Robert Reich: Democrats should unite with moderate Republicans to elect a Speaker

[Doc Sportello]

snip

Does this mean the rest of us have to sit back and allow a tiny minority of extreme rightwing Maga House Republicans controlled by Donald Trump to hijack congressional Republicans, who in turn will hijack the entire House, and thereby hijack much of Congress?

No. There’s an alternative, and House Democrats and the few remaining “moderate” Republicans should take it: come together to make someone like Michigan’s moderate Republican Fred Upton or Ohio’s David Joyce the speaker of the House.

snip

Given that the likeliest alternative will be a Speaker Kevin McCarthy beholden to the extreme Magas, either Upton or Joyce should be elected speaker. What should Democrats ask for in return? A power-sharing agreement similar to the one agreed to in the last Senate, in which each party got the same number of seats on all committees.

The deal will enable the government to function and will simultaneously repudiate the Maga extremists. It’s a good deal for America.


_______

I agree with Robert Reich. Are repubs liars and terrible? Yes, but I think this move would be the best alternative to having MAGAts in control for the next two years and the best path to having at least a somehwat functioning government going forward.


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/05/house-democrats-moderate-republicans-unite-speaker

[Ocelot II]

1. Wouldn't the MAGA caucus block that candidate too?

[Doc Sportello]

11. Not if all Democrats and a half-dozen repubs voted for them

Think there are enough votes for that. In his deal, Democrats get equal number of committee seats an the crazies lose the concessions McCarthy gave them.

[Claustrum]

15. You are assuming republicans want to work with democrats.

It's a death nail in the republican base since TFG appeared (maybe much longer than that). They would rather negotiate with the crazy right wing rather than with democrats. Owning the libs is real.

[Marcuse]

23. If your religion is your politics then compromise is heresy.

[Tetrachloride]

2. I will disagree with R. R. on this one. If the moderate Republicans

want Dem support, Hakeem Jeffries is the top leader.

[Bluethroughu]

5. This!

[Scrivener7]

8. Of course I would most like Jeffries. But if that is not possible and we don't

follow Reich's suggestion, we will have squandered a real opportunity to prove the MAGA world is dead and to get a marginally more sane House.

The situation on the ground, the conversations going on in the cloakroom, give our guys a sense of what is possible. They will be able to sense if they can get Jeffries in, but I suspect that is not a possibility.

If it is not and there is some way for us to prevent the monkeys from taking over the cabana (hey, Recursion!) by going with a more moderate Republican, one who is not one of the monkeys, then we should absolutely do so.

[Doc Sportello]

9. That isn't going to happen

We have to deal with the reality of the situation. Jeffries would get no repub votes. Could Upton or Joyce get enough to win with Democratic support. I think so.

[rpannier]

24. Agreed

My understanding is that this idea has been floated by Republikkan members of the House

[lees1975]

26. They would need five votes, if all Democrats stick together

What it will take is for five Republicans, moderates, who realize that this display of absolute ineptitude will make it harder to win their marginal district, especially in a Presidential election year with higher Democratic turnout. Two are mentioned here, there are two districts in New York where the margins were very close, three in California and a scattering elsewhere.

It's worth a try. And I believe it would strengthen the Democrats' position and add to what I think is going to be a pretty solid victory in 2024.

[Doc Sportello]

27. Good info

Thanks. It's looking now like he may pull it off. I hope we aren't facing more insanity with McCarthy but think with all the concessions, that's what we should expect.

[rpannier]

25. Isn't going to happen

And at some point business is going to have to get done or we have a shut down
Upton is likely the best possible answer

[Jade Fox]

3. Dunno. Any compromise with the Repubs seems like it always turns out disasterously....

Give them an inch and they take forty million miles.

[Lovie777]

4. Are there any "moderate" republicans?.......

even so, their marching orders from their masters tell it's a no go.

[Bluethroughu]

6. Are there any moderate Republicans anymore, seems after the fourth vote Jefferies would have won.

[Doc Sportello]

10. Reich points out the current definition and how they worked with Democrats

That's in the article.

[Srkdqltr]

7. If the moderate Republicans haven't broken ranks by now they probably won't.

I hope I'm dead wrong.

[CincyDem]

12. He's got it backwards. Instead of asking 212 Dems to vote for a moderate republican...

...why not be asking 6 moderate republicans to vote for a "moderate" dem. I don't think HJ is a "leftie" (as the R's like to say) but he is an ideological lightening rod just by position. So get a moderate Dem - my choice is Matt Cartwright (D-PA)...representing a +11 Trump district...10 years in the House...known commodity to both D and R. He's got the street credit to draw the 6+ R votes.

Why should 212 Dems trust an R ?

Of course the odds of that happening are somewhere between slim and none (and Slim just left town).

[Diamond_Dog]

14. I agree 100% CincyDem

[EYESORE 9001]

13. I don't believe in the existence of unicorns

or moderate repuQs. Come to think of it, a unicorn could exist if geneticists were allowed to take a crack at it. Moderate repuQs? That DNA line is corrupted.

[Claustrum]

16. This is assuming republicans want to work with democrats,

which hasn't happened for a very long time. They would rather negotiate with the right wing crazies than working with democrats.

[Gore1FL]

17. It may come to this, but it has to be initiated by the GOP members.

They will need to make concessions to the Democrats for this to happen.

In the meantime, the longer they do this, the less time they will have to do real damage to the nation.

[LuvLoogie]

18. No.

Let the GOP twist in the wind. The pressure should come from the people that voted for them. The way the GOP treats people that aren't them is vile. Fuck them

[moose65]

19. They'd have to get 6 Republicans to join all the Dems

Here are the closest House races from November:

1. Colorado 3: Boebert +0.17 This was by far the closest race, but of course Boebert isn't going to vote for a Dem
2. California 13: John Duarte +0.42
3. Michigan 10: John James +0.49
4. New York 17: Mike Lawler +0.64 (defeated Maloney)
5. Iowa 3: Zach Nunn +0.69 (defeated Axne)
6. Arizona 1: Schwelkert +.088
7. New York 22: Brandon Williams +0.98

All of the above were decided by less than 1%. Then we have:

8. Arizona 6: Juan Ciscomani +1.5
9. New York 19: Marc Molinaro +1.6
10. Oregon 5: Lori Chavez-DeRemer +2
11. California 22: David Valadao +3
12. Nebraska 2: Don Bacon +3
13. Virginia 2: Jean Kiggins +3 (defeated Luria)
14. Montana 1: Ryan Zinke +3

I don't know much about any of the above. Are there 6 out of those other 13 who would cross over and vote with the Dems? I doubt it, really.

[BlueMTexpat]

20. NO! Just NO!!!

A thousand times NO!

[Martin68]

21. I think Reich's proposal is reasonable - as long as whoever is elected Speaker is willing to bring

Last edited Thu Jan 5, 2023, 06:34 PM - Edit history (1)

Democratic proposals to the floor for debate and a vote, and promises not to whip Republicans into line to obstruct all Democratic proposals. The question is, can we trust such a promise? It might be an opportunity to get the House working again as a legislative body that considers proposals on their merits rather than on a purely partisan basis, and votes for them accordingly.

Right. Sounds a bit naive, doesn't it? I just think anything that shut out the Freedom Caucus extremists and freed up moderate Republicans from operating on the basis of obstructing Democratic proposals would be good for the country.

[Doc Sportello]

22. Well said

Especially your last point. While many are enjoying the shitshow, is it good for the country in the end, or can a deal be worked out that allows Congress to function on at least a basic level. That should be the focus.