So the USA will not default on it's financial obligations...

[Ike Bana]

...congratulations to the wealthiest country on the planet that has the world's most idiotic system for managing it's debt. But we are out from under a catastrophic default...good for us.

But...how about those members of the Congress, the politicians who decided to vote no to the debt ceiling deal? Well...every one of them has their excuses. For the Republicans it's not enough cuts to social programs and not enough funding increases for the military. For the Democrats it's too many cuts to social programs and no cuts to the military. Of course these excuses are all bullshit...because the one and only issue at debt ceiling time is...NOT ALLOWING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RICHEST COUNTRY ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH DEFAULT ON PAYING IT'S DEBTS AND OBLIGATIONS. That's it...none of this other shit, none of the plethora of reasons why Bernie Sanders voted no...none of the plethora of reasons why Josh Hawley voted no...none of the stated reasons why any of them voted no is actually why they voted no.

THEY ALL, EVERY FUCKING ONE OF THEM ARE VOTE WHORES...THAT IS THE ONLY REASON WHY ANY OF THEM VOTED NO. Almost all of them voted no because the only thing that matters is the next primary season when they go to their fucking ignoramus constituents in their primarys and will remind the stupid motherfuckers how they voted no to reduce social program spending, or how they voted no to reduce military spending. I say "almost all" because the only vote whores who are sort of in the clear are the ones like Bernie, for whom it was easy to vote "no" because there were already enough votes cast to assure passage of the bill. Does that make Bernie a less guilty Democrat vote whore than Fetterman, who couldn't know for certain that the bill would pass? Fuck no...it does not.

We now know for sure who every one of these vote whores from both parties in both houses are...which ones are the ones who would put this country in default for a fucking vote in the next primary. They are...

US Senate...
Republicans:

Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming
Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana
Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama
Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas
Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana
Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana
Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah
Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming
Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky
Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska
Sen. James Risch of Idaho
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida
Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina
Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska
Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama
Sen. JD Vance of Ohio
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi

Democrats/Independents:
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts
Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont

US House...
Republicans:
Mark Alford (R-MO), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Michael Bost (R-IL), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Ken Buck (R-CO), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Kat Cammack (R-FL), John Carter (R-TX), Ben Cline (R-VA), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Mike Collins (R-GA), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Pat Fallon (R-TX), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Russell Fry (R-SC), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Bob Good (R-VA), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Michael Guest (R-MS), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Andy Harris (R-MD), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Brian Mast (R-FL), Rich McCormick (R-GA), Mary Miller (R-IL), Cory Mills (R-FL), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Barry Moore (R-AL), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Gary Palmer (R-AL), Scott Perry (R-PA), Bill Posey (R-FL), John Rose (R-TN), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Chip Roy (R-TX), George Santos (R-NY), Keith Self (R-TX), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Greg Steube (R-FL), Dale Strong (R-AL), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), William Timmons (R-SC), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Mike Waltz (R-FL), Randy Weber (R-TX), and Ryan Zinke (R-MT).

Democrats:
Nanette Barragan (D-CA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Gregorio Casar (D-TX), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Judy Chu (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Jesus Garcia (D-IL), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Daniel Goldman (D-NY), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Val Hoyle (D-OR), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), John Larson (D-CT), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Summer Lee (D-PA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Katie Porter (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Norma Torres (D-CA), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Nikema Williams (D-GA), and Frederica Wilson (D-FL).


Fuck them...vote whores every one...fuck every one of them and the horses they rode in on.

I've never trusted AOC (the alleged poor working class kid from Westchester County...my ass) as far as I could toss Chris Christie. I've taken a lot of heat for it. Not anymore...I am now vindicated. I've always appreciated Jan Schakowsky D-IL, champion of the oppressed from the north side of Chicago. Not anymore.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

...congratulations to the wealthiest country on the planet that has the world's most idiotic system for managing it's debt. But we are out from under a catastrophic default...good for us.

But...how about those members of the Congress, the politicians who decided to vote no to the debt ceiling deal?...

While I agree with your expressed sentiment, it's based upon a misunderstanding of the dynamics of voting on Capitol Hill. For many on your list, they only vote "no" after it is clear that the desired result (passage) is imminent (or already baked in behind the scenes). This enables them to posture about too little or too much being in the bill and thereby appease their base and strengthen their position in their next primary.

This dynamic is at play in most contentious votes where the ultimate result really isn't really in question. It provides a free opportunity to posture while costing nothing. Their leadership is aware of and endorses the tactic. Ro Khanna (D-CA), Progressive Caucus Deputy Whip, admitted as much in an interview the other day:

“I'm a no, but I have full confidence that the deal will pass. The President did the best he could under a hostage situation, and he and his team deserve a lot of credit. It could have been a lot worse. They have a deal that's better, frankly, than the deal that was 10 years ago. But the point is that they've increased defense spending because of the Republican extremism while cutting aid to the most vulnerable, while having student loan recipients not get continued relief, while having the Mountain View fossil fuel pipeline made permanent. That's just not something that most of us can get behind.”

It's gutless and cynical (a bit of the old "having your cake and eating it too,") but it's an everyday occurrence on Capitol Hill. On the other side of this dynamic, the bill got out of the Rules Committee for a vote on the floor (a necessary step) with the deciding vote cast by Thomas Massie (R-KY), as devoted a wingnut as there his. He could have prevented a vote on the bill, but knew it needed to pass and therefore was unable to posture like the rest of those clowns.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by finnbow

While I agree with your expressed sentiment, it's based upon a misunderstanding of the dynamics of voting on Capitol Hill. For many on your list, they only vote "no" after it is clear that the desired result (passage) is imminent (or already baked in behind the scenes). This enables them to posture about too little or too much being in the bill and thereby appease their base and strengthen their position in their next primary.

If you were to go back and check my post you would find that I had already addressed this...specifically about Bernie, who seems to think that because he knew it was going to pass even before the rollcall and that there were already enough "yea" votes already cast to pass the bill in the Senate when it came time for him to vote...that somehow makes him any less a vote whoring politician than any MAGA Republican who would have caused a default.

So...I understand the dynamics just fine. And that the "everyday occurrences on Capitol Hill" that we have because of the massively flawed Constitution we are stuck with, and the despicable political manipulations that it allows for...is why this country and it's "great democratic experiment" is on the way out.

Another example? FBI Director Wray is going to be charged with Contempt of Congress by GOP vote whores in the US House for following DOJ policy put there in large part to protect us from GOP vote whores in the US House.

This country is so fucked. I sometimes think that the only hope for civilization is benevolent despotism. It does seem to work fairly well in Singapore. Or something like the Swiss semi-democratic system, where any "states rights" type would be told to go fuck a tree.

[Dondilion]

Elon is preparing for exit to Mars where one can experiment with new forms of government.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

Elon is preparing for exit to Mars where one can experiment with new forms of government.

Elon appears to be considerably smarter than Donald and emotionally controlled enough to keep himself out of prison, so Mars would be a good place for him to be exiled.

[donquixote99]

Imagine Elron experimenting with a form of government that would ever have the power to thwart him.

(Yes, I conflated his name with that given another cult leader....)

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

Imagine Elron experimenting with a form of government that would ever have the power to thwart him.

(Yes, I conflated his name with that given another cult leader....)

You may be on to something...here on earth, Elon is given the go-ahead on brain experiments. WTF.