Republican Party

[zoogs]

Republican voter base:

 

 

Conservatives need to begin to realize the extent to which this party is not loyal to their cause. They're responding to voters, which in a sense is what's good and proper. Which voters, though?

[TGHusker]

Republican voter base:

 

 

Conservatives need to begin to realize the extent to which this party is not loyal to their cause. They're responding to voters, which in a sense is what's good and proper. Which voters, though?

I'm all for a Conservative/Constitution Party

[BigRedBuster]

This is sort of a circular conversation.

 

The Republican voters are voting in certain candidates

The voters believe fake news or disinformation

The voters listen to that disinformation because they are told the MSM is all evil and shouldn't be trusted

The Republican party has supported "news" sources that create fake news or put out misinformation

The Republican establishment is upset that the voters voted in a guy who has the maturity of a gnat.

[Danny Bateman]

If there's one sick bit of humor I can take from all this, it's that the clowns (by and large, some exceptions) that comprise the current GOP now have to deal with this blowhard and his decidedly non-conservative views.

[BigRedBuster]

Yeah....this is going to help republicans gain votes.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Yeah....this is going to help republicans gain votes.

 

 

I'd be curious to see what else is thrown into that bill, or if the Democrats are directly opposing that piece of legislation.

[knapplc]

That's a weirdly-worded headline. When I first read it I thought the Dems were obstructing the bill because they didn't want to provide aid for the miners.

It's actually exactly the opposite:

But the bill stalled in the Senate as Democrats facing re-election in 2018, including West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, fought for a one-year extension for the miners' health benefits rather than the temporary, four-month fix in the bill.

Manchin called the GOP proposal to temporarily extend health care benefits for about 16,500 retired union coal miners "horrendous" and "inhumane" and accused lawmakers of turning their backs on people who built the country and made it great.

While Democrats do not want to shut down the government, they're willing to do so to protect the miners, Manchin said. "You've got to stand for something or surely to God you'll stand for nothing," he said.

Democrats called on Trump to uphold a campaign promise to help coal miners by persuading Republican leaders to adopt a broader bill that would protect health care and pension benefits for the next decade. The Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee approved the $3 billion bill in September, but the measure has stalled in the full Senate.

 

[TGHusker]

 

That's a weirdly-worded headline. When I first read it I thought the Dems were obstructing the bill because they didn't want to provide aid for the miners.

 

It's actually exactly the opposite:

 

 

But the bill stalled in the Senate as Democrats facing re-election in 2018, including West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, fought for a one-year extension for the miners' health benefits rather than the temporary, four-month fix in the bill.

 

Manchin called the GOP proposal to temporarily extend health care benefits for about 16,500 retired union coal miners "horrendous" and "inhumane" and accused lawmakers of turning their backs on people who built the country and made it great.

 

While Democrats do not want to shut down the government, they're willing to do so to protect the miners, Manchin said. "You've got to stand for something or surely to God you'll stand for nothing," he said.

 

Democrats called on Trump to uphold a campaign promise to help coal miners by persuading Republican leaders to adopt a broader bill that would protect health care and pension benefits for the next decade. The Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee approved the $3 billion bill in September, but the measure has stalled in the full Senate.

 

 

Thanks for printing the full story. That clears it up. Manchin & Casey (I don't know of Brown) are 2 Dem Senators I have a lot of respect for. This is an area that if the repub control congress wants to build bi-partisanship & get things done, they should go along wt what these 3 Senators are saying. This isn't a battle they need to fight or a hill they need to take a stand on (speaking of repub senators)

[BigRedBuster]

 

That's a weirdly-worded headline. When I first read it I thought the Dems were obstructing the bill because they didn't want to provide aid for the miners.

 

It's actually exactly the opposite:

 

 

But the bill stalled in the Senate as Democrats facing re-election in 2018, including West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, fought for a one-year extension for the miners' health benefits rather than the temporary, four-month fix in the bill.

 

Manchin called the GOP proposal to temporarily extend health care benefits for about 16,500 retired union coal miners "horrendous" and "inhumane" and accused lawmakers of turning their backs on people who built the country and made it great.

 

While Democrats do not want to shut down the government, they're willing to do so to protect the miners, Manchin said. "You've got to stand for something or surely to God you'll stand for nothing," he said.

 

Democrats called on Trump to uphold a campaign promise to help coal miners by persuading Republican leaders to adopt a broader bill that would protect health care and pension benefits for the next decade. The Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee approved the $3 billion bill in September, but the measure has stalled in the full Senate.

 

 

That's why I originally posted this in the "Dems rebuild" thread. Then, I actually read the article and moved it over here.

[Fru]

 

That's a weirdly-worded headline. When I first read it I thought the Dems were obstructing the bill because they didn't want to provide aid for the miners.

 

It's actually exactly the opposite:

 

 

But the bill stalled in the Senate as Democrats facing re-election in 2018, including West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, fought for a one-year extension for the miners' health benefits rather than the temporary, four-month fix in the bill.

 

Manchin called the GOP proposal to temporarily extend health care benefits for about 16,500 retired union coal miners "horrendous" and "inhumane" and accused lawmakers of turning their backs on people who built the country and made it great.

 

While Democrats do not want to shut down the government, they're willing to do so to protect the miners, Manchin said. "You've got to stand for something or surely to God you'll stand for nothing," he said.

 

Democrats called on Trump to uphold a campaign promise to help coal miners by persuading Republican leaders to adopt a broader bill that would protect health care and pension benefits for the next decade. The Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee approved the $3 billion bill in September, but the measure has stalled in the full Senate.

 

 

 

Seems reminiscent of the Zadroga Act.

[Danny Bateman]

Once again, what in the world is wrong with the North Carolna GOP?

Cooper threatens to sue over North Carolina GOP "power grab"

 

North Carolina Gov.-elect Roy Cooper on Thursday threatened to sue the state's GOP-dominated Legislature over Republicans' push to sharply limit gubernatorial powers before Cooper takes office.

 

"If I believe these measures are unconstitutional, they will see me in court and they don't have a good track record there," Cooper, currently the state attorney general and a Democrat, said at a news conference. Cooper said the Legislature was pushing to pass major changes to the state's laws "in the dark of night with little debate." The new bills are being considered as part of a special session originally convened to consider disaster relief.

"Most people might think this is a partisan power grab, but it's really more ominous," Cooper said.

Legal experts suggested Cooper’s options in court might be limited, but that he could extract political payback. A federal court recently struck down North Carolina’s state legislative maps for illegally packing black voters into a few legislative districts. The court has ordered new elections in November 2017, and Democrats hope they can punish GOP lawmakers at the ballot back then.

The legislation proposed by Republicans would reduce the number of state government employees Cooper can hire and fire at will from 1,500 to 300, strip the governor of the power to appoint trustees to the University of North Carolina and give it to the General Assembly, and require Senate confirmation for Cabinet appointments. Another proposal would shift control of one state office from the governor to the lieutenant governor — who will still be a Republican next year.

 

So they lost and now they're looking to use their strength in the state legislature to neuter the governorship? This is naked political opportunism at its worst. I'm not going to stand here and say the other side hasn't been guilty of the same kind of thing. They have been, but that's not the point.

 

I know lots of folks who would like it if we refocused our energy on Federalism and pushing for more states rights. But then you see actions from state governments like this slow motion train-wreck of a North Carolina GOP, or Brownback in Kansas, Walker in Wisconsin, and on and on. It seems to me the places that veer the closest toward strong state rights and conservative ideals usually muck it up in very short order.

 

Anyway, I digress. The point is that the people of North Carolina deserve better. Completely, shamelessly partisan moves like this are very tiring. These are the types of hacks we need to flush out of the system.

[Fru]

http://www.businessinsider.com/pat-mccrory-roy-cooper-north-carolina-2016-12

 

What's happening in North Carolina is utterly shameful.

[zoogs]

This is what not accepting a result looks like in a democracy.

 

I suppose if the shoe were on the other foot, I could feel quite differently. If a legislature took these steps to stop an incoming governor from an anti-LGBT or voter suppression agenda, it'd be awfully hard to root against the result -- with the caveat that the unusualness of this tactic seems quite clear, so it might be equally hard to support it.

 

As it is, the legislature is trying to prevent an incoming governor from opposing their anti-LGBT and pro-voter suppression agenda. So it's quite difficult to respect those who are rooting for this.

[BigRedBuster]

And, you are seeing why as a conservative, I can no longer support the Republican party.

 

What these numb nuts don't get is, every bit of power they take away from the governor that is coming in, the same power will not be there for them when they gain the governorship again in the future.

 

These people are so blinded by hate of the other side, they have lost all sense of reality.

[zoogs]

I think they do see that, and they're quite okay with it because gerrymandering has given them a pretty solid domination of the legislature. The changes, dropped with the same surprise tactic that yielded the bathroom bill that played a hand in the incumbent governor's loss, include consolidating their party's control over election boards in election years, and also makes the state's Supreme Court representatives list a D or R by their name.

 

There's quite a lot to be gained in a reasonably long term here. The governorship doesn't matter as much if the legislature and the highest court are locked in, which in addition to giving the legislature more of the power, is the goal.