I thought the question was the extent to which various Speakers have put their speakership ahead of national interests. I am not criticizing anyone for ignoring a procedural practice or policy. I’m pointing out the frequency of which two Speakers have acted contrary to the will of their respective caucuses.
Of course it has relevance to Pelosi’s actions. She acted contrary to the will of her caucus the same number of times that Boehner did. In my book, that makes her and he about equal in the calculation of whether to defend his/her Speakership or serve the national interest in an unpopular way. And in each case we are talking about - both for Pelosi and Boehner - I think they did the right thing to disregard the extreme wings of their parties.
The only reason to point out that the Hastert rule is a GOP caucus guideline would either to be pedantic and nit picky, or to imply that Boehner is worse than Pelosi when he acts contrary to the will of his caucus. Whichever your argument really is, they are both silly and not worth commenting on any further.
No, no, Tread is right. If that actually happened, it would be the Dems’ fault. Of course, that would also be a world sufficiently different from our own that it’d be hard to relate that world’s Democratic and Republican parties to our own.
There are some who actually believe the sequester is the result of the Democrats’ stubborn refusal to defund Obamacare in the budget bill. Because for them nothing is ever the fault of the Republicans.
They will share culpability, but you have to include two factors you are not considering: the status quo and the opinion of the American public.
On the first, the status quo is funding for PP for non-abortion services. Any deviation from that is a change in policy. Requiring a change in policy to fund the government is objectively different from blocking a change in policy.
On the second, something like <40% of Americans support defunding PP, with somewhere around 60% opposed. That is just baseline opinion, without factoring in whether it’s important enough to shut down the government over.
When you add these two factors in to your analysis, it’s pretty clear that the policy of “shut down the government unless we change public policy to defund PP” is likely to hurt the GOP more than the Democrats.
But I understand your way of thinking - Democrats want PP to traffic in dead babies as a matter of principle. Republicans don’t, and that is a temper tantrum.
It really doesn’t matter what the reason is. In the minds of voters, Republicans are the party of government shutdowns, just like voters believe that Democrats are the party of profligate spending. It doesn’t matter if neither of those axioms are true; they are the public perception, for good or bad. Republicans will own the shutdown, no matter what.
Dems defending the sale of fetal parts by saying a profit isn’t being made so the law isn’t broken so why is everyone grossed out and offended? Abortions and baby parts are totes cool you guys.
or
Pubs pretending fetal tissue research from abortion was invented yesterday. Thank god for these investigative heroes for uncovering this conspiracy!
Are you aware that those videos were doctored and didn’t show the sale of fetal tissue, but simply the donation and compensation for shipping and handling, and that Carly Fiorinna was very mistaken (or outfight lying) when she described that scene on during the debate?
Are you against using fetal tissue in medical research, when it is donated, and only shipping and handling costs are paid to the donating clinic?
Can you answer that please?
Bonus question: Does it bother you that Dr. Carson has done research on fetal tissue? Since, he obviously didn’t think it was wrong then, yet he wants to defund PP now, for doing exactly what got the tissue he used?
I am a federal government employee, and was one in 2013 so you aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know. I also got to witness several co-workers permanently lose their jobs during the last shutdown, for reasons far too complicated to detail here. When we came back, they had three days to close down their work and pack up. Good times.
I will never vote for a Republican again in my life, and am teaching my children to do the same.
I’ve not studied your prior posts, so pardon me if you’ve already explained this, but this post did catch my attention.
Are you saying that you don’t know if the PP profiteering allegation is a lie?
Are you saying that even if it is a lie, the lie doesn’t matter?
And, assuming that PP is ideally configured to provide services mandated for Obamacare, the remedy you propose is that another organization, presumably equivalent to PP in all but the name, be constructed?
It might be … interesting to read your newsletter! :rolleyes: Let’s start with your opining about the Congressional majority with no interest in knowing whether its case is based on a lie.
My cousin’s kid was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when he was three. After fetal tissue was used in his surgery he has survived and beaten the cancer. He has just turned eleven.
Not one excuse will change my mind that it is a necessary material in curing disease. And no, Satan doesn’t own and operate PP either.
