The Republican Party Has Flat Out Lost Its Mind

[LFC]

Shady and quite possibly illegal if he didn't officially change his residence in a matter of days. Of course if he fraudulently violated voting laws in Florida you know DeSatanist's fascist government won't touch him.

A Republican representative-elect who appeared to falsify much of his resume also registered to vote in two states in 2016, according to public records, albeit with the second registration coming after Election Day.

George Santos, who won his election in November against a Democrat in one of the four New York congressional districts flipped by Republicans, left his home in New York, voted in Florida some nine months later, and was registered back in New York days later, according to public records.

Santos was evicted from a property in New York City in early February 2016, the records show. Within five days of the eviction court filing, he registered to vote in Florida. He voted in Florida on Election Day and, less than a week later, registered to vote in New York.

The timeline of his eviction and voter registrations are just the latest verifiable morsels of Santos’s biography, following much of his resume falling apart after closer inspection this month. Santos’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[LFC]

[LFC]

Santos ... again. In 2020 he claimed to be biracial. Good ... f***ing ... lord.

[goldenvalley]

Dec 29, 2022 20:40:40 GMT LFC said:

Santos ... again. In 2020 he claimed to be biracial. Good ... f***ing ... lord.

He's all things to all people!  I wonder how many psychiatric diagnoses he has.  

[LFC]

This ... is ... AWESOME!

[LFC]

McCarthy already made a ton of promises to the MAGAts to get their votes. How he's basically promised that any member at any time can kick him in the balls (paywalled). I don't understand all of the leverage the craziest of the crazies get out of this but it sounds like an already difficult job would become that much more difficult with The Sword of Dumbicles hanging over his head for the next two years.

A big question we turn to now is who will be the next Speaker of the House. This should not be a question. The leader of the Republican opposition for the last four years should obviously become speaker. But, as we know, it’s not that simple.

Tonight we heard for the first time that McCarthy has agreed to allow motions to vacate as part of his quest to get the votes to become speaker. This is a technical parliamentary tool but an extremely important one. It allows any member at any time to force a vote on firing McCarthy as speaker. There are various potential versions of this and it has to do with what is called a “privileged motion.” The latest reports suggest McCarthy has finally agreed to this, something he has insisted he would never agree to.

In practice this means that any of the most extreme members of the GOP caucus not only hold a veto on McCarthy’s every action but his speakership itself, so long as they can get two or three other members to vote with them.

Versions of this actually existed in the past but not with such slender majorities and, far more importantly, in eras where you didn’t have parliamentary terrorists so willing to resort to such extreme actions. Think of it like the debt ceiling. Congress has had the ability to engineer debt ceiling hostage dramas for decades. But it only occurred to anyone that it was okay to do it a few years ago.

This is certainly one reason McCarthy has yet to say anything about George Santos, even as a growing number of Republicans are calling for ethics investigations or resignation. McCarthy really, really needs Santos’s vote.

Perhaps the best way to see the skirmishing over the motion to vacate is that the speakership election won’t be next week. It will be ongoing, a permanent open vote. That’s if McCarthy manages to become speaker. And at this point, that’s pretty questionable.

[LFC]

Josh Marshall says that getting a Speaker with the help of Democratic votes ain't gonna' happen (paywalled).

It’s all coming down to the final showdown in Kevin McCarthy’s seven-year effort to recover the job he thought was his in 2015. We discussed some of these issues yesterday. Given the difficulty of coming up with any plausible explanation of how McCarthy can get 218 votes, you’re now going to hear lots of fantastical proposals about how McCarthy’s failure to get 218 votes might set the stage for a “bipartisan” speakership vote in which some number of Democrats cross the aisle to vote for McCarthy or some “moderate” alternative.

This is not going to happen. For many of you that’s probably obvious. But I thought it might be worth running through the insurmountable obstacles in the way of such an outcome.

1: The biggest reason this will not happen is one that is too little discussed. Any Republican speaker who becomes speaker with Democratic votes will be instantly discredited among basically all Republicans. A Speaker McCarthy or any other Republican speaker would instantly become radioactive in GOP politics, and it wouldn’t even happen because that radioactivity would be obvious in advance. The price of five Democrats crossing over would be losing at least one hundred Republican votes, probably more.

2: There would actually be a decent number of Democratic votes, for better or worse, for a true “bipartisan” speakership. But only if it were actually bipartisan. That would mean commitments against government shutdowns and debt ceiling hostage taking — at a minimum. Those asks would be dead on arrival for at least half the Republican caucus. Probably a lot more. That simply won’t happen. It’s telling that Dems might be tempted if the compromise candidate would simply rule out parliamentary terrorism. But it’s moot because that’s unforgivable in GOP politics.

3: The principle of McCarthy’s leadership has been acceding to any and all demands of the House Freedom Caucus. This isn’t hyperbole. It’s true. There’s a reason Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan are his biggest advocates. This has always been the centerpiece of his leadership of the House Republicans from the moment he took over the caucus leadership. It’s the key he used to pick the lock Boehner and Ryan could never pick. He “solved” the problem of how to deal with the Freedom Caucus by turning over management of the House to the Freedom Caucus. It doesn’t seem to have helped enough. They’re still knifing him. But it ensured that Democrats don’t like McCarthy. There’s zero affection for the guy. It’s not just feelings. It’s hard to see what saving a McCarthy speakership would achieve for Democrats. He’s committed to the full scorched-earth agenda. It’s highly unlikely Ds would have done this service for Boehner or Ryan. But it would have been marginally more plausible.

[goldenvalley]

Jan 3, 2023 17:09:46 GMT LFC said:

Josh Marshall says that getting a Speaker with the help of Democratic votes ain't gonna' happen (paywalled).

That's probably a logical step for Democrats.  No matter who is speaker the Freedom Caucus types will derail any legislation that might get bipartisan votes and the rest will vote for symbolic legislation that will never pass in the Senate as they did with the bills repealing Obamacare.  It simply doesn't matter who the Speaker is for the next two years; the Caucus will make sure of that. 

[goldenvalley]

No speaker yet.  I noticed a California House member posed this:

[indy]

First time in like a 100 years the speaker wasn't chosen on the first ballot. A history-making event, yet somehow still tediously boring.

[indy]

Third vote has failed to elect a speaker.

[AnBr]

Where's the media screaming "Republicans in disarray!"?

[LFC]

Welcome to the Republican Party and America's right-wing in general. Yes, I do look down on them as stupid, ignorant, arrogant, and "deplorable" but to quote them, "you made this."

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna came to Congress on her first day in office ready to do battle—not just with Democrats, but also with her own party, as she became one of the 20 Republicans to vote against electing Kevin McCarthy speaker.

But back home in her conservative Florida district, Luna is waging a very different kind of war: a legal fight with political enemies who say she is a literal witch.

A letter obtained by The Daily Beast reveals that the Florida Republican retained the high-powered law firm Holland & Knight to go after a would-be rival who leveled a series of outlandish allegations against Luna on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show in the fall.

The letter demands that Matt Tito, a pal of Roger Stone who mulled challenging Luna in a primary, apologize on video for his accusations, which include claims that Luna was fired from a job—and that she had a sexual liaison with Rep. Matt Gaetz.

“While it is extraordinarily odd for any person to say these things, let alone a former Captain in the United States Marine Corps., that is not the purpose of this communication,” attorney David J. Lisko wrote in the Oct. 7 missive.

“I am sending you this letter because of the defamatory statements you made about Ms. Luna on the Show,” Lisko wrote, adding that Tito knew his comments were untrue or were “said in gross negligence knowing the statements were highly implausible and unlikely to be true.”

“You said that Ms. Luna (a devout Christian) practices witchcraft,” Lisko added.

“You are hereby demanded to publicly and immediately retract each and every defamatory statement you made about Ms. Luna on the show,” Lisko continued. “Because you do not have the ability to distribute your retraction widely on your social media, you are demanded to apologize and retract your statements on the Bubba the Love Sponge Show or by making a retraction and apology video that you send to me that Ms. Luna will distribute via her social media.”

[LFC]

Santos again. Now that Brazil knows where he is they are looking at reopening their investigation of his crimes.

As he’s sworn-in as a lawmaker Tuesday, Representative-elect George Santos (R-NY) will have the attention of international authorities: Brazilian law enforcement has been searching for the incoming congressman for years with an embezzlement charge. They intend to revive the case after he’s sworn-in with a formal request to the DOJ, the New York Times reported. 

The case reportedly stems from 2008 when Santos was a 19-year-old living in Rio de Janeiro with his mother Fatima Devolder, then a home health aide. At the time, he allegedly found two checks that belonged to 82-year-old Délio da Câmara da Costa Alemão, a client of his mother’s, in her purse, and used them at a clothing store in nearby Niteroi. 

Using the pseudonym “Delio,” Santos allegedly bought $700 worth of clothes and shoes for his then-boyfriend, “Thiago,” according to the cashier. When Thiago tried returning the clothes a few days later, the cashier reportedly used the opportunity to investigate the situation himself: He reportedly followed Thiago to his job, looked him up on social media, and found a photo of him with Santos bearing his real identity.

Santos reportedly admitted to the salesperson that he’d stolen the checks in August 2009, and told him that he’d reimburse him for the payments through installments. He wrote on social media at the time that he “screwed up” and wanted to pay what was owed. But when a Rio judge approved a charge against Santos in September 2011, he reportedly left the country a month later. 

[LFC]

Political Wire calls it. Even if Qevin become Speaker the House Freedumb Caucus, having gotten a real taste for power and at least being able to count to 4 votes, is going to turn everything into a shitshow circus.

[LFC]

Santos is palin' around with the worst of the House deplorables. No shock. In an age gone by their personal scandals and behavior would have drive them from Congress but in today's Republican Party they are defended tooth and nail. Santos understands they need his vote and defending his ever growing list of scandals is just another small step in the direction of the tribal fascism that drives them now. (paywalled)

Covering the ongoing implosion of George Santos is, in a way, mostly fun and games. But we saw over the last four days how it will soon be something rather different. If you watched TV and photographic coverage of the speakership drama, Rep. Santos spent a lot of time on the floor with Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Indeed, he seemed glued to them increasingly over the course of the four days. I doubt that is a coincidence. If there are any GOP reps you want in a foxhole with you against the “fake news” media and the GOP’s RINO establishment, it’s these three. This cannot be an accident.

Right now there are 212 Democrats and 222 Republicans. That will move to 213 to 222 after the special election in Virginia next month. If Santos were to resign he would be replaced in a special election and Democrats would be solid, if not strong, favorites to win that race. If a Democrat was elected, that would move the numbers to 214 to 221. In that scenario Republicans can only lose three members on any vote.

The difference between three and four is significant. Over the last four days the issue has been how many Freedom Caucus members Kevin McCarthy could bring across to his side. That side of the equation may come up again if McCarthy has to fend off efforts to bring him down. Far more likely it will come from the other side, among the twenty or so Republicans from Biden-leaning districts. A key dynamic in the next Congress will be discharge petitions, a parliamentary tactic which allows a majority of members to force a bill to the floor, even over the House leadership. Normally party discipline makes this an extremely rare occurrence since it requires members of the majority to undermine their own speaker on his core power. But the 18th Congress has the unstable mix of an extremist-dominated but razor-thin majority.

On issues like debt default, government shutdowns, draconian Social Security and Medicare cuts, Dems will only need to bring over 3 or 4 of the members from Biden districts.

Republicans really can’t afford to lose Santos.

[goldenvalley]

Jan 9, 2023 17:38:39 GMT LFC said:

Santos is palin' around with the worst of the House deplorables. No shock. In an age gone by their personal scandals and behavior would have drive them from Congress but in today's Republican Party they are defended tooth and nail. Santos understands they need his vote and defending his ever growing list of scandals is just another small step in the direction of the tribal fascism that drives them now. (paywalled)

Covering the ongoing implosion of George Santos is, in a way, mostly fun and games. But we saw over the last four days how it will soon be something rather different. If you watched TV and photographic coverage of the speakership drama, Rep. Santos spent a lot of time on the floor with Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Indeed, he seemed glued to them increasingly over the course of the four days. I doubt that is a coincidence. If there are any GOP reps you want in a foxhole with you against the “fake news” media and the GOP’s RINO establishment, it’s these three. This cannot be an accident.

Right now there are 212 Democrats and 222 Republicans. That will move to 213 to 222 after the special election in Virginia next month. If Santos were to resign he would be replaced in a special election and Democrats would be solid, if not strong, favorites to win that race. If a Democrat was elected, that would move the numbers to 214 to 221. In that scenario Republicans can only lose three members on any vote.

The difference between three and four is significant. Over the last four days the issue has been how many Freedom Caucus members Kevin McCarthy could bring across to his side. That side of the equation may come up again if McCarthy has to fend off efforts to bring him down. Far more likely it will come from the other side, among the twenty or so Republicans from Biden-leaning districts. A key dynamic in the next Congress will be discharge petitions, a parliamentary tactic which allows a majority of members to force a bill to the floor, even over the House leadership. Normally party discipline makes this an extremely rare occurrence since it requires members of the majority to undermine their own speaker on his core power. But the 18th Congress has the unstable mix of an extremist-dominated but razor-thin majority.

On issues like debt default, government shutdowns, draconian Social Security and Medicare cuts, Dems will only need to bring over 3 or 4 of the members from Biden districts.

Republicans really can’t afford to lose Santos.

Those 3 people are the only ones who don't worry about their reputations with the rest of the Republican caucus and the outside world.  Of course Santos is welcomed by them.

I heard one talker note that this dude was sitting in the chambers during votes and didn't respond when Santos was called.  He responded on the second go rounds.  The talker said maybe Santos didn't remember what fake name he was using. 

[LFC]

Thank you, self-proclaimed party of transparency, for following the Catholic Church / Southern Baptist Convention / Boy Scouts of America models. I'm sure Santos will be devastated when you "tsk, tsk" his ass.

[LFC]

Shorter Missouri Republicans: "We are all Mitt Romney now."

I guess if they can't bar the original sinners and Satan's temptresses from government at least they can try to cover them up as much as possible. Besides, what kind of slut would show her arms? SCANDALOUS!

[goldenvalley]

Jan 13, 2023 17:04:42 GMT LFC said:

Shorter Missouri Republicans: "We are all Mitt Romney now."

I guess if they can't bar the original sinners and Satan's temptresses from government at least they can try to cover them up as much as possible. Besides, what kind of slut would show her arms? SCANDALOUS!

Next up...rules forbidding women from wearing pants in the building and dictating the appropriate length of skirts. 

[pnwguy]

Jan 13, 2023 18:09:12 GMT goldenvalley said:

Next up...rules forbidding women from wearing pants in the building and dictating the appropriate length of skirts. 

You forgot about hair length.  If it's not on their shoulders, they are LESBIANS and need to be booted from office.

[indy]

I guess we are going to get a very quick indication on just how nuts things are going to be over the next two years.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday warned top U.S. lawmakers that the federal government is expected to hit its ceiling for borrowing next week and urged them to “act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit.”

“I am writing to inform you that beginning on Thursday, January 19, 2023, the outstanding debt of the United States is projected to reach the statutory limit. Once the limit is reached, Treasury will need to start taking certain extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations,” she wrote in a letter to the lawmakers.

www.marketwatch.com/story/yellen-says-u-s-will-hit-debt-ceiling-thursday-as-analysts-warn-of-significant-market-pain-while-congress-deals-with-limit-11673635465?mod=home-page

[goldenvalley]

Jan 13, 2023 22:43:22 GMT indy said:

I guess we are going to get a very quick indication on just how nuts things are going to be over the next two years.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday warned top U.S. lawmakers that the federal government is expected to hit its ceiling for borrowing next week and urged them to “act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit.”

“I am writing to inform you that beginning on Thursday, January 19, 2023, the outstanding debt of the United States is projected to reach the statutory limit. Once the limit is reached, Treasury will need to start taking certain extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations,” she wrote in a letter to the lawmakers.

www.marketwatch.com/story/yellen-says-u-s-will-hit-debt-ceiling-thursday-as-analysts-warn-of-significant-market-pain-while-congress-deals-with-limit-11673635465?mod=home-page

I keep hearing the insane argument from the 20 jerks that if the US defaults it will be the Democrats fault because they won't negotiate.  The debt ceiling is about money already committed and spent in the budget that already passed.  It's either move the debt ceiling or be in default. It is not something to be negotiated between political parties.  Of course the result doesn't seem to matter to them; only the politics matter.

[LFC]

Qevin McCarthy decided to put serial liar and repeated scammer George Santos on the House Small Business Committee. It's beyond parody at this point. He's also now on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee which is more appropriate since he's probably already claimed to be an astronaut or have been the one to invent the COVID vaccine.

The House GOP Steering Committee on Tuesday recommended that embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) sit on the House Small Business Committee and House Science, Space and Technology Committee, according to sources familiar with the assignments.

Santos’s assignment to the panels comes after multiple members of his own party have called on him to resign over his admitted fabrications about his work history and education, questions about his campaign finances, misleading claims of Jewish heritage and reported charges in Brazil related to checkbook fraud (which Santos has denied), among other issues.

The recommendation from the House GOP Steering Committee, a panel of around 30 members of House leadership and elected regional representatives, will have to be approved by the full House Republican Conference. The conference typically approves the steering panel’s recommendation.

[goldenvalley]

The committee appointments would be laughable if it were a movie that we're talking about. Greene and Gosar on the Oversight Committee.  Greene on Homeland Security and Gosar on Natural Resources.  And McCarthy so grateful for Greene's support that he doesn't care that texts from her to Meadows on Jan 5 and 6 show complete support for and foreknowledge of the insurrection. And in that category with Greene Jim Jordan as chair of Judiciary.  Plus removal of Schiff and Swalwell from Intelligence Committee.  As my late dad would say "The lunatics are running the asylum."