Brains? In the GOP? đŸ€Ł

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, education, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants

Just a couple of topics on my radar tonight 


It used to be, or so I thought, that the people elected to serve in the U.S. Congress had at least some basic understanding of the law and how it works.  After all, they would be writing laws, so shouldn’t they understand them?  It used to be that with a few exceptions, when I heard a politician speak, they spoke intelligently, even though I might not agree with what they were saying.  But today???  Where are we getting our current batch of congressmen & women???  I’m not just talking about the obvious nudniks who dropped out of high school and ran bars & gyms for a living until they decided to run for Congress, but even some of our elected officials with college degrees open their mouths and it comes out stupid.

Take, for example, Wisconsin Representative Ron Johnson who recently said regarding climate change 


“So, in terms of excess deaths, a warming globe is actually beneficial. In my own state, your study shows that we’d have a reduction in mortality of somewhere between 54 and 56 people per, I guess it’s a hundred thousand. Why wouldn’t we take comfort in that?”

Ron isn’t a scientist, nor even a lawyer, but he does hold a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting, so surely he should know better?  In years past, Johnson has referred to climate science as “bullshit”, “crazy”, “lunacy”, and more than a few times has said that global warming is actually a good thing.

And speaking of the House of Representatives, once dubbed the “People’s House”, but now the “Nut House” 
 ol’ Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill squeaked by yesterday in a 217-215 vote with 3 representatives not voting.  Now, Kev and his buddies have spent months on this bill 
 months that we’ve been paying them to legislate 
 and it was all a waste.  Why?  The bill is ludicrous, for one thing, doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in a hot spot of passing in the Senate, and even if it did, President Biden has already made it quite clear he won’t sign it.

There isn’t an ounce of bipartisanship in this bill 
 it is strictly a GOP bill that does absolutely nothing for the average citizen/taxpayer but bring them more grief.  Oh but wait 
 it DOES effectively lower taxes on the wealthy!  Shouldn’t we be happy that the billionaires will get to keep getting richer while the rest of us struggle to pay the rent?

First, it isn’t truly a debt ceiling bill at all.  In order to raise the debt ceiling as must be done so that the United States can pay its bills, both foreign and domestic, all the House has to do is vote to raise the debt ceiling.  Period.  Simple. No conditions are required.  Budget cuts are a whole ‘nother matter, but the Republicans decided to try to attach strings to giving the government the “privilege” of paying debts already incurred, most under Republican presidents!  Among those strings are cuts on federal health care, education, science and labour programs.  Think about that one 
 health care, education, science, and labour 
 the very things that We the People rely most on.

The bill would repeal Biden’s recent accomplishments, including a bevy of tax credits meant to spur the adoption of electric vehicles and other clean technologies. It would end the president’s plan to waive up to $10,000 from millions of borrowers’ student loan debts. It would limit the power of federal agencies to issue regulations on a wide array of industries. And it would impose a raft of new rules on low-income families that receive federal benefits, including food stamps and Medicaid, requiring them to work longer hours in exchange for help — or risk losing aid entirely.  It also repeals the IRS funding that was put into place as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, meaning that the wealthy will continue to cheat on their taxes.

Does this sound like it’s designed with the people of this nation in mind?  It sounds to me as if McCarthy and his band of brain-deficient cronies have no seriousness of purpose, no desire to be responsible to We the People, and are perfectly willing to allow this nation to default on its debt, which would lead to disaster not only for the U.S., but globally.  Thanks, Kev, for being a grade-A asshole.

34 thoughts on “Brains? In the GOP? đŸ€Ł”

  2. Thanks for sharing!!.. the Republicans have been trying for years to do away wish Social Security, Medicare and other like programs, mainly because it is money out their pocket that they do not wish to share being the capitalist they are… as for the Congressmen and women, they cater to the wishes of the people that voted them into office so the problem goes back to the people who are in denial of any change or thinking that may oppose theirs… 🙂

    Just keep your fingers doing the walking and your heart doing the talking, don’t stop and until we meet again…
    May the dreams you hold dearest
    Be those which come true
    May the kindness you spread
    Keep returning to you
    (Irish Saying)

    Liked by 2 people

    • The only point I might argue is that the members of Congress “cater to the wishes of the people that voted them into office.” These days, I think they actually gaslight the people who voted them into office into believing that what they are doing (which is really catering to the wealthy) is in their best interest. And enough of the people buy into it that they keep sending them back to Congress over and over again. Sigh.

      Many thanks, Dutch, for the beautiful Irish Saying and for your support! Both mean a lot to me!

      Liked by 1 person

      • The members of Congress and other politicians, leaders, etc. have people gathering intel on how the voters in their area think and believe, they then tell the people what they want to hear..there are those set in their ways (especially in the world of faith based beliefs) and would rather believe a lie than hear the truth… 🙂

        Have a great weekend and every day and until we meet again..
        May love and laughter light your days,
        and warm your heart and home.
        May good and faithful friends be yours,
        wherever you may roam.
        May peace and plenty bless your world
        with joy that long endures.
        May all life’s passing seasons
        bring the best to you and yours!
        (Irish Saying)

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Pingback: Brains? In the GOP? đŸ€Ł | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  6. Jill, thanks for sharing this. To be frank, it somewhat surprises me that Wisconsin keeps sending Ron Johnson back to Washington. In time past, even his fellow Republican Senators scratch their heads at some Johnson’s comments. Of course, in my state of North Carolina, it puzzled me that kept sending Jesse Helms back to Washington. As for McCarthy, he decided a while back being the leader we needed him to be was not a suit he wanted to wear. Keith

    Liked by 2 people

    • Yes, as I told Roger, Ron Johnson has crossed my radar many a time for truly stupid things he’s done and said, and I thought surely he would lose his last re-election bid, but …

      McCarthy has one person and one person only to whom he is loyal, and that is Kevin McCarthy. I just wish the people of his district would wake up and realize that he’s operating against their best interests, but he is strongly supported in his district for some reason. Let’s hope he gets reduced to Minority Leader in 2024, though, and some people with good sense take over the majority.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. I have to laugh about holding degrees in business & accounting. My grandfather had to leave school after the 8th grade because his father died … he had to go to work. Of course, this was common in those days, he was born in 1903. But my grandfather was a whizz with numbers … he started out selling on the street, became an insurance salesman & then bookkeeper for certain companies & then got a job with Socony Oil … which became Mobil Oil. He rose through the ranks to be one of their top accountants & retired at age 55 in 1960 (the year I was born), a millionaire … which was something in those days. No degrees, not even a HS education. He was VERY well educated, he was never stopped educating himself. & yes, he was a Republican. But not an idiot like today’s Republicans. I KNOW he would hate what the GOP has turned into. I know his sons (my father & my uncle, both now passed) hated the modern GOP.

    Liked by 2 people

    • My father, also, had to leave school while in 8th grade, and by the time he was 40, he was managing some of the major hotels in the country. He never reached millionaire status like your grandfather did, though, for he spent it (drank and gambled) as quickly as he earned it. Back then, it was possible to become a “self-made man”, but I don’t know about today. I think most people of your grandfather’s generation, or even my father’s, would hate what the GOP has become, for they no longer have a shred of integrity or values.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. OK Ron Johnson ol’ buddy, wild storm comes along a some time your family is all together, brings the house down and you, severely injured as the sole survivor….everyone else is dead, horribly mangled…dead. You feel good about that…..I mean from a World Point of view, that is?

    (In a W C Field’s voice)… Heavens t’ Betsy Kevin McCarthy, sir! What is that enormous bugle around your hindquarters. Have you seen a doctor.? I would urgently suggest you do so….. Oh wait a minute….My apologies sir, I did not at first hear that unmistakeable crinkling of non-traceable cash in the old reliable back pocket…..For a moment I forgot your noble profession…..Ah yesss…Never give a sucker an even break, quite so…..Yesssss.

    Liked by 2 people

    • If Ron Johnson had half of a functional brain cell … he might understand that, but as it is, he’s flown onto my radar for his stupidity more than a few times.

      I do love it when you don your W.C. Fields voice! Heh heh … if you could say that to him, he probably would have no idea what you were talking about. He is not the brightest bulb in the pack, which is why it took him 15 votes and many, many concessions to get the Speaker’s job back in January!

      Liked by 2 people

      • If they were clever and subtle in deviousness and winning over folk across the board, I would be a measure consoled that ‘this is the way of the world’.
        Rank stupidity, appealing to one mob is a base political crime that only hastens the downfall of an entire society.

        Liked by 2 people

          • I can understand that feeling Jill.
            We have it to a lesser extent with Brexit and the lack of true talent in the current government. We have some slivers of direction, but it will take a while to clean out the joint haplessness of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn.
            Where these forces come from is hard to predict, or what direction they will take.

            Liked by 2 people

            • I find myself asking multiple times a day, to nobody in particular, “What the hell is wrong with the world today??? ” I never get an answer, though. What amazes me is the people who can simply tune it out, those who tell me they just don’t bother to listen to the news, and that way it doesn’t upset them. Methinks that was the case with some Germans in the 1930s, too.

              Liked by 2 people

              • It’s a common response, folk adjust. They tune out because they feel they have no response. Then in the USA, there is that little feeling in the back on their minds that they had better be quiet because you never know when some wacko with a gun will take offense to something you said.
                Like the feelings those in authoritarian states have. ‘You never know who is listening,’

                With that in mind here are two examples of exchanges Russians were sharing with each other during the time of the USSR:
                ‘Why worry about tomorrow.? Today is bad enough,’
                A woman goes into a shop selling meat.
                ‘We’re out of meat,’ she is told.
                ‘Well can I buy some milk then?’
                ‘We only sell meat. The shop which doesn’t have milk is across the street,’

                Liked by 2 people

                • That probably is part of it, but another part seems to be their religious views. I’ve had more than one friend tell me that they aren’t worried, for their god will take care of it all, the he has it under control. Not to knock anyone’s religious beliefs, but this seems a bit … Pollyana-ish, for lack of a better word. If we are in the forest and an angry black bear comes to our campsite, do we close our eyes and pretend not to see, hoping that god will calm the bear and send him packing, or do we get up and try to get the heck out of dodge before the bear charges?

                  Yeah, if today is bad enough, all the more reason to worry about tomorrow, yes? The one about the meat market that’s out of meat … and the milk shop out of milk … uh-oh … better stock up on peanut butter and canned veggies!!!

                  Liked by 1 person

                  • Yeah
’bout that guys. Let’s weight in on the heavy stuff
..
                    Matthew 26: Verses 36-43

                    36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”
                    37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
                    38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
                    39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
                    40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?
                    41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
                    42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
                    43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

                    Right
Aside from the fact that devoted followers keep nodding off.
                    Jesus
Son of God for the records
He knows what is coming, and starts to give into his human side, a faint hope he can get out of this by appealing to His Father, then being Jesus Our Christ knows it cannot be so. The Plan must be.
                    Yes God had a plan.

                    To sit back and reckon ‘It’ll be alright. God has a plan. Not my problem,’ is to fall into the trap of assuming that Jesus Christ sat in the Garden of Gethsemane in the frame of mind that ‘Yes, it’ll be a bit rough, but it will work out fine. Why worry,’ which as you will see was not the case.
                    Nope, if you are going to sign up to The Plan, you had best make sure you know what The Plan is and go into Eye Widen Open, you will have a part to play and it is not going to be Sunshine and Lollipops all the way.
                    (And that’s before we get into the areas of Doubt, Crisis of Faith etc, etc).
                    Simple, it’s not.

                    Liked by 1 person

  9. Good rant, Jill, but…
    If “we,” meaning all good people around the world, cannot talk sense into all the people around the world, and especially those in the USA, that it is in their favour to vote against Republicans/Conservatives, then this stupidity is going to continue. Maybe it is time for We the People to take over the media giants and give reporters/journalists the freedom to tell the truth. To own the media is to control the conscious of the people — I cannot remember who said that. The Right Wing presently controls the media, so a lot of what we see, hear, and read is sheer rubbish. But still there are those who believe it…

    Liked by 2 people

    • Sigh. I know, rg … as Hugh used to tell me, I’m spitting in the wind. But, I try to warn those who will listen. So, how do you propose “We the People” take over the media? Easier said than done. It’s funny, but you say the right wing owns the media, while conservatives claim it is run by the left! Actually, both are true … the right own the likes of Fox, OAN, and NewsMax, while the right ‘own’ MSNBC and to an extent, CNN, though since Chris Licht took over CNN it is shifting in perspective. Outlets like The Washington Post and the New York Times are supposedly unbiased, but do tend to lean to the left of center.

      Liked by 1 person

      • They “lean” to the left, but I am betting that is by design. I truly have no idea who owns anything, but these days huge consortiums seem to own almost everything. I am an unnaturally suspicious person. I don’t trust anyone with wealth. If there is a buck to be made, they want to make $500. There is money in portraying a media outlet to be left-leaning while controlling how left they lean, and how much bad right wing news they want to allow.
        If I am wrong, please don’t sue me. But I lean to the side of caution. I need to know more.

        Liked by 2 people

        • You’re quite right … every news outlet, be it print or television, is in it to make a profit. These days, with the Internet, profit from print media has largely tanked and they do what they see fit to overcome that. As the old saying in the business goes, “If it bleeds, it leads”, so every outlet leans toward sensationalism to keep their audience interested. Sigh.

          Liked by 1 person

  10. Whewn it comes to the next elections I hope people remember rhis draft proposal and refuse to elect anyone who signed it.I don’ suppose that’s liable to happen unless the young new voters step upp to the plate and refuse to ust vote along he ssame lines that grandpappy always did. Cwtch

    Liked by 2 people

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