# 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:** 633
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12641 "2014-01-31T17:25:39Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Honestly, this seems more clever than stupid, as blatantly opportunistic as it is. It’s such a fine line ---
**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 31, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12642 "2014-01-31T17:27:46Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Doesn’t seem politically clever. A Democratic opponent would make hay out of that opportunism. So will his primary opponents, but maybe he picked safe republican districts. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12643 "2014-01-31T17:35:20Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Indeed. The tactic redefines “carpetbagger.” Sounds more like a “Carpet bombing bagger” to me. ---
**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 31, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12644 "2014-01-31T17:39:03Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > So will his primary opponents, but maybe he picked safe republican districts. Can’t say about the other states, but both incumbents in Hawaii are Democrats. ---
**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, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12645 "2014-01-31T17:39:37Z")
> [@In\_Nirvana](#): > > Can I ‘like’ the message? Why doesn’t have vBulletin the option , if any , enabled my default? We have a different way of doing that here. Here, instead of clicking a button that says, “Like,” we actually type, “I like your message.” Cumbersome, true, but think of the boost you’ll get in your WPM. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12646 "2014-01-31T19:47:47Z")
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) delivered the official Republican Party response to Obama’s SOTU address. In it, she referenced the plight of “Bette”, . > [@](#): > > …Bette had written her a letter stating that she had “hoped the president’s healthcare law would save her money – but found out instead that her premiums were going up nearly $700 a month.” The lesson, according to Rodgers: “This law is not working.”… It’s bullshit. > **[Another bogus Obamacare story: The GOP's 'Bette'](https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-bette-20140130-story.html)** > > The centerpiece of the Republican party's attack on the Affordable Care Act following President Obama's State of the Union address this week was the story of "Bette." > [@](#): > > …She’s Bette Grenier, who owns a small business with her husband. Unsurprisingly, her story is much different from the sketchy description provided by Rodgers… > > Grenier told the newspaper that she wrote Rodgers after her insurance company informed her that her $552-a-month catastrophic health plan would not be offered in 2014. It offered her an alternative plan complying with the ACA at $1,052 a month. > But that sounds like her insurer trying to steer her to an overpriced option. > > A compliant plan meeting the Affordable Care Act’s coverage mandates actually is available from Washington’s insurance exchange for much less – and with a deductible far lower than the $10,000 she was paying under the old plan and broader coverage, though lacking a provision for four free doctor visits a year provided by her old plan… The icing: > [@](#): > > …Grenier said she had flatly refused to even investigate her options on the exchange. "I wouldn’t go on that Obama website at all,” she said. “We liked our old plan. It worked for us, but they can’t offer it anymore.” > > Instead, she and her husband “have decided to go without coverage,” the newspaper reported… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12647 "2014-01-31T19:52:34Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) delivered the official Republican Party response to Obama’s SOTU address. In it, she referenced the plight of “Bette”, > > It’s bullshit. > > [Another bogus Obamacare story: The GOP's 'Bette'](http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-bette-20140130,0,1703947.story#axzz2s0TT6ybK) > The icing: I like it. It will help the demographics - stupid Republicans killing themselves off. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12648 "2014-01-31T19:54:38Z")
I really, really wish Obama would publicly warn against the dangers of swallowing Drano. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12649 "2014-01-31T20:19:57Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I really, really wish Obama would publicly warn against the dangers of swallowing Drano. I like your message. ---
**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 31, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12650 "2014-01-31T20:40:49Z")
I had to double check that this wasn’t a satire site. **Ted Cruz running against his own government shutdown** > **[Ted Cruz Thinks You're Stupid](https://www.thedailybeast.com/ted-cruz-runs-against-his-own-government-shutdown/)** > > The senator claims he “didn’t try to shut down the government,” despite strategizing to do so. Having satisfied the lunatic right, he’s trying to move back to the middle for 2016. > [@](#): > > The senator boldly claims he “didn’t try to shut down the government,” despite strategizing to do just that. Having satisfied the lunatic right, he’s trying to move back to the middle for 2016. > > Sunday, on CBS’ Face the Nation, the junior senator from the State of Oblivion said—and I’m not making this up—“I didn’t threaten to shut down the government the last time. I don’t think we should ever shut down the government. I repeatedly voted… to fund the federal government.” Ted - the Ministry of Truth called - they have a job opening. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12651 "2014-01-31T21:28:44Z")
He’s not a minister. He’s Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12652 "2014-01-31T21:32:58Z")
So, I’m thinking how the fuck would Ms. Rodgers think she was going to get away with this, how did the people who vet her speech think so… But, of course! Its because she believed it, its not chicanery or cunning, its simply that “Bette” told her something that she already knows is true, so why would she bother to check it out? There was no need, she already had the truth, this story fits the truth, therefore, it is true. ---
**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 31, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12653 "2014-01-31T22:11:45Z")
Jerry, just remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Wash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9dc877/32.png) [@Wash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wash)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12654 "2014-01-31T22:59:35Z")
I guess David Wildstein is unhappy that Chris Christie played down their friendship. According to his lawyers, he has evidence that Christie knew about the Fort Lee lane closures the whole time. > **[Christie Linked to Knowledge of Shut Lanes (Published 2014)](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/nyregion/christie-bridge.html?_r=0)** > > David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official, says there is evidence to prove the New Jersey governor knew about the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, which the governor has denied. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12655 "2014-02-01T01:43:28Z")
Quick! Somebody offer that tease some immunity in exchange for producing the evidence! ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12656 "2014-02-01T01:53:06Z")
…at which point the “evidence” becomes shockingly inconclusive. Shocking, I tell you! ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12657 "2014-02-02T17:18:17Z")
Pat Buchanan just said on “The McLaughlin Group” that the minimum wage has to stay low in order to keep out a flood of illegal workers from Mexico and Latin America. Because he apparently knows all our lazy Americans who already leech off the government teat would turn their noses up at a minimum-wage job that might actually help them buy more goods and services. We must punish our poor to keep the furriners out! It’s logic! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12658 "2014-02-03T21:49:42Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > Pat Buchanan just said on “The McLaughlin Group” that the minimum wage has to stay low in order to keep out a flood of illegal workers from Mexico and Latin America. To hear Buchanan constantly frothing over the “Great Invasion” during recent years, you’d never realize he’s been so happy up to now about the way our low minimum wage has been keeping out a flood of illegal workers from Mexico and Latin America. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12659 "2014-02-03T21:54:35Z")
No Stupid Republican thread can be without Allen West for long! This time, it’s [Coke’s Superbowl](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/coca-cola-super-bowl-ad-america-the-beautiful-conservatives-boycott) ad: > [@](#): > > “Then the words went from English to languages I didn’t recognize,” a troubled West wrote, calling it “a truly disturbing commercial.” > > “If we cannot be proud enough as a country to sing ‘American (sic) the Beautiful’ in English in a commercial during the Super Bowl, by a company as American as they come — doggone we are on the road to perdition,” he wrote. Yes, Allen, hearing “American the Beautiful” in other languages is indeed deeply disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12660 "2014-02-03T22:34:02Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Yes, Allen, hearing “American the Beautiful” in other languages is indeed deeply disturbing. He has a point. I never trusted that “e pluribus unum” shit, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=632) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=634)