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Thread: Boehner Unchained

  1. #1

    Default Boehner Unchained

    People are gonna be lining up to take a crack at this movie.

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...feature-215741
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  2. #2
    Makes me feel sorry for Ryan.

    Boehner pushed and maneuvered and jockied for leadership. Multiple times. But Ryan just tried to be the best budget wonk he could possibly be as a Republican and got drafted into place as his punishment.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  3. #3
    Fitting punishment. He's supposed to be a political representative, not just a mediocre accountant.
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  4. #4
    Boo hoo, poor Boehner? What a crock.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    Fitting punishment. He's supposed to be a political representative, not just a mediocre accountant.
    He is one. The fact that you hate the views of the people he represents and who elected him doesn't change that.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy View Post
    He is one. The fact that you hate the views of the people he represents and who elected him doesn't change that.
    Here's the irony, almost certainly a lot of the people that elected him, maybe even a majority, don't actually hold views that line up with what Ryan wants to do. Unfortunately, the right has figured out how to get people elected despite holding positions that, if enacted, would fuck up their own constituents lives much worse than they already are.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy View Post
    He is one. The fact that you hate the views of the people he represents and who elected him doesn't change that.
    My comment about being an accountant was in reference to your remark about him just wanting to be a budget wonk, not about his economic and social policies. For a political representative he seems to be doing very little to maintain the integrity of the political system in which he operates. He's a political representative who has by and large abdicated his broader political responsibilities.
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    My comment about being an accountant was in reference to your remark about him just wanting to be a budget wonk, not about his economic and social policies.
    . . . those are all inextricably intertwined.

    For a political representative he seems to be doing very little to maintain the integrity of the political system in which he operates. He's a political representative who has by and large abdicated his broader political responsibilities.
    What broader political responsibilities? He is elected to represent the constituents of his district, first and foremost. After that his political responsibilities are trying to implement the policies, which fall under the House's bailwick, which he feel will best serve his district, his state, and the country at large. It is not in any respect his responsibility to try and become a bully pulpit to counter an awful President. Building bipartisan ties might fall under his responsibilities as necessary to try and implement policies but he's far better served in this Congress by doing so via working with his own party and its majority than by reaching out to Democrats who are mostly more hostile to the policies he feels are best than the members of his own party, despite the issues caused by groups like the mentioned caucuses and GOP insurgents. This is not a parliamentary system, much less one run by party lists.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy View Post
    What broader political responsibilities? He is elected to represent the constituents of his district, first and foremost. After that his political responsibilities are trying to implement the policies, which fall under the House's bailwick, which he feel will best serve his district, his state, and the country at large. It is not in any respect his responsibility to try and become a bully pulpit to counter an awful President. Building bipartisan ties might fall under his responsibilities as necessary to try and implement policies but he's far better served in this Congress by doing so via working with his own party and its majority than by reaching out to Democrats who are mostly more hostile to the policies he feels are best than the members of his own party, despite the issues caused by groups like the mentioned caucuses and GOP insurgents. This is not a parliamentary system, much less one run by party lists.
    His duty is first and foremost to the Constitution. Constituents are a distant second.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  10. #10
    Ok. . . and where is he failing in upholding a Representative's duties to the Constitution?
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy View Post
    Ok. . . and where is he failing in upholding a Representative's duties to the Constitution?
    Taking slightly more seriously attacks against just about every institution (including Congress). Maybe even force the person responsible for those attacks to pay some kind of a price. Instead of sticking his head in the sand, especially as far as the House Intelligence Committee work goes. Ryan is the second most powerful man in the country. And he's used his power to do nothing.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  12. #12
    The Speaker of the House is not that powerful, not in the context of the country. He has a great deal of power within the House, via the arcane rules it uses to order its operations, and he stands high in the succession but that doesn't translate to the sort of power you're talking about. His power does not extent to being able to kick Nunes out of his chairmanship this Congress, for instance. In fact he has damn near jack-all power to affect the operations of a standing (or the permanent select committee on Intelligence) committee during a term, only what they want to bring to the floor of the House as a whole.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy View Post
    The Speaker of the House is not that powerful, not in the context of the country. He has a great deal of power within the House, via the arcane rules it uses to order its operations, and he stands high in the succession but that doesn't translate to the sort of power you're talking about. His power does not extent to being able to kick Nunes out of his chairmanship this Congress, for instance. In fact he has damn near jack-all power to affect the operations of a standing (or the permanent select committee on Intelligence) committee during a term, only what they want to bring to the floor of the House as a whole.
    A) He should have known better than to appoint Nunes.
    B) He can threaten not to reappoint him.
    C) He has numerous weapons when it comes to punishing the committee as a whole or individual committee members.

    Pray tell what is the second strongest elected position in the country if not Speaker.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  14. #14
    He didn't have reasonable cause at the beginning of the term to take the chairmanship away from Nunes, who was already sitting there, having received it at the start of the 114th Congress in 2015, before Ryan became Speaker. Ryan can threaten not to reappoint him and for all we know he has already done so. Nunes DID finally step aside as committee chair wrt the Russia probe.

    As for the numerous weapons Ryan has, please list them and show how they are visible and reported on. The use of those powers the Speaker has, as they relate to the House's arcane procedural rules and inner workings, are fairly non-transparent in operation.

    As for elected positions in the country, in this context I would instantly nominate the governor of New York, who directs the state AG and as such provides a route of criminal investigation that is non-squashable by Trump, directly or indirectly, via exercise of federal power. Power isn't independent of context. But hey, you still can't grasp the difference between power and authority held by federal offices, so I don't really expect you to understand it here.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

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