Speaker McCarthy and his unruly Freedom Caucus

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   peoplepower73posted 2 years ago

   When are these people going to understand if they impeach Biden, they get Kamala Harris?
   
   A surprise effort by hard-right House Republicans to impeach President Joe Biden has been sidelined for now, but the ability of GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert to force the issue to a House vote demonstrates the ever-escalating challenge Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces in controlling his Republican majority.
   
   The impeachment resolution, which charges Biden with “high crimes and misdemeanors” over his handling of the U.S. border with Mexico, angered GOP colleagues who were caught off guard by the unscripted move. Even though it was not expected to pass
   
   Thursday, the vote would have been politically tough for GOP lawmakers and a potentially embarrassing spectacle for McCarthy, splitting his party.
   
   Instead, McCarthy negotiated a deal with Boebert, the Colorado Republican, to send the Biden impeachment resolution for review to the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, fending off a vote for some time.
   
   “I think it’s best for everybody,” McCarthy told reporters late Wednesday.
   
   But in a sign of the right flank’s determination to push ahead, Boebert said that if the committees slow-roll action, she’ll bring her resolution back to the floor “every day for the rest of my time here in Congress,” forcing a House vote on Biden’s impeachment.
   
   The tense, 24-hour episode underscores the hold the House conservative flank exerts over McCarthy, forcing the speaker to accommodate hard-right priorities if he wants to stay in power. And it shows the power of a single lawmaker to use the rules of the House to force a snap vote on such weighty measures as a presidential impeachment.
   
   It’s the same method another hard-right conservative, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., used Wednesday to force a separate vote to censure Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff over his investigations into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
   
   “There’s going to be no end to this,” Schiff told The Associated Press and others at the Capitol.
   
   “Kevin McCarthy has no control over his conference,” Schiff said. ”The race to the extreme is now running the House of Representatives and of course it’s doing terrible damage to the institution.”
   
   Conservatives are lining up other such votes — to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, to censure Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who was the chairman of the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — as they rush ahead with their agenda.
   
   It’s all part of the right flank’s broader effort to steer control of the House away from the traditional centers of power, including the speaker’s office.

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      wildernessposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Good for them.  I realize it's changing the topic a bit (or more than a bit), but one of the many problems of Congress is that a handful of long time politicians control everything that goes on there.  It would be best for America and it's people if our elected officials could actually do something without kowtowing to a career politician first.

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         Kathleen Cochranposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         https://hubpages.com/politics/Do-You-Wa … -the-World

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            Sharlee01posted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Read your Hub --- you made some great points.  If only we could get some fresh new people in Congress, I think we all would benefit if we could clean house and start brand new.   Nice work

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            wildernessposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Good article, and one I agree with.  We DO need to "clean out the swamp"...but no one will.  Instead we elect the same "swamp monsters" that inhabit it year after year.

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            peoplepower73posted 2 years agoin reply to this

            In theory Kathleen's article sounds great; however, in practice that is not how our congress works in today's world. First off, we don't vote anybody off.  We just don't vote for them and then we vote to put our person in the mix.
            
            The house runs for seats every two years. It forms many committees and groups, like the Freedom Caucus which is made up of conservative radicals who I think are seeking revenge on Biden and his supporters, like Adam Schiff. 
            
            Those people were voted in by their constituents, not voted out.  That's how Boebert and MTG got into congress.  My vote can't vote them out. Since I don't live in their states or districts, I have no control over them. Kevin McCarthy won't remove George Santos, because he provides the necessary seat to give the GOP the majority in the house.
            
            The senate works much the same way. Fifty percent of the senate runs for seats every two years.  They are also organized into groups as well. Their campaign money comes from PACS, Super PACS, and lobbyists. A case in point, the NRA is one of the biggest lobbyists in congress. How do you vote them out?  Then they have super majorities that require 61 votes, and Filibusters that can go on forever to block votes. Mitch McConnel has been in congress forever, not because he was voted out, but voted in.
            
            Diane Feinstein who is 91 can't even put a sentence together is staying in congress because she is serving as a place holder for Adam Schiff when he runs for the senate.  That's in my state.
            
            So how do you clean house?  Currently, we have a three-party system which includes independents. They all campaign for money and votes that are in their and their party’s interest. Which may not be the same as my party and my interest. The reality is the  party with the most money and influence wins.

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               Kathleen Cochranposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               People always complain about Congress but re-elect their own members time and time again. How will it ever change if you don't change what you can? Like my Dad used to say: "Give the other crooks a chance."

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                  peoplepower73posted 2 years agoin reply to this

                  Kathleen:  If you are a republican, cleaning house means getting rid of the democrats.  If you are a democrat, cleaning house means getting rid of republicans. Therein lies the problem. Everyday we are becoming more divided as a country, politically and morally. The red states are gaining more power and taking power away from the federal government, while becoming more self-righteous..

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   Kathleen Cochranposted 2 years ago

   My point is to keep the turnover in both houses high.

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      Joiedevieposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed. But our democracy is currently bought and paid for by the wealthy and powerful. We need structural changes to campaign finance laws to get big money out of politics. Lobbyists, corporations and billionaires shouldn't be allowed  to buy politicians.

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         Kathleen Cochranposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Agreed. How do we change it when we leave the same power brokers in term after term?
         
         I used to cover government for a weekly newspaper. I saw first-time office holder after first-time office holder start out with the purest of intentions only to get seduced by the trappings of the very office they held.
         
         If you leave them in office long enough they will only be concerned with hanging on to the amount of power they've snatched away from somebody else.
         
         We have term limits. Every two/four/six years we get the chance to overturn our government. Why do we hardly ever do it?

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            wildernessposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Because those career politicians "bring home the bacon" - they force other states to pay for the wants of those that elected them.  It has gotten to the point that the federal government picks up the tab for a very high percentage of what states spend - people are forced to pay for what people on the other side of the country decide they want.  And that is accomplished by long term politicians that have the power to force their spending habits on the rest of the nation, buying the votes that keep them in office.

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               Kathleen Cochranposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               I also think most people don't pay attention except during campaign season. A good rule for the benefit of individual judgement would probably be not to believe anything you see, read, or hear in a political ad. Look up the candidate's record and make sure his/her votes align with what is important to you. How do you feel about guns, health care, use of the military, climate change? Is the candidate going to fight for what you care about or not?

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                  Sharlee01posted 2 years agoin reply to this

                  "Look up the candidate's record and make sure his/her votes align with what is important to you. How do you feel about guns, health care, use of the military, climate change? Is the candidate going to fight for what you care about or not?"
                  
                  Great advice, it is very easy to research most candidates' records online. And of course, using one's memory. For instance, if the Candidate was in Congress, one can easily see their actual voting record and job performance in regard to showing up for votes.
                  
                  The internet has made it very easy to research even those that are newcomers and toss their hats into politics.

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