# 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:** 896
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17901 "2014-11-20T04:29:00Z")
A reasonable proposal is to improve enforcement, then normalize all undocumented immigrants who are otherwise law abiding and have been in this country at least five years. That’s why I don’t think this is a big deal. The President isn’t going to defer deportation on anyone we were going to deport anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17902 "2014-11-20T04:34:35Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > A reasonable proposal is … The point was that the team you mindlessly root for, to the detriment of the nation and society, has no proposal, reasonable or otherwise. You should be familiar with that problem from their lack of a health care bill. You do show yourself capable of reasonable, responsible thought from time to time. But then you chuck it all to go with mindless yeehawing for a party that simply opposes those things. You were asked why. Why? > [@](#): > > The President isn’t going to defer deportation on anyone we were going to deport anyway. Not the fucking point, is it? Whatever he does or doesn’t do, you and your party will crow about how he’s wrong - _even when he’s doing something you actually agree with._ :rolleyes: Why? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17903 "2014-11-20T05:25:51Z")
Actually, I don’t agree with his executive action at all. I just don’t think it’s a huge deal. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to oppose his action. Impeachment and arrest are not the right way, especially since it looks like his action will be well within his powers as President. One way to oppose him is to point out that although he has this power, it’s irresponsible to use it this way. Republicans could use the same power to effectively cut taxes and deregulate. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17904 "2014-11-20T07:00:43Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > You do show yourself capable of reasonable, responsible thought from time to time. But then you chuck it all to go with mindless yeehawing for a party that simply opposes those things. You were asked why. Why? Here, you have given a fitting description of my own congresstwit, against whom I fruitlessly vote every time. He is a fairly decent guy who holds some reasonable positions – which count for nothing, because -R. Essentially, if you put on the Republiopathic pin, no matter how “moderate”-ish you might be, it still means you are endorsing insanity and delusion. And, naturally, when their absurdity is pointed out to them, they circle the wagons and double down, and the “moderates” just watch and smile, kids will be kids, and keep on supporting them. “Stupid Republican” is universally redundant. _Canfield votes like A typical politician Guided by November intuition For Canfield is But half a man The other half Republican_ — Allen Ginsberg ---
**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:** [November 20, 2014, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17905 "2014-11-20T10:10:58Z")
Old and busted: Republicans block Obama judician nominations New hotness: [Republicans block their own judicial nominations](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/18/republicans-judicial-nominees_n_6172552.html) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17906 "2014-11-20T13:43:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Actually, I don’t agree with his executive action at all. Of course not. No matter that you don’t even know what it is yet; cheering for the Republicans \*requires \*you to oppose it, whatever it is. > [@](#): > > But there’s a right way and a wrong way to oppose his action. An even righter way would be to have a positive goal and policy and bill of your own, not to let Obama define it for you by default, wouldn’t it? > [@](#): > > Impeachment and arrest are not the right way, especially since it looks like his action will be well within his powers as President. Then maybe you could urge the guys who are talking about that anyway not to do it, huh? Or is the cheering too reflexive and mindless for you? You were asked, repeatedly now, why you do it, why you choose to actively hurt your country. Is there an answer other than it being a conditioned reflex, or isn’t there? > [@](#): > > Republicans could use the same power to effectively cut taxes and deregulate. You mean that getting out of this mess requires more of what got us into it? Well, that’s a start; you’ve now stated a view that isn’t defined by Obama-opposition, even though it’s still mindless. Can you keep working on it? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17907 "2014-11-20T14:48:32Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > A reasonable proposal is to improve enforcement . . . Don’t see what more can be done there, actually. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17908 "2014-11-20T14:51:06Z")
[House Republicans just passed a bill forbidding scientists from advising the EPA on their own research.](http://www.salon.com/2014/11/19/house_republicans_just_passed_a_bill_forbidding_scientists_from_advising_the_epa_on_their_own_research/) > [@](#): > > In what might be the most ridiculous aspect of the whole thing, the bill forbids scientific experts from participating in “advisory activities” that either directly or indirectly involve their own work. In case that wasn’t clear: experts would be forbidden from _sharing their expertise in their own research_ — the bizarre assumption, apparently, being that having conducted peer-reviewed studies on a topic would constitute a conflict of interest. “In other words,” wrote Union of Concerned Scientists director Andrew A. Rosenberg in an editorial for RollCall, “academic scientists who know the most about a subject can’t weigh in, but experts paid by corporations who want to block regulations can.” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17909 "2014-11-20T15:57:14Z")
Beyond stupidity to evil with [a wink-wink-nudge-nudge incitement to violence](http://www._usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/19/usa-today-capital-download-with-tom-coburn/19263969/) (link obfuscated because of autoplay video content): > [@](#): > > Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn warns there could be not only a political firestorm but acts of civil disobedience and even violence in reaction to President Obama’s executive order on immigration Thursday… ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17910 "2014-11-20T16:05:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [House Republicans just passed a bill forbidding scientists from advising the EPA on their own research.](http://www.salon.com/2014/11/19/house_republicans_just_passed_a_bill_forbidding_scientists_from_advising_the_epa_on_their_own_research/) This is madness. Climate change is going to destroy millions of lives, and these guys not only aggressively deny it, they actively want to make it worse. It’s like we’re living in a cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17911 "2014-11-20T16:07:41Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Beyond stupidity to evil with [a wink-wink-nudge-nudge incitement to violence](http://www._usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/19/usa-today-capital-download-with-tom-coburn/19263969/) (link obfuscated because of autoplay video content): Now, how do you commit acts of civil disobedience to stop the government from **not** doing something? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17912 "2014-11-20T16:20:11Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The point was that the team you mindlessly root for, to the detriment of the nation and society, has no proposal, reasonable or otherwise. That accusation is entirely unfair! They have [several](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/18/1330722/-Republican-congressional-candidate-endorses-going-to-war-with-Mexico-over-undocumented-immigrants) [unsreasonable](http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/21/19062298-price-tag-for-700-miles-of-border-fencing-high-and-hard-to-pin-down) [proposals](http://nbclatino.com/2012/08/14/joe-the-plumber-proposes-to-start-shooting-immigrants-to-address-illegal-immigration/). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17913 "2014-11-20T16:53:15Z")
[Ted Cruz, having campaigned against “compromise” when he ran for the Senate, and having spent his whole Senate career denouncing “compromise” as such as a bad thing, now calls for “compromise between the branches.”](http://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/ted_cruz_trolls_america_why_his_new_lecture_on_responsible_governance_real_chutzpah/) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17914 "2014-11-20T16:56:53Z")
My understanding is that the more or less “rational” wing, like John McCain, says “Sure, we can do stuff like that, just as soon as we secure our borders!” A border that stretches from Texas to California through the Godforsaken Desert, we are going to “secure” it? How? I know! How about a “informant” program? If you are here illegally, but rat out…what? five? ten?..other illegals, you get a pass, you can stay in the same country as your kids! Just that one? Not the other one, no effort to keep hysterically emo female singers from crossing over from Canada? No anti-hoser program, 'eh? What provisions will be made for American citizen children who’s parents are going to be kicked out? People who volunteer to care for them, will they be inviting closer scrutiny from _la Migra_. Shit, nothing like good old fashioned family values! ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17915 "2014-11-20T17:13:33Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Ted Cruz, having campaigned against “compromise” when he ran for the Senate, and having spent his whole Senate career denouncing “compromise” as such as a bad thing, now calls for “compromise between the branches.”](http://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/ted_cruz_trolls_america_why_his_new_lecture_on_responsible_governance_real_chutzpah/) Ted Cruz is a monster! It’s **compromise _among_ the branches**. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17916 "2014-11-20T17:23:56Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > Ted Cruz is a monster! > > It’s **compromise _among_ the branches**. :rolleyes: Technically, not really. Compromise requires direct participation and negotiation, which the third branch by design cannot do. Hence, only two branches would be involved (Senate and House are two parts of one branch), so “between” is not an unacceptable usage here. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17917 "2014-11-20T17:43:24Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [House Republicans just passed a bill forbidding scientists from advising the EPA on their own research.](http://www.salon.com/2014/11/19/house_republicans_just_passed_a_bill_forbidding_scientists_from_advising_the_epa_on_their_own_research/) Franz Kafka, eat your heart out. Alternatively : war is peace, ignorance is knowledge, corruption is honesty. See y’all in room 101. Alternatively alternatively : “Money, dear boy” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17918 "2014-11-20T17:52:39Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > My understanding is that the more or less “rational” wing, like John McCain, says “Sure, we can do stuff like that, just as soon as we secure our borders!” A border that stretches from Texas to California through the Godforsaken Desert, we are going to “secure” it? How? [Partially and expensively. What can be done already has been done.](http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/06/26/90b_spent_on_border_security_with_mixed_results/) > [@](#): > > HIDALGO, Texas — As Congress debates border funding and governors demand more aid to curb illegal immigration and other problems, government records show that taxpayers have spent $90 billion over 10 years to secure the US-Mexican border. > > The Associated Press tallied the combined costs using White House budgets, reports obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, and congressional transcripts. > > Among the expenses: > > ■ Deployment of 1,200 National Guard soldiers for one year: $110 million > > ■ One rail cargo X-ray screening machine: $1.75 million > > ■ Average annual salary of a Customs and Border Protection officer: $75,000 > > ■ Cost of a drug-searching dog: $4,500 > > For taxpayers footing these bills, **the returns have been mixed: fewer illegal immigrants but little impact on the terrorism issue, and no stoppage of the drug supply,** officials said. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17919 "2014-11-20T18:06:39Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Technically, not really. Compromise requires direct participation and negotiation, which the third branch by design cannot do. Hence, only two branches would be involved (Senate and House are two parts of one branch), so “between” is not an unacceptable usage here. Point taken, and thanks for the clarification. But we are in agreement that Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz is a monster, right? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/17920 "2014-11-20T22:27:19Z")
Louie Gohmert: [Congress should defund Obama’s golf game](http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/louie-gohmert-defund-obamas-golf-game). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=895) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=897)