Category House Speaker

Jan 3 2024

Apropos of Everything – Republican Speaker Johnson Promises to Keep “Advocating” for Border Security


Posted originally on the CTH on on the January 2, 2024 | Sundance 

In order to believe that Republican politicians support border control, you would simultaneously have to believe that Congress couldn’t shut down government until President Biden takes action.

You would have to believe the GOP House has no options, no power, no control, no ability or capacity to use the power of the people’s house to change the dynamic.  That’s all nonsense.   We do the things that are important to us.  We avoid the things we do not want to do.

Republicans can shut down government, shut down agencies, cut off funding, and tell the American people why they are doing it… They can use their power to force Joe Biden to fight them and simultaneously make Biden justify to the American people why he refuses to secure our nation.  Republicans could file court cases, force action, hold impeachment hearings, issue subpoenas, force testimony, demand action or face the consequences….  There is much they can do.

Alas, instead of taking severe action in the face of severe peril, they pretend to be powerless and announce they will “advocate” which means in DC, talk about it more.

[SOURCE]

We are in an abusive relationship with government, and the GOPe is a gaslighting wing of the UniParty vulture.

Nov 3 2023

House Passes $14.3 Billion Stand Alone Bill to Support Israel – Vote 226-196 With 12 Democrats in Support


Posted originally on the CTH on November 2, 2023 | Sundance

If it was a Democrat sponsored bill, the media would be highlighting the bipartisan nature of the vote.  However, because it is a Republican sponsored bill, the media immediately say the stand alone measure to support Israel is dead upon arrival in the Senate.

Joe Biden has said he will veto the House version of the bill, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will not entertain the bill due to the pay-go funding mechanism (removal of $14.3 billion in IRS funding) and the fact it is not a package bill that includes support for Ukraine.   Biden wants his $106 billion bill with funds for Israel, Ukraine, Hamas (via USAID), Taiwan and support for arriving migrants.  Chuck Schumer is working with Mitch McConnell to put the combined package together.

Twelve Democrats supported the $14.3 billion House bill, and two Republicans voted against it (MTGreene and Massie). The vote was 226-196 for passage.

WASHINGTON – […] While aid to Israel is something both parties strongly agree with, Democratic support for the legislation broke down after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) added a provision in the bill that would cut $14.3 billion in funding from the Internal Revenue Service to offset the cost of the aid to Israel — prompting Democratic leaders to encourage party members to vote against it.

“It’s a bad precedent to set. It costs resources. But we have never conditioned emergency aid like we have under Speaker Johnson this week. This is wrong. This is wrong for Israelis, this is wrong for the region,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) said on Thursday. “This is Republicans playing politics with aid to Israel.”

However, Johnson and Republicans have defended the decision to add a pay-for in the bill because of the growing national debt.

“We are in dire straits as a nation,” Johnson said at a press conference. “We have obligations, and we have commitments, and we want to protect and help and assist our friend Israel, but we have to keep our own house in order as well. And I think people at home — I think the American people understand that.” (read more)

As noted by Politico, “I am glad that the president issued a veto threat over this stunningly unserious proposal,” Schumer said Thursday. “The Senate will not be considering this deeply flawed proposal from the House GOP.”

Speaker Mike Johnson remarks. Prompted:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=kEQTsWFViGM%3Fstart%3D800%26feature%3Doembed
Oct 27 2023

Speaker Mike Johnson Sits Down with Sean Hannity for Extensive Interview


Posted originally on the CTH on October 27, 2023 | Sundance

Sometimes I just sit and shake my head.  Why these guys keep appearing with Sean Hannity is beyond my understanding.  That said, the platform and host is the first warning sign, the content of the interview is another.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who is a significant upgrade from Speaker Kevin McCarthy, sits down for an extensive discussion on current political events where Sean Hannity can tell Johnson his role and responsibility as Speaker. WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_4RC8tABeMo%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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Oct 26 2023

Remarkable Details – Matt Gaetz Gives Details of Backroom Machiavelli Tactics Triggered by Kevin McCarthy During House GOP Conference


Posted originally on the CTH on October 25, 2023 | Sundance

This is deep weeds inside baseball, but boy howdy does it tell a story. Representative Matt Gaetz (MAGA, FL) goes through the details of yesterday’s House republican conference assembly as they select a Speaker nominee.

What Gaetz reveals in detail is how Kevin McCarthy has been working the conference to undermine any other Speaker candidate so that McCarthy would be renominated as the only possible alternative. The insight and details are really interesting. This is a must watch.

Oct 25 2023

Representative Mike Johnson Wins Tuesday Night Secret Ballot for GOP House Speaker


Posted originally on the CTH on October 24, 2023 | Sundance 

If Mike Johnson (R-LA) cannot carry the conference, look for the professionally Republican Kevin McCarthy wing to reassemble and attempt reinstallation.

WASHINGTON DC – Rep. Mike Johnson won a closed-door contest on Tuesday night to become his party’s fourth speaker nominee.

Now, the Louisiana lawmaker faces the much tougher task of securing the 217 votes he needs to win on the House floor. Earlier Tuesday, Johnson came in second to Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who then withdrew after former President Donald Trump publicly came out against him.

So, Republicans went back to the drawing board, and made Johnson the latest aspirant to a position the fractured and exhausted conference can’t seem to fill. He beat out a field of four other candidates, including Byron Donalds in the final ballot by a 128 to 29 vote. Some 44 other Republicans didn’t vote for either of the two men.

After winning the nomination, Johnson said he was “very confident” that he could get 217 votes and said “the intention is to go to the floor” for a vote on Wednesday. (more)

Oct 25 2023

OK, This Is Funny – Tom Emmer Wins GOP Secret Ballot, Then Promptly Drops Out When President Trump Swings Atomic Truth Hammer


Posted originally on the CTH on October 24, 2023 

Yes, smiling is in order.  You see folks, even when the professionally Republican do not want to admit it, MAGA, We The People, now control the Republican Party.

As forecast, GOP House Whip Tom Emmer won the secret ballot for House Speaker.  Carrying a coalition of the entrenched right-wing of the DC UniParty, that was not a surprise.  However, as fast as Rep Emmer’s hopes surfaced, they were quickly obliterated by President Trump and the atomic hammer of truth.

“I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social app. “RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them.”

…. And just like that, Tom Emmer drops out.

Everything President Trump said in that statement about Emmer was exactly correct.

[…] “House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) dropped out of the Speaker’s race Tuesday, just hours after the conference nominated the Minnesota Republican for the top job”… {link}

Go Trump! 

Oct 24 2023

Ha! Rep Tom Emmer Called President Trump Yesterday for a House Speaker Endorsement


Posted originally on the CTH on October 23, 2023 | Sundance 

As noted by Politico in 2021, when asked about Donald Trump getting involved in midterm primaries, head of the National Republic Congressional Committee Tom Emmer told reporter Jacob Rubaskin, “He’s a private citizen, and he’s entitled to his own opinion.”  “I would tell him that it’s probably better for us that we keep these people and we make sure that we have a majority that can be sustained going forward.”

Emmer followed later in March saying Trump getting involved in the GOP congressional primaries was “not gonna be helpful.”

Fast forward to 2023, Emmer is now the House Republican Whip and wants to be Speaker of the House.  Apparently, Emmer called President Trump this weekend seeking an endorsement.  WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XWZyLuhADL8%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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President Trump says, “I’m trying to stay out of that as much as possible.”   Meanwhile, all the Republicans who threw their name in the hat to become Speaker of the House want his endorsement.  lol

I’m sure President Trump will leverage the “optimal solution.”

Dec 18 2022

President Trump Warns GOP House, The Alternative to McCarthy Could be Worse


Posted originally on the CTH on December 18, 2022 | Sundance

One thing I dislike immensely about republican punditry, specifically as it relates to internal dynamics, is their tribal narrative engineering. The example from Breitbart about President Trump’s discussion of the next speaker of the House is a case study.

Take out Matthey Boyle’s woven narrative; and remind yourself that Boyle is writing from a position of DeSantis advocacy; read just the direct quotes from President Trump about the risk of House Speaker if the party doesn’t align to support Kevin McCarthy, and the position is pragmatic.

Essentially, if not Kevin McCarthy, and the House vote is dependent on Democrat support, the result will likely be worse.

Just the Trump quotes: “I think it’s a very dangerous game that’s being played,” Trump said. “It’s a very dangerous game. Some bad things could happen. Look, we had Boehner and he was a strange person but we ended up with Paul Ryan who was ten times worse. Paul Ryan was an incompetent speaker. I think he goes down as the worst speaker in history. We took [out] Boehner—and a group of people, some of whom are the same, and they’re very good friends of mine. All those people are very good friends of mine.”

[…] ““Think of it—we ended up with Paul Ryan. Boehner was like Winston Churchill compared to Paul Ryan,” Trump said. “Boehner wasn’t perfect—nobody’s perfect—but Paul Ryan was a disaster for the Republican Party. That’s what we got. Now we have to live with him. He’s destroying Fox and he’s destroying the New York Post. We got to live with this maniac. This guy, Paul Ryan, couldn’t have gotten elected in his own area of Wisconsin. I went with him after I won the election and we had a tremendous crowd of people and they booed him off the stage. You remember that? They booed him off the stage. This guy is now telling Fox what to do.”

[…] “Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” Trump said. “He is just—it’s been exhausting. If you think, he’s been all over. I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully he’s going to be very strong and going to be very good and he’s going to do what everybody wants.”

[…] “Now, I’m friendly with a lot of those people who are against Kevin. I think almost every one of them are very much inclined toward Trump, and me toward them. But I have to tell them, and I have told them, you’re playing a very dangerous game,” Trump said. “You could end up with the worse situation. I don’t even want to say what it is, but I could tell you it’s a worse situation. You could end up with some very bad situations. I use the Boehner to Paul Ryan example. You understand what I’m saying? It could be a doomsday scenario. It could be. You could end up with somebody who would be a disaster like Paul Ryan was.” (LINK)

I see absolutely nothing ‘controversial’ in those statements.

President Trump is correct. The conservative House took down John Boener, the creepy and emotionally unstable 60-year-old sitting at the end of the bar who hits on your 21-year-old daughter.   What came next was Paul Ryan, the current brother-in-law to radical SCOTUS Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and the Wisconsin politician married to a Democrat lobbyist.

Ryan then blocked any effort to hold the FBI accountable for their role in the 2016 election and the promotion of Russiagate. Then followed that obstruction with an intentional effort to lose the 2018 midterm election, while announcing his own resignation.

Kevin McCarthy might suck, but at least he sucks in a controlled environment.

I’m not a fan of Kevin McCarthy, few would dislike him more than I; however, in the final analysis who else has put their name in the hat and is going to -or could- get the entire republican caucus on their side?

The GOP only has a five-vote House margin.

It takes a simple majority to confirm the House Speaker.

What other method, candidate, representative or alternative position is there to take?