# What happens if the Republicans win? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 3, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081 "2016-02-03T19:04:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/42 "2016-02-04T22:13:36Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s just a weird argument, since Ike didn’t make the decision to implement gradual escalation, didn’t micromanage a war, and didn’t support the overthrow of the only leader that had the stature to be a counter to Ho Chi Minh. Ike **did** refuse to allow the all-Vietnam elections provided for in the Geneva Accords, and that prevented unification and led to the war – in hindsight, it would have been far, far better to allow the elections **even** if Ho was sure to win, which he was. And Diem had no “stature,” he was an effing Catholic running a Buddhist country and trying to force Catholicism on it. Even what **Ho** was doing made more sense. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/43 "2016-02-04T22:59:37Z")
C’mon, what about all those Marxists setting themselves on fire? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/44 "2016-02-04T23:07:15Z")
We can have a weenie roast! ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/45 "2016-02-04T23:43:25Z")
They will spend all their time and capital undoing all progress that has been made on anything the past 8 years, and not doing anything to advance the nation in any meaningful way (on the budget, health insurance, environment, employment, etc.). Essentially, they will throw us in reverse while on the freeway and then tell us how they are making everyone’s lives better. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/46 "2016-02-04T23:48:52Z")
I move to Canada. Maybe, depends who wins. If Trump wins, I’ll be gone so fast your head will spin. And hope that Canada is far enough. Kasich, probably not. He would at least be competent. Everybody else is on a continuum between those two. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/47 "2016-02-05T02:13:21Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The longest-lasting impact and possibly the most disastrous might be in the Supreme Court, which after mind-boggling rulings like _Heller_ and _Citizens United_ is already leaving a trail of disaster in its wake that rivals that of a major tornado. Just imagine Scalia, Alito, and Thomas getting a couple of buddies on the bench with them who think exactly like they do. This exactly. The impact a GOP President will have on the Supreme Court is the major issue in this election for me because it will be so very long lasting. And the idea the D’s in the Senate will reject conservative justices is laughable. Roberts and Alito wouldn’t have made it through the Senate without Democratic Senators voting for them. No mention yet in this thread, but the reversal of SSM will be high on the agenda of a GOP president. In fact, [as recently as December](http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263079-rubio-same-sex-marriage-not-settled-law), Rubio was very clear that as President he would work to eliminate Federal recognition of SSM. His attitude is typical rather than the exception. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/48 "2016-02-05T04:02:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Pretty much everyone with exchange insurance will probably eventually get a job with health insurance, since almost all of those people are workers as it is. Those who aren’t working or are minimum wage workers are on Medicaid, and they can also be grandfathered, although they might be grandfathered for life. Well in that case people like me would be screwed. I just left my job with excellent benefits (because I couldn’t stand it anymore, and we are in a financial position where I don’t have to work). Right now, I can get healthcare just as good through the ACA, and less expensive than COBRA, and my husband has Medicare. I don’t want to go back to work except maybe part time. We have too much income to be eligible for Medicaid. It’s another twelve years before I’m Medicare-eligible. So if the ACA goes away, and I don’t get grandfathered, I’ll have to go back to work full time - thus depriving a younger person of a potential job, and possibly depriving me of my sanity. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/49 "2016-02-05T04:34:24Z")
But you probably would have to be grandfathered, to keep you from being cross with us.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/50 "2016-02-05T04:46:14Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The checks and balances of government that the left has been trying so hard to get around . . . > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > :rolleyes::dubious: > [@CarnalK](#): > > I assume he means Obama’s executive order on immigration and his executive memo on gun control. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I assumed he was talking out of his ass. > [@inscrutable](#): > > No, his is one of the few posts in this thread that ISN’T alarmist propaganda bullshit. “The checks and balances of government that the left has been trying so hard to get around” is certainly alarmist, is certainly propaganda, and is certainly bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/51 "2016-02-05T04:52:02Z")
False. You do not respond to legislative defeat by trying to accomplish the same thing with executive power. Maybe Bush should have tried to privatize SS by executive order. EAsy enough to do: Just say you won’t prosecute employers for letting employees keep their payroll taxes as long as the emloyers can show it went into the employees’ 401k. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/52 "2016-02-05T05:02:40Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > False. You do not respond to legislative defeat by trying to accomplish the same thing with executive power. Of course you do if the courts say you can, and so far they ain’t said nuttin’ different. Maybe **you** should start regretting how far and how successfully the “unitary executive” W Admin turned the one-way-only executive-power ratchet. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/53 "2016-02-05T05:10:00Z")
THe Bush administration certainly pushed the envelope, but using executive action as a substitute for legislative action when you don’t get your way is a hallmark of this administration, and you will REALLY regret where a Republican President can take that. Tax cuts by enforcement discretion. SS privatization. Using the debt ceiling to impound funds legally(14th amendment). ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/54 "2016-02-05T06:02:52Z")
Answering the OP’s question: blood, frogs, lice, swarms of wild beasts, cattle disease, boils, hailstorms, locusts, darkness, and the slaying of the first born. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/55 "2016-02-05T06:06:12Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > THe Bush administration certainly pushed the envelope, but using executive action as a substitute for legislative action when you don’t get your way is a hallmark of this administration, and you will REALLY regret where a Republican President can take that. Tax cuts by enforcement discretion. SS privatization. Using the debt ceiling to impound funds legally(14th amendment). So the Democrats shouldn’t do what the Republicans would do, because then they will do it? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/56 "2016-02-05T06:12:20Z")
No, the envelope just shouldn’t be pushed. Our laws weren’t made to be gotten around. Consequence of electing lawyers instead of real occupations. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/57 "2016-02-05T06:36:48Z")
Well, true enough, but when was the last time a plumber was nominated to the bench? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/58 "2016-02-05T06:48:43Z")
They belong on the bench, interpreting law. They do not belong in Congress or the White House, at least not in such large numbers, trying to figure out how to get around the Origination clause and such. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/59 "2016-02-05T07:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > …They do not belong in Congress or the White House, at least not in such large numbers… Or on these Boards, for that matter. You may recall, way back when the issue of admitting lawyers into our midst was debated, I was firmly opposed, but overruled. Now, by my rough count, we have as many as ten self-confessed lawyers! Maybe its a lawyer who crafts a bill that makes a Snickers bar and a Coke the standard school lunch, but it is a politician who names it the American Goodness Liberty Nutrition Bill. Not mutually exclusive demographics, to be sure, and which is a degenerate form of the other is over my pay grade. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/60 "2016-02-05T16:24:18Z")
We would finally be able to prove that defunding Planned Parenthood will not balance the budget. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081/61 "2016-02-05T16:55:58Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > GWB excepted, REpublicans have arguably been MUCH better at keeping the US out of dumb wars, and fighting the wars we do fight much more intelligently. :smack: 😕 :smack: 😕 The three most recent Democratic Presidents – Carter, Clinton, Obama – have all done an excellent job of keeping us out of war. GWB’s warlust stupidity tops that of all other Presidents of the past 100 years added together. I think you’re referring to Eisenhower. :smack: Can any sane American doubt that the apolitical Eisenhower, who sent federal troops to desegregate a school, would be a Democrat if alive today? Your Republican Party is no more the Party of Dwight Eisenhower than it is the Party of Abe Lincoln. Yours is the Party of Cruz, Rubio, Huckabee, Limbaugh and Karl Rove. Love it or leave it. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-the-republicans-win/745081.md?page=4)