Insurrection II: This Time The Call Is Coming From Inside the House
Day 4, attempt 12. I am getting tired of this movie franchise. The first 11 weren’t enough???
Will there still be 20 bomb throwers after the first vote? Or will there be more? Or fewer?
Stay tuned!
I changed the featured image from the circus monkey used for yesterday’s posts to the gallows built on Jan 6, 2021. I really am convinced that this is enemy action from inside the house, not a bunch of clowns who are trying to make a point by humiliating McCarthy.
Open thread.
WaterGirl
For what it’s worth, I don’t know that all 20 of the bomb throwers understand the whole game. But some of the 20 most certainly do.
Baud
The Slow and the Incurious.
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: What is their plan according to you? Stall seating the Congress forever?
Alison Rose
I don’t know if I can sit through the votes anymore. Might just follow along here and Twitter. I think I’m only curious at this point to see if any of the Nevers have finally agreed to support him.
Elizabelle
I am SO not interested in these bozos. They can set their heads on fire, for all I care.
Leto
Beat the everloving shit out of Republicans with this. All day, every day.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
I’m apparently in the minority here. The longer it takes to seat this clown, that’s one less day we have to endure hearings about Hunter Biden’s Laptop or any other incidence of faux-outrage these kooks dream up.
mrmoshpotato
Hot! Diggity! Dumbasses!
Just turn over control to the adults who actually want to govern (the Democratic party), you fuckfaces!
NotoriousJRT
Who are the Wheat Bozos and who are the Chaff Bozos? The entire caucus is at fault. There are no get out of jail free cards for this national train wreck.
Ken
Oh, I think there were some calls coming from inside the House two years ago.
One of the fantasy scenarios in our recent comments was that someone else gets voted in as Speaker, and McCarthy walks out of the building and down to the DOJ to cooperate with their investigation.
Elizabelle
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Maybe not in the minority. That’s precisely my take, too.
This makes the Democrats look all the more prescient for passing urgent funding requests while they still controlled the House.
WaterGirl
@Baud:
Me?
Soprano2
@WaterGirl: The only thing is, they’re also chomping at the bit to start all those pointless investigations and to impeach Joe Biden and everyone in his administration every day, and they can’t do any of that until they elect a Speaker.
M31
lol the WaPo and their low expectations — latest is that if a few more votes go to McCarthy, he still won’t win, but it would create ‘momentum’.
So if you lose 11 football games 21-3, but then you lose one by 21-6 you’re totally on a winning streak and momentum is on your side
ok, 12pm time for the losing to start, LET’S GO TEAM
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat:
No.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: It’s an open thread. Talk about whatever you want.
PaulB
McCarthy has said that votes are possible over the weekend, so he apparently a) doesn’t expect to win today, and b) doesn’t want to adjourn until Monday?
It will be interesting to see if all of those breathless stories about a deal *in writing* (!!!!) have actually come true and, if so, whether any votes are moved.
It will also be interesting to see whether the holdouts offer up anyone new for consideration as a candidate.
eclare
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
I’m with you, one less day for Gym to shriek about Hunter and Dr. Fauci.
WaterGirl
Assholes on the phones during the prayer referencing the insurrection 2 years ago.
SFAW
According to TPM, some McQarthy-supporting TX Rethug has gone home, won’t be back for NN votes. A few more like that, and it’s “Speaker Jeffries, come on down!”
[No, I don’t really think he’ll get it, but it’s fun to joke about it.]
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: What is their goal? How does this fiasco achieve that goal.
WaterGirl
Who thinks this quorum issue was planned as a delaying tactic? My hand is raised.
mrmoshpotato
I concur.
WaterGirl
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I agree with that in the short-term. But the promises they are extracting in return for maybe McCarthy votes gives a crazy amount of power to the so-called Freedom Caucus, and I think they are bomb-throwers and will try to destroy as much as they can from within.
That’s the part that concerns me.
The Moar You Know
@PaulB: first smart move he has made. You want to have daily tantrums? Fine, no days off to fly back and see your 15 year old wife, or however old Gaetz’s child bride is. You sit in the dome and realize it’s the weekend and nobody is paying attention to you.
PaulB
Representative Wesley Hunt (R-TX), a McCarthy vote, will miss the vote(s) today and over the weekend. His wife gave birth prematurely and their newborn son spent time in the neonatal ICU.
WaterGirl
@Ken:
I thought the same thing, even as I typed the words up top! But in a different way now.
Leto
@PaulB: smearing poop all over the place, as well as flinging hamburders against the wall, does not count as “writing”.
PaulB
House Democrats are whipping against any potential adjournment vote, so McCarthy would need near unanimity in his caucus to adjourn.
mrmoshpotato
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action
And what the flying fuck is the twelfth time?!
Someone teleport me some maple breakfast sausage.
fancycwabs
@PaulB: On what authority is McCarthy saying he’s gonna have votes over the weekend? It’s not like he’s Speaker of the House.
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
It’s a play on the Fast and Furious movie franchise.
Old School
@WaterGirl:
They did a quorum count yesterday too. Not sure about the earlier days.
PaulB
275 members are present, so they have a quorum.
But, really, only 275?
WaterGirl
@Soprano2: I am starting to think that there are two factions at work here, and for the moment they are on the same path with what appears to be the same goal.
Short-term goal? Embarrass and humiliate McConnell. That works for both factions.
The side that wants to completely tip over the table has a bigger goal, I think, which is to undermine the government by taking control of the House. They are willing to postpone hearings, etc for their larger goal.
That’s my thinking at the moment, at least. My thoughts on this took a turn last night and they are evolving.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
The Shit and the Assiest.
trollhattan
When is the next debt ceiling cliff? (Can a cliff have a ceiling, or vice versa?)
Asking for a friend.
PaulB
And we’re off….
Here come the nominating speeches, none of which I will listen to.
Ken
Someone last night said that they were beginning to learn the names of all the representatives in order, from the repetition.
I haven’t been listening. Does the list have a good rhythm? Maybe Lin-Manuel Miranda can put them into a rap, for his new musical “No, Kevin”.
Uncle Cosmo
@Steeplejack: The Crass and the Spurious…
Joy in FL
Fascinating strategy: I want you to vote for Kevin, but this vote is not about Kevin. Therefore, vote for Kevin.
mrmoshpotato
@Alison Rose:
Even you masochists (yes, you all are!) are giving up! 🤣🤣🤣😁
Leto
I can only hope Officer Goodman punches this worthless turd straight in the scrote. Thanking the Capitol Hill Police… asswipe.
Joy in FL
@WaterGirl: I think you are right about this. It’s dangerous, and not in obvious ways.
PaulB
Your cheat sheet.
Not Kevin:
Present:
MattF
This song has been running through my head all morning. Not sure why.
tobie
There was an interesting article in the NYT the other day that manufacturing is moving back not only to the US but to Mexico. One interesting tidbit in the article is that 40% of the component parts for goods made in Mexico are manufactured in the US. That figure was 4% for goods made in China. Maybe NAFTA wasn’t so bad after all.
WaterGirl
@PaulB: Guessing we’re not the only ones who want to skip the blah-blah-blah of the R nomination speeches? Plus, if your state is in the second half of the alphabet, that surely means you don’t need to be there for another 30 minutes or an hour.
WaterGirl
@Ken:
Hahahahaha.
Shalimar
@PaulB: 275 present means there are 58 Republicans off doing live interviews with their local radio stations.
PaulB
The Treasury Department hasn’t given a precise date yet, I think, but I seem to recall some stories have indicated that Juneish is what they’re looking at.
feebog
@PaulB:
That brings the number down to 432 Representatives. The Dems were short one, and Ken Buck of Colorado left Thursday for a scheduled medical procedure. Not sure when Buck will be back. So the magic number is now 217.
WaterGirl
@PaulB: Is June-is anything like Jew-is?
trollhattan
Has anybody seen my snorkel?
Sacramento River through downtown will hit monitor stage early next week, making me very happy they finished the latest levee improvements last year.
PaulB
CNN is reporting that McCarthy told a GOP conference call that they still do not have a deal.
WaterGirl
@feebog:
How and when were the Dems short one? Unless you are referring to the Rep. who passed away in December? Or are you thinking we only have 211 today?
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t think the holdputs are rational. They are trying to grab power within their caucus and Congress, and I guess that’s kind of a rational motivation. But there seems to be a lot of emotion involved, and some it is hatred. That is a powerful motivator that can eclipse self-interest.
trollhattan
@PaulB: That’s a relief. I give 2:1 odds we’ll have a Speaker by June!
JoyceH
I really do think we could wind up with a Speaker Jeffries if this goes on much longer. As longer as the Dems stay committed to all showing up, and the Republicans who aren’t in the denial caucus start giving up and going home. Twelve Reps absent and 212 wins. Also think it not out of the question that a few of the vanishing breed of GOP moderates could cross the aisle.
Another Scott
@trollhattan: It’s supposedly next summer sometime. But I don’t know if that’s when they hit the limit and start the “extraordinary measures” to drag actual default out another few months (stop paying government pension contributions, etc.), or if that’s the actual default date.
Nobody knows the actual dates right now, because it depends on the economy, tax receipts, etc.
The $0.71 is there just to mess with the numbers geeks, probably.
HTH a little!
Cheers,
Scott.
James E Powell
@Leto:
For the Fed, this is terrible news.
mrmoshpotato
@fancycwabs:
And fancycwabs for the win with a mountain of salt for McCarthy’s balls!
Leto
@WaterGirl: Here’s an image of the vote count for all 11 votes so far. Nobody from the Dem side has missed one. 212 x 11.
Alison Rose
@Ken:
There were some where I was like, what is their name?? So I’d brought up the list of Reps in another tab. Foushee was one, Moolenaar, Nehls (sounded like Nails to me), a few others.
sdhays
It’s hilarious how the Republican leadership team likes to use these votes to count how many people are willing to support Qevin McCarthy as Speaker because they can’t count to 218 on their own. Apparently Sucker Carlson believes that this is “how the systems is supposed to work”, and yes, there are always negotiations in the majority on how to organize the House, but they had a couple months to figure this out before the previous Congress’ session ended. THAT’S how it’s supposed to work.
If Our Qevin was worthy of being Speaker, he would have developed a Plan B in mid-December that involved cutting these bastards off at the knees when these assholes were making a big stink. Instead, he made threats against Senate Republicans for voting to pass budget legislation without the new “Republican majority’s” input.
circular reasoning
I hope every Dem who speaks today does exactly what Clyburn is and uses it to focus on 1/6/21. Would be great to call out each of the most egregious Republicans who are in the room by name .
WaterGirl
@Leto: I totally agree. 212 212 212 etc. I have watched them all.
But feebog was saying we have been down 1, and I am trying to figure out what he is referring to.
MisterForkbeard
@Alison Rose: I’ve been doing that since the first vote. It’s fun to read about Republican floundering, but watching performative condescending asses act like condescending asses just isn’t for me.
Geminid
@trollhattan: From what I’ve read the debt ceiling issue will become acute towards the middle or end of summer.
A different deadline is October 1. Congress needs to pass a new spending bill to fund the government by then. Last year they passed continuing resolutions and finally put through the Omnibus bill right before Christmas.
Alison Rose
@MisterForkbeard: The voting is one thing, but listening to the GQP nominators was starting to make my brain cry.
Another Scott
Jeffries is wearing a black lapel pin that says “January 6” under some smaller word. It’s good there’s a visual reminder.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
Oh my god, I had to agree with Matt Gaetz for one sentence. I’ll be back, i need to shower.
You do earn the position with votes.
WaterGirl
The clerk of the house is getting more comfortable in her position.
PaulB
Gaetz is nominating Jim Jordan.
Edited to add that he kept it secret for several minutes as to just who, precisely, he was nominating.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I was wondering what that pin was! thank you
bbleh
OMG, this Republican-on-Republican violence is heartbreaking to watch …
WaterGirl
“Daddy has rules and we don’t like them.”
JPL
@WaterGirl: At least one republican is absent.
btw what did the heckler say?
WaterGirl
PURE????
As he is nominating Gym Jordan?
stacib
@PaulB: Steve Rattner said on MJ yesterday that it will be September.
tobie
Any reason why Republicans are leaving the chamber?
Another Scott
HaHa. It looks like GQPers are walking out on Gaetz.
Cheers,
Scott.
Delk
Good Evening, tonight on It’s the Mind…
PJ
Deleted because already answered
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
A Poem
WaterGirl
@JPL: I know that the TX Republican is missing. I think feebog was saying the Dems are short one.
Kayla Rudbek
@Leto: and trademark filings in 2022 were higher than in 2020 (2021 was a weird year because everyone was trying to monetize side gigs and so there was a massive spike that threw the data off). Trademark filings are another indicator of the economy http://HTTPS://www.USPTO.gov/dashboard/trademarks
patent filings seem to be close to steady, maybe slightly lower in FY2022 than FY2021 (I would need to drill down into the data more closely)
tobie
I love how GOPers are complaining about inflation and yet don’t want to enforce antitrust legislation. F’ em.
PaulB
Boebert nominated Kevin Hern again. Donalds is, once again, left out of the nominating process.
Another Scott
Interesting. They’re starting the vote, a lot of GQPers are gone (the just showed Boebert leaving and she’s early in the list). Is something happening??
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: That is so good.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: They all get a chance to come back in and vote later, so maybe this is a stunt as a threat to McCarthy.
James E Powell
A switch!
BlueGuitarist
Bishop NC and Brecheen have voted for Kevin for the first time
The Moar You Know
Matt Gaetz seems to be high on paint thinner
Eunicecycle
@Another Scott: the clerk does circle back at the end to catch anyone who didn’t answer the first time. But I wonder if some stunt is being planned. I don’t have any idea what it might be (waiting to make sure the rest are still voting lockstep?) but I’m not very familiar with parliamentary procedures.
WereBear
@JoyceH: They like winners. Power brokering? My stars, I remember that from the history books!
Nicole
@jeffreyw:
@WaterGirl:
Oh my, I needed that laugh. Thank you.
Kelly
I had “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” running thru my head all of yesterday. I’m not sure if it was inspired by the wreck of the House Republicans or the storm hitting California.
eclare
@jeffreyw: That is so cute!
Darkrose
@trollhattan: Thank Doris! One of the things I love about Matsui is that she’s always focused on the levees and making sure there’s money to shore them up.
I’m going to take this window to run out and get some staples at the store and then hunker down for next week.
lowtechcyclist
Where is this featured image located? I didn’t see any circus monkeys yesterday, and I’m not seeing a gallows today. (Using the MS Edge browser on a Win 10 PC.)
ETA: OK, I did see some circus monkeys on the House floor when I was watching C-SPAN. But I don’t think that’s what you meant.
PaulB
Two defections to McCarthy: Dan Bishop and Josh Brecheen.
jonas
@JoyceH: I think they’ll probably start floating non-Congressional candidates before they let it get to that.
stacib
Oh oh, McCarthy has picked up three. He’s on the way. LOL
Baud
@PaulB:
Kevmemtum!
PaulB
Third defection: Mike Cloud.
And fourth: Andrew Clyde.
Ruckus
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
It does go both ways.
This does look a bit like they are working for someone who wants the US to fail as a country.
And it also looks like a bunch of fucking idiot assholes, the gang that couldn’t think straight.
James E Powell
The people on MSNBC right now are kind of cheering for McCarthy.
R-Jud
I assume big-money donors were busy on the phone with the 20 insurrectionist dickheads last night. Or had their assistants’ assistants on the phone.
BlueGuitarist
Donald’s for Kevin
Ruviana
@Another Scott: Don’t know about Boebert but a bunch left because they thought Gaetz was insulting McCarthy.
PaulB
At least McCarthy will make it out of the Cs today.
PaulB
Fifth defection: Byron Donalds.
Kent
Gaming this whole thing out, it occurs to me that there are really only two things that we need the House to do in all of 2023.
Extend the debt limit sometime in the summer (Thanks Manchin and Sinema)
Pass some sort of omnibus funding bill to keep the government funded for 2024. And frankly, the more they dick around the further they will be behind the Senate and the more likely that the Senate will govern whatever omnibus funding bill eventually gets passed.
Beyond that I don’t know what else even really matters. The Senate deals with all confirmations, not the House. Most of the rest of the stuff they have planned is just performative bullshit like endless Hunter Biden “investigations”
So fuck it, let them stay unorganized and un-operational and an international embarrassment until June.
I do have to wonder if this temper tantrum by this anarchist wing of the GOP is going to make the rest of the House GOP delegation MORE likely to cater to their bullshit in June and December, or LESS likely to put up with it. I have to go with less likely but that is just a random guess. I can’t imagine this entire fiasco is giving them MORE clout with their non-insane (or less-insane) colleagues.
Another Scott
Qevin made it through the “C”s without losing yet. He’s down 3. He might actually make it this time, but it’s still early. The showy applause for some of the votes seem to indicate that those people changed their minds…
The desire to fly home for the weekend continues to be a nearly irresistible force!!
But it’s not over…
Cheers,
Scott.
scav
@lowtechcyclist: Quick little peek of a monkey on those sideways gizmoos to move between posts. Not that we’d notice if we’re glued to the main post, but maybe as we shift between rounds and rounds and rounds of voting.
eclare
@James E Powell: Glad I switched to CSpan. Annoyed me that the pundits were talking over the voting.
tobie
Awful day. The GOP is not going to raise the debt ceiling unless Medicare and Social Security are slashed. I hope the White House has a plan.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: She voted on time. I was jumping to conclusions. Oh well.
But something is definitely different this time. They want to catch their flights home for the weekend!!
Cheers,
Scott.
eclare
@BlueGuitarist: And as soon as he voted, he left. I assume to go be on tv again.
artem1s
@M31:
I see you are a Cleveland Browns fan.
Baud
@Another Scott:
This.
Baud
@tobie:
The plan is stare them down.
RedDirtGirl
Just jumping in without reading the thread, so apologies if it has already been addressed, but why is Donalds no longer a contender on the republican side?
PaulB
Bob Good voted for Jordan, so that’s five no votes. We’ll be doing this again.
realbtl
Once this clusterfuck finally ends I’m trying to imagine how the R caucus even functions. Gotta be a lot of bad blood.
eclare
@tobie: I assume that Joe either has or is working on a plan. He knows what the House is up to.
The Moar You Know
@scav: interesting. I’ve never seen it. huh, how bout that? I see it now!
Madeleine
Thank you jeffreyw and WaterGirl for the lovely poem and pic.
Baud
@Kent:
There are post offices to be renamed.
TaMara
@Kent: I have to agree with all this. I’ve been thinking for a while that the longer this goes on, the better for Democracy. They’ve proven they are a threat to it (insurrection, anyone?). Let them dangle their incompetence and hate for governing out there for as long as necessary.
PaulB
Victoria Spartz has insisted that she’s voting Present because she’s not seeing any “movement.” With (at least) five votes shifting to McCarthy, I wonder if she’ll switch back to McCarthy.
eclare
@realbtl: I can’t believe “establishment” R’s aren’t more pissed that they are being denied seats on important committees for newbie hostage takers.
trollhattan
@Darkrose: +1 on Doris–she has one of the most unlikely paths to congress imaginable and has been a steady, supportive hand to use ever since taking the reins of her late husband’s seat.
I’m prepping go bags “just in case.” The river is already at a level that might be described as mid-window and it will hit house-rooftop next week. This always makes me nervous, even if it’s been a decade. We do own two paddleboards.
Baud
@eclare:
Agreed. Cucks all.
lowtechcyclist
Out of the first 12 of the twenty, we have 6 votes for Hern or Jordan, 5 defections to McCarthy, and Gosar hasn’t voted yet.
That takes it to another ballot.
The Moar You Know
@realbtl: Under most circumstances I’d be thinking that the Contrary Twenty would be assigned to the Restroom Cleanliness Subcommittee, but I’m not sure McCarthy has the capacity for payback. He seems weak and cowardly. We shall see. If he doesn’t embark on a course of savage payback he’s going to get this done to him on every single vote.
Yeah, I am assuming he gets Speaker at some point. There is a decent chance he may not.
Anoniminous
@MattF:
The song that has been running through my head was recorded by Lily Allen and generally considered the musical F-Bomb of the early 21st Century by those who qualify such things for the rest of us.
patrick II
Do you think Putin is enjoying this? Matt Gaetz gives a strong hint in a fundraising email about his chaos-inducing actions. Via Axios.
He even spelled “Kiev” in the manner preferred by Russia.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl: @Nicole @eclare et al: Thanks!
Poem stolen from Post.News, photo by Mrs J
opiejeanne
What a fucking joke. The only good thing about turning this on just in time to “hear” someone voting for Jordan is that we couldn’t hear Kornacki. MSNBC has no sound on my tv, so we’re watching it on CSPAN.
Immanentize
@RedDirtGirl:
Because he is black and was just a token troll
Eunicecycle
@eclare: that could end up being a big deal. Members wait forever to be on certain committees like Appropriations and Rules. If someone doesn’t get a chance because of Boebert, etc, they will be PISSED!
eclare
@trollhattan: Wait, wut? Your house might flood?
Anonymous At Work
@RedDirtGirl: He never was. The 20~21 shit-flingers weren’t voting *for* anybody, each and every time. They were voting *against* Kev-kev. They just needed a name to vote for.
lowtechcyclist
@scav: Thanks!
MattF
So… what do the remaining NKs want? Kev has conceded on every point.
opiejeanne
@Immanentize: Does Donalds have a criminal conviction of some sort? Or is it Hern?
WaterGirl
@James E Powell:
I was on the treadmill for a few minutes, so not watching. Who switched, and from what to what?Never mind.
lowtechcyclist
@The Moar You Know:
But do you see the fnords?
PaulB
Anna Paulina Luna has switched to McCarthy, the sixth to do so, joining Dan Bishop, Josh Brecheen, Mike Cloud, Andrew Clyde, and Byron Donalds.
Chris Johnson
Oh, absolutely. The thing that makes it confusing, I think, is that ALL of them are enemy action, but some of them want wealth and power within THIS country. And they all hate America, depending on where you draw the line and call it ‘blue’ America, but some of them want to be IN America and want comfortable privileged lives within America.
Some of these folks act like suicide bombers, politically if not literally. They did arrange for no metal detectors, but the trick there is the non-MAGA republicans would be just as eager to come in packing, and they hate the MAGAs as bad as the MAGA hate them, and very likely know what the real situation is.
So it’s a question of how many MAGAs who are actually waging a desperate war on America on behalf of Putin to stop aid to Ukraine and to disable American government (even though they are supposedly preparing to BE it) are ride-or-die for their true cause. Some of them like Gaetz could well be subject to blackmail (so many Republicans fit that description…) and some of them just plain see America as a sea of libs and are completely happy being terrorists.
For a bunch of Republicans, it crosses a line to be sacrificial warriors for Putin. They want Dems to lose, but THEY do not want to lose, they want to have great power.
Putin does not want them to have power, he just wants America to be broken, and if you make an omelette… and so, we see an awful lot of wealthy Republicans not wanting to go full MAGA anymore. Putin and Russia need them to destroy themselves for the cause. They don’t want that.
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: The featured image is what you see on the fly-outs and in a social media post to the thread.
Anonymous At Work
@patrick II: Eh. Give a little credit. Kyev was spelled “Kiev” until Ukraine gained independence AND started to assert themselves in such ways. I have trouble trying to correct my spelling of Ukrainian-area names and I am support Ukraine.
Gaetz either is doing it for Mother Russia [and her rubles] or is a disinterested troll. My money here is on the latter.
eclare
@opiejeanne: Donalds has two, one to distribute pot (not just possession) and one for bank fraud. Only the best people!
Kelly
Damar Hamlin’s tube has been removed and he’s breathing on his own per the NYT
Immanentize
@opiejeanne: I don’t know. Hern has some shady stock corruption, and he is trying to ban RU-482. Donalds does have the ghetto to success story he is happy to tout, but I don’t know of any conviction?
Thanks eclare — both are equally representative of the modern GOP it seems.
PaulB
Defection #7: Mary Miller.
Defection #8: Ralph Norman.
kalakal
@opiejeanne: Donalds. There was a weed charge dropped in the 90s and
in 2000, he pleaded guilty to a felony bribery charge as part of a scheme to defraud a bank
James E Powell
What is “the deal that was cut overnight”?
Guy on MSNBC says even if McCarthy loses, if it’s closer, it’s a win.
Ken
Checksum. Or they’re encoding a message, very slowly, using the pennies. 71 mod 26 is 19, so that’s a T (assuming A=0, B=1, etc.).
eclare
@Kelly: Great news!
FelonyGovt
Are there enough defections to put Qevin over the top this time? I’ve lost count.
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: Was that your kitty offering you that lovely gift?
Immanentize
@lowtechcyclist: I just got my son to read Illuminatus! Parenting level up achieved.
PaulB
Defection #9: Scott Perry.
WaterGirl
@Immanentize:
“How dare you say that!” (republican denying the truth)
FelonyGovt
@WaterGirl: Our cat brought my daughter a dead mouse on her birthday.
Ken
I don’t know the details, but I’ll bet these people who switched their votes are going to be pissed when they find he’s promised each of them the same committee chairmanship. Not to mention whichever of his “loyalists” had seniority and expected the chair.
Baud
@James E Powell:
It’s good news for
John McCainKevin McCarthy!PaulB
No. There are six not-Kevin votes.
Anoniminous
@FelonyGovt:
Currently 6 Not McCarthy votes so looks like we’re going to round 13
WaterGirl
I’m sure if McCarthy gets more votes than Jeffries, that can be considered a moral victory.
opiejeanne
Nothing to see. Misunderstood your post. Duh.
eclare
@Ken: Yep. The infighting will not end when a speaker is elected.
Immanentize
@WaterGirl: I know, I know … I am the racist.
Captain C
@realbtl:
I think a nontrivial number of their members either don’t care if it functions or actively want it not to.
Eolirin
@Anonymous At Work: Pretty sure it’s Kyiv, to your point.
PaulB
10th defection: Chip Roy.
We’re getting into the neighborhood where McCarthy might actually get more votes than Jeffries for the first time.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
More like an immoral victory.
trollhattan
@eclare: No, not as long as the levees hold. Best as I can figure is the house elevation is about 20 ft msl and the river, a mile away, is currently at 23′, predicted to crest at 31′ next week.
I just get jittery when this happens, which as been a long time, because drought. Sacramento is considered the nation’s second-most flood-prone city, behind New Orleans. (One reason I was “Houston, why?” after Hurricane Harvey.)
There’s also a second river, the American, about five miles away to keep an eye on.
Leto
Lol at the dude who yelled out, “Kevin (really long pause) Hern!” The saltiness after that, haha!
WaterGirl
@Kelly: That’s great news!
Central Planning
@mrmoshpotato:
That’s the silk and fine linen vote.
Amir Khalid
@Anonymous At Work:
On the other hand, it’s hard to go wrong assuming the worst about Matt Gaetz.
Immanentize
To my earlier point:
opiejeanne
@kalakal: Thanks to you and the others who answered.
Only the best people.
PaulB
11th defection: Keith Self.
That’s all of them except for the two that missed their vote call on the first round (Gosar and Ogles).
WaterGirl
@FelonyGovt: Reason #151 not to have an outdoor cat. :-)
Captain C
@PaulB: Republicans: We can’t let that [person] beat McCarthy a 13th time! That would be humiliating. Unlike the first 12 times.
PaulB
And Spartz is no longer voting Present but is voting for McCarthy.
So McCarthy has picked up 12 votes, with two of the holdout caucus yet to be heard from. It’s going to be a real test of the never Keviners to see if they really do mean it.
cain
@James E Powell: Great news for John McCain
Immanentize
@PaulB: So that means McCarthy ties Jeffries? Or is still one shy? No TV here….
Chief Oshkosh
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Haven’t read all the comments, but I agree. From one narrow perspective, the government is more-or-less funded to October, so we can bumble along. Not having a House for 9 months is much better than having a Republican House for 9 months. And who knows? Five or six Republicans might get hit by trucks by then, or switch parties, or be imprisoned in Brazil, or step on a rake, or…
Matt McIrvin
@schrodingers_cat: I now think they are trying to shut Congress down for long enough, or break it in such a way, that the US defaults on its debt, causing a global economic catastrophe that they think will cause a revolution that they win. Some may think this will cause the 2020 election to be reversed and Trump reinstalled in the White House.
There’s a lot of magical thinking involved, but they are into magical thinking in general. I doubt it’s rational chessmaster strategy.
Geminid
@tobie: Biden and other party leaders have a plan. But the resolution of those issues is not riding on this Speaker fight. McCarthy himself intends to leverage the debt problem to force cuts in those programs, even though he has only a 9 seat majority.
One important variable will be the House Rules that have yet to be voted on. Will there be a mechanism that allows a measure to be brought to the floor by means of a “petition of discharge”? That could be a means for passing a raise in the debt ceiling. About 20 Republicans defected in the last Congress to vote for the Infrastructure and CHIPS bills. The dynamic over the debt ceiling would be similar to that for tose two bills, but more intense. The difference now is that the majority control’s the process.
The rule governing a challenge to the Speaker will also be important. One possible way out of a debt ceiling crunch would be for a group of Republican defectors to mount a successful Speaker challenge and help Democrats reorganize the House under a new Speaker who would allow a vote on a debt ceiling bill.
For now, potential defectors like Don Bacon (NE) seem intent on fighting the intra-party fight by backing McCarthy. He and others might have a different calculus by August, and the acrimony this fight is creating may be even worse by then.
PaulB
@Immanentize: I’m not clear as to whether everyone is really here today. I know that McCarthy has two supporters that are not in the chamber, so it’s a tossup as to whether he or Jeffries will be the top vote-getter.
If all 434 of them were in the chamber, I think McCarthy would have a couple more votes than Jeffries.
Eolirin
@Chief Oshkosh: Debt ceiling needs to lifted in June/July
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: Ha! Only if you believe the lyin’ Rs!
Starfish
@PaulB: Republicans don’t work on Fridays.
WaterGirl
@trollhattan: Yikes, worrisome for sure.
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: Oh my god, really? I will click your link now, but geez, that’s awful. Though I am laughing at the absurdity of their self awareness, so there’s that.
Anonymous At Work
@Eolirin: Ugh, what I meant. Breaking habits on spelling is hard, like if Webster’s decided to use “theyre” to combine all the possible misuses into one word.
PaulB
According to CNN reporter Manu Raju, Ralph Norman, one of the defectors to McCarthy, told him [Raju] an hour earlier that he would be voting for Byron Donalds, so some late-breaking developments.
PaulB
Defector #13: Paul Gosar.
Defector #14: Andy Ogles.
Ken
“He had been appointed to a sub-committee of a sub-committee which had sprouted from one of the innumerable committees dealing with minor difficulties that arose in the compilation of the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak dictionary. They were engaged in producing something called an Interim Report, but what it was that they were reporting on he had never definitely found out.” — 1984, George Orwell
WaterGirl
C-SPAN says Jeffreis only has 205. What’s up with that? Okay, it’s at 211 now. I feel better.
Who are we missing on the Dem side?
McCarthy got 213, though. bummer.
HumboldtBlue
@Anonymous At Work:
This. I’ve been reading about the Eastern Front for 40 years and those spellings for Ukrainian cities, towns and provinces are pretty much burned into the memory at this point.
eclare
@trollhattan: Sacramento? Second most flood prone? Never would have guessed. Fingers crossed the levees hold.
artem1s
how much you want to bet the defectors are only enough to keep Jeffries from having a higher tally than McQarthy?
PaulB
Of the original 20 holdouts (plus Present-voting Spartz), there are just 7 left.
opiejeanne
@trollhattan: I visited the Capitol building in Sacramento years ago with a field trip my youngest was on, and they said that when the building was first going to be used, the newly elected governor had to be taken to it in a rowboat because of flooding.
Frankensteinbeck
@Matt McIrvin:
I think you are giving them way, way too much credit. They’re monkeys flinging shit. The closest to strategy involved is that screaming about RINOs may help them get reelected. These people are not bright, and they’ve proven it again and again. As the saying coined about the Trump administration goes, “These people aren’t evil geniuses. They’re not Lex Luthor. They’re shitlords.”
@Geminid:
As did Boehner, as did McConnell, as did Ryan. McCarthy is a worse negotiator with less control over his caucus than any of those, and has a worse hand.
OB-118
@Ken: Tea time :-)
Immanentize
PaulB
Jeffries has 211 votes, so there is a Democratic Representative who is missing or did not vote.
Ken
Time to change the rules to allow the Speaker to be elected by plurality. Then McCarthy’s in, and they’ll have a quick vote to adopt the rules (because all the Republicans are definitely on the same page there), and Congress can start business Monday.
artem1s
Only 2 votes short this time due to absences. But hand grenades and thermonuclear warheads rule still applies.
BritinChicago
@PaulB: Or just, you know, lies?
PaulB
With 432 members voting today, McCarthy needs 3 additional votes to push him over the top. He has 214; he needs 217. That would make the final tally 217 to 215 should that shift happen.
Edited to add that the C-Span tally doesn’t match with CNN’s tally. C-Span has McCarthy at 214; CNN has him with 213. Either way, he would need 3 additional votes.
Immanentize
@WaterGirl:
eclare
@PaulB: Yeah, who didn’t vote for Jeffries?
Baud
Mark my words, when Kevin has the votes, the media will pump him up for staring down the radicals as if he wasn’t a weak leader.
Immanentize
@artem1s: I agree this could have been the reason — as whichever hold out said, “in good faith — McCarthy.” A proof that they are willing to work toward a goal, but not allow it?
H.E.Wolf
David Trone of MD (D) is apparently absent.
ETA: 67-year-old white millionaire.
PaulB
I don’t know, as I can’t find anyone commenting on that. I’m guessing that there is a Democratic member who had to miss today’s proceedings.
Edited to add that H.E. Wolf immediately above this note provided the info. Thank you!
WaterGirl
@eclare: That’s what I want to know, too.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl: That was Ollie offering it to Mrs J
eclare
@H.E.Wolf: Thanks!
Amir Khalid
@eclare:
I think there’s one Democrat absent for medical reasons.
West of the Rockies
On the twelve votes of McCarthy my true love gave to me one Boebert braying, two Jordans jerking, three Gaetzs grifting, four Trumpies twerking, five Kevin flips…
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: The pic and the poem really brightened my day. Thanks for sharing it.
eclare
So Trone and Buck are absent, that gets us to 432.
That means Hunt (TX) stayed even though he has a preemie baby?
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf: Interesting.
H.E.Wolf
@PaulB:
@eclare:
I’m hunched over my .pdf of the 118th Representatives-elect. :)
If I were there in person, I’d be sorely tempted to revive the outdated custom of hissing (certain insurrectionist Republicans, I’m looking at you).
PaulB
There is another Republican Congresscritter missing, Representative Wesley Hunt, visiting his wife and new-born son (born prematurely).
So McCarthy, today, needs 216 votes out of 431 total.
Gin & Tonic
@Anonymous At Work
1. It’s Kyiv, not Kyev.
2. It was never *spelled* Kiev, it was incorrectly Romanized as Kiev. The correct spelling has always been Київ.
3. I bet it didn’t take you decades to switch from Peking to Beijing.
eclare
@PaulB: I think he stayed. We were at 434 before because the D in VA died.
eclare
@PaulB: My bad, 432!
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic: I still prepare and serve Peking Duck. Is that wrong of me?
H.E.Wolf
Wesley Hunt, TX. African-American, early 40s, former Army officer. His gerrymandered-R district is in Houston.
PaulB
I dunno for sure, but if the CNN tally is correct, only 431 people voted.
Geminid
@Frankensteinbeck: Yeah, I don’t think McCarthy can succeed either. I just pointed out that this Speaker fight was not going to determine the debt question.
FewIt may actually make raising the debt ceiling easier because of the rancor that is being generated inside the caucus and among Republicans nationally. This fight also tends to support a belief among the general public that Republicans Representatives are a bunch of cranky radicals incapable of governing. That won’t help when they try to play chicken with the nation’s credit.
Kelly
@Immanentize: I was years behind realizing Mumbai was Bombay.
eclare
@H.E.Wolf: I just checked CNN. CSpan had the wrong vote count. Hunt is at home, total is 431.
eclare
@PaulB: CSpan had the wrong vote count, I just noticed.
PaulB
Scott Perry, one of the holdouts who switched to McCarthy today, said on Twitter:
Talk about a meaningless word salad: “back to its rightful owners?” “Restore the People’s House?” Sheesh….
Immanentize
@Kelly: in reality, I can’t get over the Constantinople/Istanbul thingy. I mean — I had to do that right after I finally used “Old New York” which was once New Amsterdam.
Frankensteinbeck
@Immanentize:
Why they changed it, I can’t say. People just liked it better that way?
Amir Khalid
@Immanentize:
Did you mean to say Byzantium?
The Moar You Know
@eclare: for many reasons. Those levees keep saltwater out of the water sent to SoCal every day. If they fail, it’s not a local disaster, it’s a national one.
OldDave
@Immanentize: “Constantinople is a mighty long word. Got three more letters than mockingbird.” – John Prine (YouTube Video).
Frankensteinbeck
@Amir Khalid:
I dunno. Been a long time gone, Constantinople.
H.E.Wolf
@eclare:
Thank you for the updated total of 431!
I’m extra happy whenever the camera focues on one of our Balloon Juice-supported Democrats is on camera while calling out their vote. (They showed Emilia Sykes today! Maybe someone from C-SPAN reads the blog.)
Central Planning
@Frankensteinbeck:
Why did Constantinople get the works?
Paul in KY
@James E Powell: Go Dark Brandon, smiter of GQP choads!
Anonymous At Work
@Gin & Tonic: I learned Beijing. I ain’t that old.
Gin & Tonic
@Immanentize: I think “Peking Duck” as a culinary descriptor is OK, as is “Chicken Kiev” (which, incidentally, doesn’t really have anything to do with the capital of Ukraine.)
If you want to be sure of absolution, though, bring in enough for the whole class to share.
The Moar You Know
@PaulB: the meaning is stark and plain! Can you not see it?
The “rightful owners” are the GOP and only the GOP. Dems are by definition illegitimate.
Gvg
@PaulB: comment 52 Ken Buck of Colorado left Thursday for a scheduled medical procedure
EarthWindFire
So our system only works as it’s supposed to once a century? Well, I’m convinced. Let’s tear it down! //s
PaulB
Apparently, the missing Democratic member has returned to the chamber, so the total is now 432 votes and McCarthy would now need an additional vote to put him over the top.
eclare
@H.E.Wolf: CSpan reporting Trone is back. For subsequent votes, number KKKevin needs is up to 217.
My bad, PaulB got there first!
Paul in KY
@FelonyGovt: Mice must be pretty tasty. I’ve never had one myself.
James E Powell
The political media are preparing their fawning stories about how McCarthy has true grit.
PaulB
And here we go again.
Geminid
@PaulB: I’m waiting for these cranks to start bringing up Lexington and Concord. Or the Alamo.
bjacques
“Fentanile”! DRINK!
”Fentanile” again! DRINK! (Again!)
H.E.Wolf
@eclare: Thanks to you, and to PaulB (and to Rep Trone for showing up).
Now we wait to find out what the Seven Seditious Smurfs will do, in vote #13.
Paul in KY
@Immanentize: You sure hold a grudge. It’s been Istanbul since 1600 or so :-)
James E Powell
I had to shut if off. I can’t listen to Republicans. I will watch President Joe on youtube.
I’m struck by how they are raging about issues that they think still matter, like the Afghanistan 13 or COVID shutdowns or whatever from two years ago. Even inflation is fading.
I’m also struck by how they are saying they want to get to work on things that will never even get a vote in the senate.
WaterGirl
There is a post up for President Biden’s ceremony to honor 12 or so people for their actions on Jan 6 or their actions in holding for democracy in the face of pressure from those who would not honor the votes of the American people.
It’s 2 posts up from this one
edit: I can come back to this tread and let you know when that one is starting.
Amir Khalid
Kevin may be happy that he’s gained votes toward winnng the gavel, but won’t becoming Speaker only mark the beginning of his torment at the hands of the hostage-taking caucus?
lowtechcyclist
I don’t know who the bozo is who’s making a nominating speech right now, but the clip I caught was, [click] “the American people deserve answers: on Covid-19” which was clearly the beginning of a list, but I didn’t stick around for the rest of it.
You’ve GOT answers, asshole. You just choose not to like the real answers, and want different ones. “Answers” that somehow implicate people you have it in for, those are the answers you’re looking for.
I’m sure you’ll find them. They’ll be made-up bullshit, but you’ll call them the answers, and you’ll enjoy being outraged.
James E Powell
@Paul in KY:
Istanbul developed in Turkish 16c. as a corruption of Greek phrase eis tan (ten) polin “in (or to) the city,” which is how the local Greek population referred to it. Sort of like San Francisco.
kalakal
@Kelly: I still have to catch myself on
theLebanonThen again I used to travel on Watling Street between Eboracum and Londinium
Geminid
@Amir Khalid: There might be an uneasy truce for a while. There will be new fights over committee and chairmain assignments, and then legislation.
First of all the majority needs to push though a set of House rules. That might be contentious. I’ll be looking to see if there are defections from the other side of the caucus.
PaulB
Oh, that’s interesting. There were only two nominations: McCarthy and Jeffries. The holdouts didn’t nominate anyone.
Alison Rose
Okay, I got too curious and just tuned in. Looks like no spoiler noms from the GOP this time? Maybe that means it’ll finally happen…lucky 13 for Kevin??
PaulB
Via Twitter, Representative David Trone, Democratic Representative who missed the first vote:
PaulB
Biggs continues to hold out, voting for Jordan.
Ditto Boebert.
Steve in the ATL
@Central Planning: that’s nobody’s business but the Turks!
how has that not been posted yet?!
eclare
@PaulB: Awesome!
WaterGirl
@Geminid: I believe the Rs believe that the rules package has already been worked out over the past couple of months.
And it’s my understanding that a lot of what McCarthy has been promising is also in the territory of rules.
So I think they think the rules are a done deal, except for the part where they make them official.
Is that actually the case? Who knows? All these people do is lie.
eclare
Glad to see my rep, Cohen, wearing a mask!
PaulB
A third holdout, Eli Crane, votes for Jordan.
Assuming that Gaetz votes for not-Kevin, McCarthy will once again come up short.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I was in the car just now and flipped through MSNBC. Who was the goober using his (I’m assuming) nominating speech to promise to investigate Joe Biden and Ukraine?
Geminid
@WaterGirl: I don’t know. But a group might want to hold out for a vote or two as a flex, to show the anti-McCarthy group that two can play that game. Or there may be a substantive issue that they’ll dig their heels in over.
eclare
@PaulB: Yep. Rosendale seems pretty adamant too.
And there we go, on to the fourteenth round.
PaulB
McCarthy might end up getting there eventually, but this report from CNN about his strategy is pretty sad.
OverTwistWillie
I’m a driver, I’m a winner, things are gonna change, I can feel it….
PaulB
Gaetz votes for Jordan. McCarthy comes up short again.
eclare
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: James Comer of KY.
Soprano2
@WaterGirl: OH, they can bring you mice when they’re inside the house, too. Ask me how I know that.
PaulB
A fifth holdout, Bob Good, votes for Jordan.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@eclare: good lord, incoming chair of oversight?
Alison Rose
LOL Good flipped back??
Kristine
@WaterGirl: I enjoyed that. And I don’t even have cats.
PaulB
No, Good has consistently voted for not-Kevin.
PaulB
One more holdout has flipped to McCarthy: Andy Harris.
So McCarthy picks up one more vote, with one holdout vote yet to be tallied (Matt Rosendale). It won’t be enough to put McCarthy over the top, though, regardless of how Rosendale votes.
WaterGirl
@Soprano2: Sorry to hear that!
Alison Rose
@PaulB: Oh, I saw his name on the list of flips last time
eclare
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I don’t know what he was promised.
bjacques
Couldn’t McCarthy promise two of the holdouts the best committee seats of the other two?
PaulB
There are three people that McCarthy’s people have been lobbying hard: Eli Crane, Andy Harris, and Matt Rosendale. With those three votes, and with the votes of the two members currently out of the chamber, McCarthy would finally eke out a victory.
Harris caved but Eli Crane did not, at least not in this round. We’re still waiting to hear from Rosendale.
artem1s
Kaptur missed her vote
OverTwistWillie
Trade the cash
for the beef
for the body
for the hate
And my time is a piece of wax
falling on a termite…
That’s choking on the splinters.
Soy un perdedor…..
Geminid
@PaulB: Good’s the bible thumper who knocked out inumbent Denver Riggleman in the 2020 nominating contest for the 5th Virginia CD. His allies made sure by engineering a caucus/convention process. The convention was held at Liberty University, where Good had worked years as a fundraiser. Liberty has a low-profile political machine that swings a lot of weight among 5th district Republicans, and Bob Good is their guy.
Marcus
@Chris Johnson:
I don’t post here often
But have been following this trend for a while …..started around Brexit. There is a lot of pieces converging
Just curious what is your take on Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi, and Glenn Greenwald?
Alison Rose
@OverTwistWillie: Aaaaaand now it’s in my head for the next 48 hours at least :P
cain
@PaulB: Their strategy is to run to daddy and tell him the kids are being mean.
Alison Rose
Apparently Muskrat just reinstated Michael Flynn’s account…on J6.
WaterGirl
Biden’s ceremony event is starting now.
eclare
And Rosendale holds firm on never KKKevin.
PaulB
The last holdout, Matt Rosendale, continues to hold out. That’s 6 continuing to vote for not-Kevin.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Jesus. Just turned on MSNBC and they’re interviewing the former head of the Capitol Police about 1/6 but they won’t mute the roll call vote. How the fuck do they think this is good television production, much less journalism?
cain
@Amir Khalid: I think he just wants that title, and it’s ok if he sucked at it – he will be immortalized – I mean people still remember Nero, right? :-)
eclare
@PaulB: Why do all of these never KKKevin conversions keep saying “pursuant to negotiations” before they vote McCarthy? Are they threatening to revert back if they don’t get more?
PaulB
Where we stand after 13 votes: 6 people continue to hold out; 15 former holdouts have switched their votes to McCarthy; 2 McCarthy voters are currently out of the chamber but are supposed to fly back in tonight.
Continuing to hold out:
Former holdouts now voting for McCarthy:
With Buck and Hunt returning to the House, McCarthy would have 216 of the 218 votes he needs.
PaulB
Definitely a Godfather move: “Just remember, I own you.” or “Nice Speaker role you have there; it would be a shame if I had to vote to take it away from you.”
eclare
Trone gets standing O!
topclimber
@Geminid: Are we still live? Debt bluff will be called, as it always is. Or did I miss a default somewhere? As for ongoing spending, I count on the Republicants to give us a shutdown like they have in the past.
H.E.Wolf
Per the excellent Electoral-Vote blog: These are the elections for Speaker that required more ballots than this situation. In chronological order, they are:
John W. Taylor, 1820 (elected after 3 days, on the 22nd ballot).
Howell Cobb, 1849 (elected after 20 days, on the 63rd ballot).
Nathaniel P. Banks, 1855 (elected after 62 days, on the 133rd ballot).
William Pennington, 1859 (elected after 58 days, on the 44th ballot)
The link has a paragraph of interesting details for each one.
https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2022/Items/Dec30-1.html
topclimber
@tobie: Only one plan: Let the GQP piss off both seniors AND Wall Street. In other words, they will fold.
PaulB
Final tally:
McCarthy 214
Jeffries 212
Jordan 6
432 members present and voting; 2 currently out of the chamber but supposed to return tonight. Right now, McCarthy needs 217 and he is 3 votes short. With the two members returning, he would need 218, but would have 216 with those two extra votes, so would only need 2 votes from the holdouts.
Nettoyeur
@The Moar You Know: If McCarthy gets to be speaker in the end, I reckon there will be some uncomfortable consequences for the rebel holdouts despite all the pre-vote deals. “You go for the King, you best not miss.”
TooManyJens
Wesley Hunt really ought to tell McCarthy to go fuck himself for asking him to leave his newborn in the NICU (edit: and maybe miss his mother’s funeral?) to fly back to DC and bail his incompetent ass out.
eclare
@TooManyJens: Yeah, someone’s mother’s funeral is tomorrow. Is it Hunt?
James E Powell
@Nettoyeur:
Even if they succeed in breaking McCarthy’s will & some one else is the speaker, these yutzes are going to be despised nobodies in the Republican house. I suppose they do not care. Governing was never their career plan.
TooManyJens
@eclare:
Yes. I cannot imagine having your mother die and your child born four weeks early in the same week, much less having to then drop everything to go vote for some dipshit because he can’t close the deal without you.
Old School
@eclare: Kevin Hern is the representative with the funeral tomorrow.
Paul in KY
@James E Powell: Thank you, James, for that info.
Paul in KY
@eclare: He’s one of my pathetic reps. Actually probably not as bad as the Massie idiot.
PaulB
Motion to adjourn until 10:00 pm tonight. Electronic voting will take place now for the next 15 minutes.
TooManyJens
@Old School:
Oh, I misunderstood. Hern’s mother’s funeral was mentioned at the end of an article about Hunt and my eye just glided right over the different name.
PaulB
So far, the vote is on strict party lines: Republicans in favor of adjournment; Democrats opposed. If that holds true to the end, the House will adjourn.
PaulB
You know, if they can vote electronically like this on a yea/nay issue, why on earth can’t they upgrade the technology so that they can vote electronically for Speaker?
Unrelated: one thing that just occurred to me is that the prior talking point that this is just an awesome example of democracy in action has pretty much disappeared. I guess it just didn’t work when held up against the reality.
WaterGirl
@PaulB: I appreciate these lists from you for all the votes!
eclare
@Old School: Thanks.
I thought it was someone who had been nominated for speaker.
WaterGirl
@PaulB: This summary in particular is super helpful!
PaulB
Another thing that just occurred to me is that they don’t need both Buck and Hunt to return. They just need one of them.
Currently: 432 votes total; Kevin has 214, needs 217 and is 3 votes short.
With both returned, it would be 434 votes total; Kevin needs 218, would have 216 and would be 2 votes short.
But with just one returned, it would be 433 votes total; Kevin would still need just 217, would have 215 and would be 2 votes short.
WaterGirl
@TooManyJens: I have been watching the Biden, so I missed all of those about the fellow whose baby was born 4 weeks early.
Is he flying back for this or has he told McCarthy to fuck off? I am on team fuck off, in case that’s not clear.
PaulB
The report is that they are both flying back. The fellow who lost his mother didn’t leave but will need to at some point. The two that are missing are out because of a prematurely-born son and because of some unspecified medical procedure, respectively.
eclare
@TooManyJens: Absolutely.
PaulB
McCarthy claims he will be elected Speaker tonight. When asked why he was so confident, he said it was because he counted.
Right now, it’s 218 to 211 in favor of adjournment, with 5 outstanding votes, so we’ll be adjourning until 10 p.m.
———-
Now 219 to 212 in favor of adjournment, with 3 outstanding votes, all Republican.
PaulB
Aw, shucks. Thanks for the kind words. I’m delighted you find the posts useful.
eclare
@PaulB: So maybe just Buck returns tonight. I can’t imagine leaving a preemie.
eclare
@PaulB: Yes, thank you for all of the updates and maths!
PaulB
@eclare: I hope that they reached that compromise, but I’m skeptical. I expect McCarthy to want the symbolism of having all of the members voting. And the heroic effort of those two brave men returning, against all odds.
Yeah, sickening, I know.
PaulB
And we’re adjourned.
Old School
If McCarthy made me come into work at 10:00 on a Friday night, I’d be tempted to vote against him out of anger.
eclare
@Old School: As all normal not-nihilistic people should.
WaterGirl
@Old School: The passive-aggressive move would be to fly back and then vote PRESENT.
Oh, and fuck you, Kevin.
PaulB
Love this comment from McCarthy, courtesy of CNN:
[Emphasis added.]
Immanentize
How long are the Democrats allowed to talk while nominating their candidate? I assume as there are no rules, they could take hours if they wanted to. Just to make the pain exquisite?
PaulB
From Julie Tsirkin of NBC News:
Mike E
These fcukers were doing it on J6 Day no matter what…you can never fascist too much or too often, apparently.
PaulB
@Immanentize: I assume there are time limits, but that would be priceless, particularly given Kevin McCarthy’s prior “filibuster” via an 8-hour speech which delayed the Build Back Better Act.
Edited to add: A quick look says that House speeches are usually restricted to one minute or five minutes, depending on what the House is doing. The McCarthy thing was him taking advantage of a “magic minute” that only the Majority Leader, Minority Leader, and Speaker can use.
Ken
So he thinks, but Kevin has probably promised that to Gosar for his vote. Or Perry. Or both.
Immanentize
@PaulB: but the only rules right now are, as people call them, “Jefferson’s rules” as no rules have been adopted at all for this Congress. Which is why CSPAN is watchable this week.
Chris Johnson
@Marcus: Neither do I: I get grumpy plus I’d been a Bernie guy in the primaries and so I mostly lurk.
Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald? It can be hard to tell which garbage is just garbage and which are directly working for Russia. Sometimes it’s easier like with Caleb Maupin, who turned out to be a sex creep trying to get spanked, and was literally working for RT.
The thing to remember is that Russia is very serious about all this but that is NOT the same thing as directly controlling everybody like there’s some Boris Badenov giving orders. They’re chaos-sowers and narrative mongers and are willing to be patient.
It’s hard to tell, of the MAGA holdouts, which are straight up working for Putin and which are narrative true believers. I still think certain people like Tucker Carlson are straight up working for Putin. Others like McConnell probably were, but were so clever and ruthless that they were able to step back to save their skins. I would have thought Hannity was working directly for Putin but then he went off on Boebert on his show as if he was unhappy with her handling of things.
One thing about Taibbi is the history of bad behavior in actual Russia. It’s like Trump trying to do real estate deals in Russia. Some of these people obviously let themselves in for trouble, and are subject to pressure. That doesn’t mean they take detailed orders, just that they are traitors, serving someone else as best they can. It’s not like they’re remote controlled. Putin’s big breakthrough was stochastic politics and chaos. This like the Jan 6 insurrection is a triumph of demonstrating that’s practical. Effective? Jury is very much out on that, but it is possible.
Ken
@PaulB: Seriously? I don’t know which is more ridiculous, the implicit (though true) statement that Republicans didn’t know how to govern before this week, or the idea that anyone, much less this crowd, could learn to govern in four days.
Marcus
@Chris Johnson:
@Chris Johnson: Thanks for the reply
I too saw Boebert and Hannity…first thing that came out of her mouth …no new financing for Ukraine and Gaetz said the same thing latter…its not coincidental
I know that Roger Stone is Trumps id and he he too speaks the same language
I guess for them there is no countries anymore just power and friendly banks
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: List the names of everyone in the House who didn’t vote to certify the election?
Bill Arnold
@Marcus:
They and a bunch of like-minded people have been trying to make opposition to Ukraine/support for genocidal Russian imperialists into a Red Cap litmus test.
It’s been a tough sell, so far.
eachother
@James E Powell:
Interest rates too low IMO.
Yes I have an interest in interest levels. Specifically income.
But, economy looks strong if not resilient in the face of Russian war, pandemic, weather impacts etc. Not particularly wanting to favor bank, mortgage or real estate sectors, or hurt investors or home buyers, but interest rates for economic stability, have room to move. Again IMO. 5% is a very reasonable goal for the Fed.
No reason for me to think the golden goose will be killed or her egg laying much affected. The value of her eggs has been rising nicely lately. This may not be the best news either. But war, pandemic and Republican control of the house makes egg collectors nervous and covetous.
And the off the top inflation devaluation also too.
Miss Bianca
@West of the Rockies: Way late to the thread, but LMAO over here. Nice job!