Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When we show up, we win.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Let’s finish the job.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Open Thread: Beware of GOP Lame Ducks

Open Thread: Beware of GOP Lame Ducks

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A reminder from historian Eric Rauchway, in Time, that the GOP has been untrustworthy about its deepest alliance (to money, not voters) since at least the First Great Depression:

After this November’s blue wave crashed on the electoral shore, Congress returned to Washington in the all-American oddity of the lame-duck session, when lawmakers who have lost their posts but retain office go to work on Capitol Hill. But the lame-duck session is more than just strange: it’s dangerous for incoming majorities hoping to keep their campaign promises.

As one political scientist observed in 1933, “defeated Congressmen have frequently been found trouble-makers and mischief-mongers” while they remain in Washington. He had reason to know, having just watched president Herbert Hoover and other defeated Republicans spend their last weeks in office trying to deny Franklin Roosevelt and the new Democratic majority the ability to enact their promised New Deal — and nearly succeeding.

Hoover understood quite well what the New Deal would mean because, as he grumbled, “there is constant promise” from the Democrats of their new policies. Once in office they would borrow money to build dams, roads, bridges and whatever else they could to put Americans to work. They would increase the debt and cause inflation. (Although Roosevelt had declared himself in favor of a balanced budget, he admitted he would do nothing in that direction that would inhibit Depression relief.) During the campaign Hoover warned these policies would “destroy the very foundations of the American system of life,” and said they smelled of the same “fumes of the witch’s caldron which boiled over in Russia.”…

Hoover tried several strategies. First, he worked hard if quietly with his Congressional allies to stop any substantial lawmaking. Democrats drafted a farm relief bill to ease the Depression’s effects on agriculture, and also a bill to permit the sale of beer (which would have been a first step in ending Prohibition). If they passed, it would prove Hoover could have acted sooner on both counts. He opposed them, telling an aide their passage would “mean the destruction of the Republican Party.… Our game is to prevent the cloture … and encourage all filibustering.” He succeeded. Observers credited his actions with stopping both bills.

The repudiated president also launched a project to protect his legacy, commissioning aides to write favorable assessments of his presidency and seeking a satisfactorily conservative buyer for the financially troubled Washington Post. (Ultimately, Hoover’s Federal Reserve chief, Eugene Meyer, would purchase the paper.) One of Hoover’s aides wrote a pseudonymous article declaring that “younger Republicans” recognized Hoover as the party’s future. (The aide was almost 50 years old at the time.)

Most importantly, in his last weeks in office Hoover refused to do anything to address the worsening banking crisis. Waves of bank failures had occurred throughout his presidency. This last one began just before the election. Federal Reserve officials and lawyers advised the president that he had the power to close the banks temporarily, providing time for officials to inspect their books and guarantee their safety, thus restoring financial confidence. They pleaded with him to do it. He would not. “I certainly hope the crash won’t come until we go out,” he told an aide. But he had no intention of stopping it for an ungrateful citizenry. “They are dissatisfied with what has been done and turn to other leaders,” he said…

At least we don’t have to worry about the current Oval Office Squatter badmouthing the Russians, for what that’s worth.

Reader Interactions

74Comments

  1. 1.

    cain

    Wow, thanks for that bit of history. Truly, it seems like those times have returned, ten-fold. I wonder if McConnell got his inspiration from this era?

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    It’s sobering to learn how thoroughly, and how soon after his death, the party of Lincoln renounced the principles of Lincoln. (Incidentally, TIME styles its name in all caps — see the cover logo, and body text in stories.)

  6. 6.

    Mary G

    Funny how the same people who were screaming and yelling because the FBI wasn’t producing documents fast enough, when they had subpoenaed everything but the kitchen sink, now are in favor of ignoring subpoenas. I’m afraid that until voters wake up and stop drinking the “both sides do it” Kool-aid, nothing will get done.

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    I guess they’ve called the MS Senate race at approximately 55/45. African-Americans are 37% of Mississippi’s voters, so assuming the percentage is the same, only about 8% of white people voted for Espy. Shame on the other 92%. (If my math is wrong, I am weak on statistics.)

  11. 11.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    Most importantly, in his last weeks in office Hoover refused to do anything to address the worsening banking crisis. Waves of bank failures had occurred throughout his presidency. This last one began just before the election. Federal Reserve officials and lawyers advised the president that he had the power to close the banks temporarily, providing time for officials to inspect their books and guarantee their safety, thus restoring financial confidence. They pleaded with him to do it. He would not. “I certainly hope the crash won’t come until we go out,” he told an aide. But he had no intention of stopping it for an ungrateful citizenry. “They are dissatisfied with what has been done and turn to other leaders,” he said…

    Wow. Hoover was a total asshole. It takes a truly arrogant person to stand in the way of the expressed Will of the People.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    In the ‘if it’s an election, anything that can go weird will go weird’ category:

    ‘Unusual’ ballot to be analyzed as officials certify critical Fairbanks House race as tied Source,/a>

  15. 15.

    JanieM

    @Mary G: It would be about 12.7% of the white people, assuming all African-American voters voted for Espy. (Out of every 100 people, 37 are black, 63 white. If 45 overall voted for Espy and 37 of those are black, 8 are white, so 8/63.)

    Note that 12.7% isn’t as depressing hell either.

  16. 16.

    JanieM

    The site is giving me no opportunity to edit, but it should say “Not that 12.7%…..”

    If my math is wrong it’s because I have a blazing headache. Typos and all.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Hoover was really, really good – and successful – at many things. Presidenting wasn’t one of them.

    Recalling Hoover’s stellar performance in distributing nourishment and supplies to starving European families ravaged by the first World War, Truman decided to enlist the ex-president’s aid in rebuilding the continent after the second, writing in an invitational letter, “I would be most happy to talk over the European food situation with you… Also it would be a pleasure for me to become acquainted with you.” On May 28, 1945, the two met in the White House—marking the first time Hoover had entered the building in 12 years—to discuss famine relief. Impressed by his humanitarian credentials and fervor, Truman later appointed Hoover honorary chairman of the Famine Emergency Committee, a role which sent him across the globe to procure rations for the needy and homeless. Source

  19. 19.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @NotMax:
    You mean Norman Lear lied to me? /s

    That still doesn’t excuse his trying to hamstring the incoming majority. Doing so was incredibly undemocratic, selfish, and petty. It was also incredibly foolish of him to compare fucking FDR to Stalin. I mean, for fuck’s sake.

    Then again, for all the good FDR did, he did like Gabriel Over the White House, a film where the US President became a dictator who had gangsters assassinated, and that was presented by the movie as a good thing

  20. 20.

    Gvg

    I have been worried about the lame duck Congress potential the whole last 2 years. Nothing I could do about it though and certainly we couldn’t not try to beat them…but in all my life I have never seen such a bunch of rats. No prior Republican Congress was this bad. So many are just proven bad people.
    Wish we could have got rid of McConnel though. He’s the worst. His lame duck time will be very dangerous.

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Have to always keep in mind historical context. A 21st century suit of clothes, no matter how finely tailored, is not a good fit for figures of the past. As will hold true when the time comes for a 22nd century outfit put on present day folk.

    In many ways he embodied two oft conflicting philosophies, the ethos of the Gilded Age and the tenets of his lifelong Quakerism.

  24. 24.

    randy khan

    @Mary G:

    Trump won Mississippi by 18 points, so she ended up running about 4 points behind him (-4 for her, +4 for Espy takes 18 to 10). So even in Mississippi, Republicans are running meaningfully behind where they were in 2016.

    My guess is that the difference was turnout on the Dem side, although it will be interesting to see what the exit polls say.

  25. 25.

    Jay

    “Neo-Nazis Are Organizing Secretive Paramilitary Training Across America

    The creation of a new social networking platform called “The Base” appears to be an effort to shift Naziism from a divided digital space to physical, violent insurgency.”

    https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en_ca/article/a3mexp/neo-nazis-are-organizing-secretive-paramilitary-training-across-america

    “Azov, Ukraine’s Most Prominent Ultranationalist Group, Sets Its Sights On U.S., Europe”

    https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.rferl.org/amp/29600564.html

  27. 27.

    ...now I try to be amused

    High-school US history class made me a Democrat. The section on the Great Depression taught me that not only are Democrats better than Republicans at managing the economy, Republicans are ideologically incapable of managing a modern economy as well as it can be. They refuse to accept ideas that have been shown to work.

    Of course, their definition of “work” differs from ours.

  38. 38.

    burnspbesq

    There is now a gofundme campaign to raise money for Wikileaks to sue the Guardian over the Manafort/Assange story.

    Headdesk.

  40. 40.

    oldgold

    The news that Manafort’s Attorneys continued to share information under the auspices of a Joint Defense Agreement with Trump’s lawyers after Manafort entered a plea of guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller is damn problematical.

    I think the JDA was dissolved as a consequence of the parties no longer having a joint interest. If so, the communications among the lawyers would no longer be privileged and as a consequence discoverable.

  46. 46.

    oldgold

    @burnspbesq:

    HA!

    I am sitting on my fat ass in an easy chair at 11:25 PM. So, no I do not have any damn cases.

    And, if I did, you would probably ask if I had Shepardized them.

    Anyway, what would I know about such things?

  47. 47.

    boatboy_srq

    @…now I try to be amused: The GOTea consistently follows economic policies that are successful at preserving the economic (and therefore political) stature of the smallest segment of society possible. Feudalism implemented via plebiscite. That doesn’t make them unsuccessful – just unpalatable for anyone not in the “nobility.” Their “success” lies in convincing enough voters that said “nobility” includes them when in practice it clearly does not.

  50. 50.

    burnspbesq

    @oldgold:

    what would I know about such things?

    thank you for making my point for me

    FWIW, i think the parties can draft around the issue you raise. Or, alternatively, feed the party to the JDA who turns rat a polonium sandwich.

  51. 51.

    burnspbesq

    @Aleta:

    I know it makes me a bad person, but i have this delicious mental image of Chelsea Manning showing up at Assange’s arraignment and going all Jack Ruby on his ass.

  52. 52.

    Ruckus

    A reminder from historian Eric Rauchway, in Time, that the GOP has been untrustworthy about its deepest alliance (to money, not voters) since at least the First Great Depression:

    It’s been going on a lot longer than 80 yrs, it’s just that the party names have changed. Conservatives have always been about money, getting more and keeping more and they don’t care about what that costs society or any other humans.
    Money is the root of all conservatives.
    Follows the old parable “Money is the root of all evil.”
    The problem is that unless one lives a totally agrarian life, money is necessary. So it’s something we all need. It isn’t in of itself evil of course, it’s really “Greed is the root of all evil.” Conservatives are just the greedy and selfish proof of that.

  53. 53.

    boatboy_srq

    @Ruckus: Corrolary to that: the US was an agrarian nation for much of its history, and conservative economic policy suited the nation’s needs until the early 20th century. The Depression was the first “panic” where the increasingly-industrial US could not rely on falling back on farming to withstand the downturn – and the last time until 2007 where the initial federal response was to let the panic run its course.

  55. 55.

    JGabriel

    Schooley via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    Funny how “the Democrats will overreach” goes from conventional media wisdom to a Republican strategy in two weeks.

    Funny how Steve Scalise, Republican House Whip, can still obliviously use the phrase “no real consequences” after losing 40 seats in the House.

    The blind stupidity these guys are capable of indulging never ceases to amaze me.

  57. 57.

    Ruckus

    @…now I try to be amused:

    They refuse to accept ideas that have been shown to work.

    That’s not true.
    Their ideas work.
    For them.
    In the short term.
    Now if you want to talk about ideas that work for everyone, that requires an inclusive political class, not an excluding one.
    Never think for a nano second that their goals are for betterment of the country. They don’t give a fuck about that, no matter what they say. They are lying.

  61. 61.

    Amir Khalid

    I was just reading the letters section of a football news site. The top letter on the page is about Manchester United, whose manager Jose Mourinho has been at war with his own team for a year or so amid a substandard Premier League performance. It argues that the ideal person to replace him is Manchester United Women’s manager Casey Stoney. In the highly unlikely event the Glazers follow this suggestion, Stoney would be the first woman to manage a men’s first team at any global-elite football club.

  62. 62.

    Ruckus

    @boatboy_srq:
    I argue that the conservative fiscal policy did in fact not suit the nation. It suited the wealthy, the land owners. It encouraged slavery for example. Don’t forget that most everyone was agrarian around the world, it took most of everyone’s time to raise/grow food or provide tools necessary for that and that we had plenty of land and encouraged homesteading. It helped create the national government that we have today that has basically only two sides, a government for all the people or a government against the majority. Which side is it that won 2 yrs ago? Which side is it that has no fiscal policy except Grand Theft Country? The same side, the conservative side.

  63. 63.

    joel hanes

    @NotMax:

    Hoover was really, really good – and successful – at many things.

    He was a fine Latinist, and did his own translation of some of the Roman classics.
    I ended up taking four years of Latin because a great-aunt gave me a book of Hoover’s letters to children, and it appeared to me that his most heartfelt advice to those who wished to learn to think was “take Latin”.

  64. 64.

    joel hanes

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    incredibly undemocratic, selfish, and petty

    Undemocratic, yes.
    But selfish and petty? I think not.
    Hoover genuinely believed that the New Deal was tantamount to Bolshevism, and did his best to save the Republic by his own lights. He was blinkered and mistaken, not evil.

    Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.

  65. 65.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Ruckus:

    I argue that the conservative fiscal policy did in fact not suit the nation.

    One has a vague memory of “bimetallism”, “free coinage of silver”, and the “Cross of Gold” speech. And that depressions/recessions in the 19th Century was particularly harsh, b/c nobody understood that the government could stoke effective demand.

    So yes, I think you’re absolutely right.

  68. 68.

    barb 2

    @…now I try to be amused:

    Re — High school history made you a Democrat……

    This is exactly why the GOP doesn’t want to educate children or they control the textbook’s contents (Texas I’m looking at you). Also, educated whites vote more liberal and tend not to be as racist. Going to school with people of many different cultures makes a difference.

    School board — we never vote for a GOP leaning person. The office is supposed to be nonpartisan but the racist always leaves clues.

    Racism is carefully taught.

    Charter schools — racists love these. Hire poorly educated teachers and use racist textbooks and you get racist graduates.

    I grew up in Hawaii and I’m thankful every day that I went to local schools and churches. Hawaii is a deep blue state. My parents were GOP. I’m not — thanks to the schools I went to.

    This is why we need Democrats at all levels of Government. It matters for the future.

    Now Trump claims to have gone to college — but I really don’t see the evidence of this claim. His daddy bought his degree. He never worked for a degree.

  69. 69.

    Joey Maloney

    It’s not just that Cindy Hyde-Smith is a stone racist. She’s also a blithering idiot. So it does not surprise me that the same people who looked at Donald Trump and thought he would make a good President thought she would make a good Senator.

    BTW, it’s worth noting that until relatively recently, Mississippi elected a variety of not-racist-not-batshit-insane Democrats to statewide office. What made the difference was white flight from Memphis. It turned Desoto, the border county, from sparsely-populated rural to suburban and much whiter than the state as a whole. I used to live there and my town’s population increased tenfold between the 1990 and 2000 censuses. And they were all assholes.

  70. 70.

    azlib

    In fairness to Hoover, he did not have the benefit of Keynes’ Theory of Money. You can argue the Republicans were ignorant in 1932, but they no longer have that excuse today.

  72. 72.

    Jay C

    Also, we should recall that in the early 1930s, Inauguration Day was March 4th (as it had always been), so a lame-duck Administration had a lot longer to do damage back then (as Hoover showed). And IIRC, FDR had to call Congress into a special session, as they didn’t formally meet until later, either. I think the fact that the 21st Amendment (which set up the current 1/3, 1/20 system) was ratified in just a few months in 1932-33 indicates they were aware of the problem…

  73. 73.

    Matt McIrvin

    @boatboy_srq: Knowing the alt-right/white-supremacist types I see around the Internet, I’m certain that naming themselves “al Qaeda” in English was entirely intentional. Purposefully adopting over-the-top villainous imagery to own the libs and feel like macho men is one of their favorite moves–then they try to pass it off as “irony” when anyone takes offense.

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