carlfense Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 The same people who pay to hear Sarah Palin speak, who mega-ditto Rush Limbaugh and who continue to turn the channel to Fox are eating this stuff up. The Republicans have no reason not to sue at this point. Absurd as it is, there's no exposure to them in this political climate. The Obama camp is scrambling to avert disaster related to this lawsuit. Clearly Boehner is on the right path here. Boehner's actually being a fairly smart politician on this one. He's caught between the traditional role of leading the opposition, which he prefers, and the hard right wing of his conference. A lot of conservatives want him out as Speaker. Many of these same people want Obama impeached. He knows that's a nonstarter, and a politically damaging one for Republicans should they go forward with it. So he came up with this lawsuit. Assuming the case gets dismissed for lack of standing, he can say "well I tried" to his conservative wing, while the rest of the country forgets about it. Quite the subtle dig at the GOP base, isn't it? Link to comment
tschu Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 The same people who pay to hear Sarah Palin speak, who mega-ditto Rush Limbaugh and who continue to turn the channel to Fox are eating this stuff up. The Republicans have no reason not to sue at this point. Absurd as it is, there's no exposure to them in this political climate. The Obama camp is scrambling to avert disaster related to this lawsuit. Clearly Boehner is on the right path here. That article is pretty fascinating, great read Link to comment
TGHusker Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 The repubs are stupid in doing this but amazingly stupid in doing it just prior to Nov elections. I see no win for dumbo Boehner in this action. He drives attention away from Obama's low ratings to Congress's even lower ratings. It will be easily painted (and already is) that an obstructionist Congress (House) is stopping the Pres from getting something done. As the article says, no need to do dumb before an election that should go the way of the repubs. The hatred being expressed, causes people to do dumb things. The White House is putting out their best china and table linen as the House prepares a fine meal for the President to feast on in so many different ways. From the Knapp's article link: The current partisan debate is often described as a stalemate, but it's actually better captured by a more obscure chess term. Zugzwang is a situation in which the optimal move would simply be to pass and force the other player to make a move — except that passing is against the rules of chess. The best thing for House Republicans to do this summer and fall is nothing — Obama's approval rating is underwater, the GOP is poised to pick up seats in the midterms, and there's no need to rock the boat. But conservative activists won't tolerate a pass strategy. They hate Obama and want Boehner to do something that expresses that hatred. Link to comment
TGHusker Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 The same people who pay to hear Sarah Palin speak, who mega-ditto Rush Limbaugh and who continue to turn the channel to Fox are eating this stuff up. The Republicans have no reason not to sue at this point. Absurd as it is, there's no exposure to them in this political climate. The Obama camp is scrambling to avert disaster related to this lawsuit. Clearly Boehner is on the right path here. Boehner's actually being a fairly smart politician on this one. He's caught between the traditional role of leading the opposition, which he prefers, and the hard right wing of his conference. A lot of conservatives want him out as Speaker. Many of these same people want Obama impeached. He knows that's a nonstarter, and a politically damaging one for Republicans should they go forward with it. So he came up with this lawsuit. Assuming the case gets dismissed for lack of standing, he can say "well I tried" to his conservative wing, while the rest of the country forgets about it. I think it is too close to the election for Obama to not make political hay out of this. Link to comment
LukeinNE Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 The same people who pay to hear Sarah Palin speak, who mega-ditto Rush Limbaugh and who continue to turn the channel to Fox are eating this stuff up. The Republicans have no reason not to sue at this point. Absurd as it is, there's no exposure to them in this political climate. The Obama camp is scrambling to avert disaster related to this lawsuit. Clearly Boehner is on the right path here. Boehner's actually being a fairly smart politician on this one. He's caught between the traditional role of leading the opposition, which he prefers, and the hard right wing of his conference. A lot of conservatives want him out as Speaker. Many of these same people want Obama impeached. He knows that's a nonstarter, and a politically damaging one for Republicans should they go forward with it. So he came up with this lawsuit. Assuming the case gets dismissed for lack of standing, he can say "well I tried" to his conservative wing, while the rest of the country forgets about it. I think it is too close to the election for Obama to not make political hay out of this. There are a few rules I have strong faith in when it comes to politics. One of them is: 99/100 times, a current event isn't going to matter nearly as much as you think it is. If no one cares about this lawsuit now, who will in 4 months? Boehner calculated this move to shore up his standing among House Republicans while having little to no effect in November. On the latter issue, I think he almost certainly calculated correctly. Link to comment
knapplc Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 There are a few rules I have strong faith in when it comes to politics. One of them is: 99/100 times, a current event isn't going to matter nearly as much as you think it is. If no one cares about this lawsuit now, who will in 4 months? Boehner calculated this move to shore up his standing among House Republicans while having little to no effect in November. On the latter issue, I think he almost certainly calculated correctly. Completely agree with this. Memories are terribly short. What matters isn't the actual action, it's carrying the theme of how you feel about a particular party/candidate that matters. If we can keep our base feeling unhappy with the other party, and maintain that for months at a time, it becomes part of the narrative so that anyone with that party's letter behind their name is tainted by that feeling. Link to comment
killer cacti Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 If the president says he's going to make things happen even if congress blocks it, doesn't that defeat the entire premise of the checks & balances system? It's there to prevent a monarch. Link to comment
knapplc Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Yes, we need to prevent the president from acting like a monarch. To date, Obama has issued 291 executive orders. George W. Bush issued 147. Which of those numbers seems like overstepping? Link to comment
It'sNotAFakeID Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 anyone with that party's letter behind their name is tainted by that feeling. And therein lies the problem with our government today, and perhaps since the beginning. Link to comment
It'sNotAFakeID Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Yes, we need to prevent the president from acting like a monarch. To date, Obama has issued 291 executive orders. George W. Bush issued 147. Which of those numbers seems like overstepping? Did you intentionally switch those numbers? Link to comment
It'sNotAFakeID Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Hell, FDR issued 3522 executive orders. What a dictator! Link to comment
knapplc Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Yes, we need to prevent the president from acting like a monarch. To date, Obama has issued 291 executive orders. George W. Bush issued 147. Which of those numbers seems like overstepping? Did you intentionally switch those numbers? Whoopsie daisy. My bad! Link to comment
StPaulHusker Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Yes, we need to prevent the president from acting like a monarch. To date, Obama has issued 291 executive orders. George W. Bush issued 147. Which of those numbers seems like overstepping? Did you intentionally switch those numbers? Whoopsie daisy. My bad! Fail Link to comment
carlfense Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 If the president says he's going to make things happen even if congress blocks it, doesn't that defeat the entire premise of the checks & balances system? No. Link to comment
It'sNotAFakeID Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 If the president says he's going to make things happen even if congress blocks it, doesn't that defeat the entire premise of the checks & balances system? No. Well (and I am rather uninformed about exactly how the government operates) isn't the whole idea of checks and balances to ensure that no branch becomes too powerful? Link to comment
Recommended Posts