# 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:** 952
**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:** [February 5, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19022 "2015-02-05T20:31:25Z")
So the GOP has finally crafted a replacement for the Obamacare that they voted to repeal [for the 56th time](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-with-latest-obamacare-repeal-vote-gop-sets-record-for-futility/2015/02/03/26a4266c-abf2-11e4-9c91-e9d2f9fde644_story.html)this week. And the fact that it is in this thread tells you all you need to know about whether it’s stupid or not: > [@](#): > > Say hello to pre-existing conditions, ridiculously low federal subsidies, no mandates, interstate insurance compacts and federally subsidized high-risk pools. > > [Crooks & Liars](http://crooksandliars.com/2015/02/you-read-new-gop-health-care-plan-here) C&L also quote the [NY Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/us/politics/gop-lawmakers-propose-alternative-to-obamacare.html?ref=politics&_r=0) for the best part yet: > [@](#): > > Their plan includes a potentially explosive proposal: Workers would have to pay federal income tax on the value of employer-provided health benefits that exceed certain annual thresholds — $12,000 for individuals and $30,000 for families. Health benefits above those levels would be treated and taxed as regular income for the employee. The thresholds would increase over time. Yes, the Republican healthcare response involves making you pay taxes on benefits as provided by your employers. Fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19023 "2015-02-05T21:02:26Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > And the fact that it is in this thread tells you all you need to know about whether it’s stupid or not:C&L also quote the [NY Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/us/politics/gop-lawmakers-propose-alternative-to-obamacare.html?ref=politics&_r=0) for the best part yet:Yes, the Republican healthcare response involves making you pay taxes on benefits as provided by your employers. Fantastic. It also, while taxing healthcare as income, allows employers to take tax breaks for providing said coverage. It’s basically another giveaway to the wealthy while fucking the employees up the ass. These people are soulless. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19024 "2015-02-05T21:20:44Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > A tempest in a teapot, that maybe should go over in SLIotD, but [Bobby Jindal’s official portrait is profoundly wrong](http://www.mediaite.com/online/bobby-jindals-official-painting-looks-nothing-like-bobby-jindal/). > > Look at that face: did the painter think he was depicting W? Sadly, that is just a portrait that is on loan and not the offical painting. ☹ ---
**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:** [February 5, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19025 "2015-02-05T21:53:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [And now RWs are blaming immigrants for the measles outbreak.](http://www.salon.com/2015/02/05/the_rights_measles_canard_what_a_ridiculous_new_attack_on_immigrants_says_about_gop/) [Now it’s Obama’s fault.](http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/michael-savage-obama-committing-medical-genocide-through-measles-outbreak) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19026 "2015-02-05T22:05:52Z")
Whaddaya mean “Now its Obama’s fault” ? It always was, even before it happened. You gonna blame the Republicans, after they saved us from the Obambola virus? ---
**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:** [February 5, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19027 "2015-02-05T22:10:43Z")
> [@CGav8r](#): > > Sadly, that is just a portrait that is on loan and not the offical painting. > ☹ The link also shows the actual official portrait, which is somewhat closer to “fleshtone” but bears almost as little resemblance to Jindal’s actual complexion. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19028 "2015-02-05T22:43:45Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Now it’s Obama’s fault.](http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/michael-savage-obama-committing-medical-genocide-through-measles-outbreak) Fucking douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19029 "2015-02-05T23:05:42Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > A tempest in a teapot, that maybe should go over in SLIotD, but [Bobby Jindal’s official portrait is profoundly wrong](http://www.mediaite.com/online/bobby-jindals-official-painting-looks-nothing-like-bobby-jindal/). > > Look at that face: did the painter think he was depicting W? The white guy looks more like Rob Lowe than Bobby Jindal. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19030 "2015-02-05T23:19:40Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > The white guy looks more like Rob Lowe than Bobby Jindal. How can you blame them? They’re just following their Vatican predecessors. Hey, it worked with Jesus! “Okay, Bobby sounds white-- now that we call him “Bobby” and not “Jindal”. Let’s lighten his complexion next!” ---
**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:** [February 5, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19031 "2015-02-05T23:49:00Z")
Congressman Tom Marino: [“We’re getting close” to impeaching Obama.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/02/05/impeach-obama-republican-congressman-warns-were-getting-close-video/) I wish they would. They wouldn’t have a chance in 2016 if they did that, ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19032 "2015-02-05T23:54:33Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > The white guy looks more like Rob Lowe than Bobby Jindal. “And I’m stupid right wingnut Rob Lowe.” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19033 "2015-02-06T01:21:48Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > A tempest in a teapot, that maybe should go over in SLIotD, but [Bobby Jindal’s official portrait is profoundly wrong](http://www.mediaite.com/online/bobby-jindals-official-painting-looks-nothing-like-bobby-jindal/). > > Look at that face: did the painter think he was depicting W? How dare he disrespect the capitol building by putting his foot on the base of the column! (And brown shoes with a black suit? Da barbarians is at da gates!) ---
**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:** [February 6, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19034 "2015-02-06T02:08:14Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > How can you blame them? They’re just following their Vatican predecessors. Hey, it worked with Jesus! “Okay, Bobby sounds white-- now that we call him “Bobby” and not “Jindal”. Let’s lighten his complexion next!” Bobby J? Sounds like a rapper. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19035 "2015-02-06T02:34:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Good lord. It looks like somebody took one of those [paper doll cutouts](http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/dolls/pd_scans/ziegfeld/144dpi_cutouts/zg_leading_men.jpg) and pasted it onto a canvas. > > Make me look whiter, damn it! Whiter! Ken Doll white! Ahh, that’s better. “He looks like the little man on a gay wedding cake” –never attributed to Alice Roosevelt Longworth ---
**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:** [February 6, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19036 "2015-02-06T03:10:22Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Aside from that he wants to take $300 million from the University of Wisconsin system and give it to the Milwaukee NBA franchise to build a new arena. > > He also proposed rewording ["Wisconsin Idea](http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/scott-walkers-uw-mission-rewrite-could-end-the-wisconsin-idea-b99439020z1-290797681.html)" (gutting it) which was originally a Republican proposal, but with a century of bipartisan support. > > Yep, he’s ag’in the search for truth. After the proposed alterations were aired, there was a backlash across the political spectrum. Even GOP legislators were aghast. Walker quickly said it was a drafting error. [No it was not.](http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/documents-show-walker-administration-seeking-removal-of-uws-wisconsin-idea-b99439710z1-290927651.html) **Documents show Walker administration did seek removal of UW’s Wisconsin Idea** > [@](#): > > While backtracking on earlier comments to reporters, Walker continued to insist in a 500-word statement that he hadn’t known what his own administration was doing until after the proposal became public amid a firestorm of criticism Wednesday. He said no one would be disciplined. > [@](#): > > On Wednesday, Walker backed away from the changes by saying they had been included because of a drafting error or oversight in his budget bill. He further implied that UW System officials saw the changes and “somehow overlooked” them. > > But in his Thursday afternoon statement, Walker acknowledged that in fact UW System officials had thrown up red flags and been rebuffed. > [@](#): > > When the change in wording began to be absorbed Wednesday morning, stunned educators and elected officials accused Walker of trying to kill Wisconsin’s intellectual heritage. > > “The Wisconsin Idea is embedded in our DNA,” University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross said. “It is so much more than words on a page. It is the reason the UW System exists. It defines us and forever will distinguish us as a great public university.” In my opinion, Walker, a Marquette University dropout, has been foiled in an attempt to assassinate the University of Wisconsin. No doubt in my mind that he’ll try again, if given the chance. He specifically hates the university and learning, other than vocational learning, in general. If there were an evil Republican idea thread, this topic would belong in it. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19037 "2015-02-06T03:49:58Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > “And I’m stupid right wingnut Rob Lowe.” Gold claps, masking dark and bitter envy… ---
**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:** [February 6, 2015, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19038 "2015-02-06T10:47:09Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > February alone has two “r’s” in it, that is why it is Rape Month. It’s Rape-apalooza! > [@](#): > > A Republican state lawmaker said Thursday that women who become pregnant from sexual assault should not be exempt from an anti-abortion measure, because childbirth resulting from rape is “beautiful.” > > “Obviously rape is awful,” West Virginia Del. Brian Kurcaba (R) said during a committee hearing on a new abortion restriction, according to David Gutman, a Charleston Gazette reporter. “What is beautiful is the child that could come from this.” [http://huff.to/1xvrQS0](http://huff.to/1xvrQS0) ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19039 "2015-02-06T12:25:40Z")
Good job, West Virginia! :dubious: ---
**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:** [February 6, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19040 "2015-02-06T14:10:28Z")
Representative Aaron Schock (R-Downton Abbey) is having [a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/benjamin-cole-aaron-schock-aide-resigns-114944.html): > [@](#): > > A top adviser to Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock has resigned after controversial posts were found on his Facebook page. > > Benjamin Cole, a senior adviser to Schock, told POLITICO he resigned and that Schock, a Republican, accepted his resignation. > > The posts had Cole likening black people to animals and said a mosque should be built on the White House grounds for President Barack Obama. > > It caps quite a strange week for Schock’s office. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Schock had decorated his office in the manner of the British show “Downton Abbey.” Cole had interacted with the reporter and tried to tamp down the story. His back and forth with the Post reporter was detailed in the story… ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19041 "2015-02-06T16:24:14Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Now it’s Obama’s fault.](http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/michael-savage-obama-committing-medical-genocide-through-measles-outbreak) I am impressed that anyone is even mentioning Michael Savage. For those who aren’t aware of this guy, congratulations, and stop reading this post right now. It’s not worth any investment of your mental energies. You know how Rush Limbaugh says something outrageous and stupid every week? Michael Savage says the most outright ridiculously paranoid and stupid things anyone outside of Glenn Beck has ever said, every minute of every day, on his radio program. He is a guy who makes sure the people who think Rush and O’Reilly go too soft on Obama get a voice on the radio. And the media, to their credit, largely ignores this nut. He’s too crazy for Fox News, and he’s too crazy for other right-wing crazies to even have him on their program. If he were a Rush Limbaugh or a politician, he would be surrounded by constant media hellfire. But, he just doesn’t matter enough, and the conservative radio world is essentially 100 percent nutter butters, so he doesn’t even really stand out, despite his awfulness. I approve of the media blackout of this guy. He’s a pariah even in the GOP, nobody wants to be associated with him. He’s real cute. He doesn’t just foment hatred toward homosexuals, that would be too bland. Likes to attack children with autism, and soldiers with PTSD, among his many, many random targets who do not have a radio show to refute him with. Basically, he steps on puppies to get his jollies, but is a karma houdini because his son is the filthy rich creator of Rockstar energy drink, and he somehow continues to rank approximately sixth in terms of conservative radio talk shows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=951) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=953)