The crackup in the House GOP has gotten so bad that some Republicans are now asking Democrats for help in electing a speaker. So far, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the current favorite among the right, hasn’t gotten anywhere close to the 217 votes he needs to secure the job.

With Republicans fractured and in need of saving, what should happen is that a few vulnerable members (such as those representing districts Joe Biden won in 2020) join Democrats in supporting Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), for the position. But that’s unlikely, because any Republicans who dare to do this would see their careers implode.

The next best thing, then, is a deal that both sides can accept. Republicans will have to offer meaningful concessions to Democrats to have any hope of getting their support for a consensus, relatively moderate GOP speaker.

At an absolute minimum, a compromise would tackle the core problem: That a few extreme members can propel the House into total meltdown, rendering it ungovernable. Several high-profile, non-MAGA Republicans, such as Reps. Mike D. Rogers (Ala.) and María Elvira Salazar (Fla.), have publicly called on Democrats to specify what they would need to throw the GOP a lifeline — and Democrats have several ideas in mind.

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I don't think Democrats have much to win by throwing Republicans a lifeline here. On the other hand, Democrats do have a whole lot to win by letting Republicans continue to show the world that they can't govern. Let them melt to the ground.

    • TheSambassador@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Isn't a lack of actual governing the Republicans goal? Sure they want to pass a bunch of hate legislation, but they're also always happy to grind the government to a halt.

      • TheHiddenCatboy@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I like what everyone else is telling you here. This isn't party over country, you concern-trolling jerk. It's a simple fact. Jim Jordan is a piece of crap and the Repubicans have been slapping Democrats in the face every chance they get. They refuse to compromise with us. They make their decisions based on what will piss us off the most. You have no right to tell us who we should vote for.

        We just need 5 Republicans to vote for Jeffries and we're out of this mess. He's a good Speaker candidate. He'll get shit done, and live up to his agreements, unlike your side (and yes, I'm assuming you're a Republican, but that's the side you're standing up for, so whatever). When he negotiates a bipartisan budget deal that includes shit neither side wants, he's going to live up to that deal, unlike your side, which wasn't satisfied with the cuts they extracted in the last negotiation and wanted more. You've proven you're not trustworthy, so why do you dare insist we compromise our principles to bail you out of a mess of your own making. We owe McCarthy jack shit because that's exactly how he treated us.

        You want our help? Then put something on the table. Take the fucking Hastert Rule of the fucking table. Power-sharing, bitches. It's time because you can't govern with Team Pepe in your ranks. Live up to your fucking agreements. And this shit better be backed by hard policy BEFORE we give you our help because we know you're a bunch of lying, back-stabbing jerks looking for your next chance to 'own the libs'. I think that hard policy will be backing a Moderate Dem as Speaker. You not willing to do that? Then fuck you, fix your problems your own damn self.

        • IHaveTwoCows@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Do you actually think he could or would read that?

          You can't educate MAGAts. You dont understand who you're dealing with.

          • TheHiddenCatboy@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            This isn't to educate the MAGAts. It's to counter their BS and propaganda. It's to keep some rando from seeing the MAGAt's thing last, and not seeing some sort of counter basically saying "This guy is shovelling bullshit." Because if you don't counter it, the moderate middle buys it, and now you have to excise it from the BS peddlers. Do you WANT MAGAts to have unfettered and unopposed opportunities to push their bullshit?

            • IHaveTwoCows@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              No, I have been calling for the repeal of the Telecommunications Act and reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. That is where MAGAts bullshit is pushed, and that is how they were created.

      • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Allowing nazis to have any power at all is bad for the country. It would be counter-productive and immoral for normal legislators to support them in any way at all.

        When a nazi is doing poorly, you do not assist them. That is suicidal behavior.

      • Cavemanfreak@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Giving Republicans lifelines every single time is how they have learned that they can behave this way. If they keep doing it it will only get even worse. Why is it that the onus is always on Democrats to compromise/fix things, and not the Republicans?

          • LilB0kChoy@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Is it? Doesn’t the Republican Party hold 221 seats in the House? Isn’t it 217 needed to vote in a new speaker for this Congress?

            The republicans shouldn’t need any help from democrats to elect a speaker and democrats should be voting against a speaker candidate who they feel would impede meaningful legislation or work against the interests of their constituents.

            My take on it is the Republican Party can’t field a realistic candidate because they are trying to please an extreme subset of the party rather than working with democrats to find a middle ground candidate.

            Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are reps from the Dem side that will refuse to vote for any nominee who is republican. I just think it’s disingenuous to accuse the minority party as a whole of practicing party over country when the majority party voted out their previous pick for speaker for working with the other party.

            Edit:spelling, because I don’t proof read until after I post.

            • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              Is it? Doesn’t the Republican Party hold 221 seats in the House? Isn’t it 217 needed to vote in a new speaker for this Congress?

              It is - because the GOP can't get their shit together and Democrats don't want to work with them because it's advantageous to them to watch the GOP crash and burn. But the rest of us are stuck with a worsening credit rating because nobody trusts our government to do shit anymore.

              I'd like to see them cut a deal that gets some concessions with moderate Republicans. Maybe a group of moderates from both side who can hash out a budget? That sort of thing. it maybe what they're trying to do - they wouldn't advertise it unless it was likely to work. But we should want the parties working together. That's how things are supposed to work.

          • Dem Bosain@midwest.social
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            1 year ago

            Perhaps, just like every other election in the US, the person with the most votes should win. Then I'll bet Republicans could find their asses.