that they could use alternative sources of funding during the shutdown to keep assistance programs funded, and they will be reimbursed when the federal government re-opens. This means that Arizona will get back any money they spend on the people that need it most, which means it costs them nothing. However, despite this, Jan Brewer has decided that the Arizonans most in need should bear the brunt of this. If there was a park in Arizona, I’m pretty sure that Brewer would make an appearance and promise to keep the park open. Oh, wait. > [@](#): > > Arizona’s Republican leaders, known for picking fights with the federal government, are seething again now that the Grand Canyon is closed because of the budget crisis in Washington. > > Gov. Jan Brewer wants the state’s signature national park reopened and has offered to pay for it with state money… > > [ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/ariz-gov-rejected-offer-reopen-grand-canyon-20466154) It’s funny. I almost left the post as it was before the “Oh, wait” above. But then I thought, let me Google this. And lo and behold! Because it can’t possibly be a surprise that Jan Brewer would rather pay to keep open the Grand Canyon with funds that Arizona did not have allocated for and would never get back (barring congress making a law after the shutdown ends which appropriates some money for states who decided to pay out of their own pockets for services or employees usually paid for by the USA) while letting kids go to bed hungry with funds that the state did not have allocated but WOULD get back. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10957 "2013-10-07T16:29:29Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > …letting kids go to bed hungry with funds that the state did not have allocated but WOULD get back. Fuckin’ kids would probably just eat that food and turn it into shit. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10958 "2013-10-07T16:32:46Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Teddy also thinks a government default will “Bring Stability To The World Markets”. > > Right. > [http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/07/2740271/yoho-debt-ceiling-markets/](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/07/2740271/yoho-debt-ceiling-markets/) > > Well, in ten days we can know the answer to whose judgement is correct, Teddy’s or most economists and business people. > > For the record, I predict the economists and business folks know more. :eek: The most apt metaphor that comes to mind: the House pondering the debit ceiling is like children playing with loaded guns. Unfortunately they will do more than just shoot themselves. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10959 "2013-10-07T17:40:13Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Because it can’t possibly be a surprise that Jan Brewer would rather pay to keep open the Grand Canyon with funds that Arizona did not have allocated for and would never get back (barring congress making a law after the shutdown ends which appropriates some money for states who decided to pay out of their own pockets for services or employees usually paid for by the USA) while letting kids go to bed hungry with funds that the state did not have allocated but WOULD get back. Dude, please, stop the petty inflammatory partisan rethoric. Big picture. What is more important, to you and the country both : your kids, or a hole in the ground ? ---
**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:** [October 7, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10960 "2013-10-07T17:43:49Z")
That being said, they don’t need Jan Brewer’s money. The Feds have said they could consider “alternative sources of funding”. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but that sounds like carte blanche to deal meth to _me_. With the Feds on furlough, who’s gonna know ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=547) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=549)