In case you had any delusions that the new majority in the US House would offer up good governance, please note:
– Returning Congress representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar have been seated on Committees by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, after being removed in the last Congress for their inflammatory and inane remarks. When I think of Greene and Gosar, the words reasonable and collaborative are not top of mind.
– New Congressman George Santos, the one with the highly fabricated resume, will be seated on two Committees by Speaker McCarthy. Instead of advocating for his being censured or even removed, Santos gets two Committee assignments. I guess the Speaker holds lying in higher regard than most people. Either that or he needed his vote to remain Speaker and will put up with anything.
– Numerous bills have been proposed to restrict voting. As an independent voter, the greater problem in America is not enough people voting. So, these bills are the opposite of what is needed, in my simple view. It is highly disappointing that people have been led to believe that there is a huge voter fraud problem. There is not. Yet Republicans seized on this issue because the former president has too shallow an ego to admit he lost and they must have cheated him.
I have stayed away from a key policy difference which is how to go about reducing first our deficit and debt. Once again, the Republicans have pretended to care about the deficit when not in the White House by trying to alter our credit limit not our pocketbook cash flow. The expenditures have already been made, so we need more money and less outflow. The last time our debt limit was held hostage by Senator Ted Cruz, he would later go on to vote for a tax reduction to increase the debt by about $2 trillion, so he obviously did not care that much about it.
I have called the Speaker again to share my disappointment with the three committee assignments. We need serious-minded people to discuss our issues and possible solutions in a serious manner. These three folks have not shown an ability to do that. As for the voting restrictions, if you have to manage turn out to win, then maybe it is your message.
musingsofanoldfart 
“Serious” is the key word. It is hard to imagine that the current clown show has any serious interest in the governing process
Agreed. I used the term with Vic they chose to be a caucus of irrelevance. Keith
VJ is correct, as are you, of course. But did we expect anything else?
Thanks Vic. I hoped for the best and planned for the worst. After multiple failures to win the speaker role, I was hopeful McCarthy would have made a deal with the Democrats rather than barter with the extremists in his own party. I think opportunity was missed to send a clear message that we are going to try and govern. Now, it is just a caucus of irrelevance. Keith
It is not a caucus of irrelevance. It is irrefutable proof that the fascists are now in complete control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Thanks for your comment. Certainly not the biggest supporters of democracy are the tail wagging this dog. Keith
Note to Readers: As I have noted before, I want our elected officials to represent the best of us not the worst. Sadly, too many err on the latter. I truly want to respect our elected officials and call them leaders, even if I disagree with many of their policy beliefs. I disagree with Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger on many things, but I respect their political courage, eg.
Heather addressed these issues as well in her latest newsletter. Sometimes it just seems literally unbelievable that we have people in the U.S. government who are so intent upon saving their own skins that they are willing (yea, intent upon) Screwing the American People!
Nan, I would agree. If people spoke to some of these elected officials at a gathering, they would walk the other way. I would include the former president in that bunch. Remember him wandering alone after a G-21 dinner as everyone else got in groups without him. Even though he was president of the US, no one wanted to meet with him, so he wandered over to Putin’s table – truly the fly walking into the spider’s net. Keith
Indeed, it is their message, but it also speaks to the divisiveness of this nation, the lack of truly understanding governance and the results of its failure by the people, the voters who elected the ones you mentioned and others who have no intention to govern. Rather than build, they seek to destroy. This is not a game, but it seems that too many see it as such. Or they see it as a competition to remake the nation into a homogeneous one where everyone’s skin is the same colour and their religion is the same. Those things seem to matter more to some than whether we have voting rights, than whether we maintain our democratic foundations. We won’t get good governance until we wise up and vote for good people.
Just saying, but the best way to make everyone have the same colour of skin is to strongly encourage interracial couples. The most beautiful person I ever saw was part Chinese, part aboriginal North American, and part Black. From his skin tone to his hair colour to his body type, he was gorgeous to look at. And he had a good personality too. His sister looked pretty damn good too!
Rawgod, it is amazing the number of commercials that use multiracial actors. I think they appeal to many by their heritage and pleasant mien. Keith
Probably so, but … you cannot force interracial relationships. Can you imagine if we tried? Whew … talk about a violent uprising. But in theory, I agree with you, and I’ve long felt that people with darker skin are far more physically attractive than those with pink/white skin. I am lucky that I have enough Hispanic blood to give me an olive skin tone, though these days it’s paler than it once was. But … who cares about physical appearance? It’s what’s inside that matters, yes?
Of course but I ask you to imagine what it would mean for the world if everyone, I mean everyone, had a similar skin colour. Racists would have a helluva time knowing who to hate just by looking at others. So if we encouraged, not forced, interracial couples, which is slowly happening naturally anyway, it would help speed the process along. The thing is, that would widen the pool of potential mates, and even incels might not be incels anymore.
Thanks for the discussion. It funny, in my neighborhood, several brick homes are being painted a shade of white. It looks nice until the ones next to it are painted white. Then it all blends in. We do need to be different or we will become a vanilla world.
Houses and skin colour are two different things. No one hates you because your house is brown!
Thanks Rawgod. I was just about to go get some white paint.
Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
The U.S. House of Representatives is supposed to be “the people’s” branch of Congress, but today it is anything but. The goals of about half the members of the House do not align with the goal of a government that is “… of the people, by the people, for the people.” Check out what our friend Keith has to say about the House and responsible governance.
Thanks Jill for the reblog. You are the best. Keith
Awwww … thanks, Keith! You make me smile!
You missed half a dozen or more people appointed to committees that should not even be allowed in Congress after Jan. 6th, including Kevin McCarthy. They are not governers, they are government disruptors.
But it seems that is what 40% of Americans want. When they are all broke, homeless, and suffering from multiple health conditions while living in extreme environmental conditions, I hope they remember they did this to themselves…
Only, they won’t even be able to comprehend their part in their horrors. They’ll blame in on everyone but themselves.
No doubt. This was nowhere close to a complete list. And, I only mentioned one Senator whose reputation leaves a lot to be desired. Thanks, Keith
There can be no doubt that the fascists are now in control of The United States House of Representatives.
John see my comment above. Thanks again. Keith
This sad state of affairs illustrates the deals McCarthy made to keep together the ramshackled Republican presence in Congress.
It would seem the USA has to now rely on Republican descent and in-fighting if democracy is to be preserved.
Roger, McCarthy has long been an opportunist. Unfortunately he erred for his party not his country. That violates his oath in my view. Keith
I agree Keith.
It is a sad reflection on the Republican Party of years gone by.
I daresay there were faults, shortcomings and times when they embraced a grimness; all parties do.
But never, I would suggest has there been one such as this when patriotism to The USA as a whole nation has been way down the list of priorities.
McCarthy is a man of straw.
Agreed. Straw is kind.
Really pathetic AND depressing. Do they realize that they could cause massive damage no only to our economy but to the entire world? Or maybe they just don’t care.
Marilyn, it matters little as they will blame others. A key reason countries invest in the US Treasury bills, notes and bonds and lend us money is we are good on our word and pay them back. To cause us to go back on our word is poor form and harmful. It is also not very conservative. The CFO of JP Morgan Chase said the same thing yesterday. Keith
Two old and moldy guys (meaning they were my age) at the next table in a Texas Whataburger were discussing going after Nancy Pelosi with guns, pitchforks, and torches when she retires to Texas or Florida to avoid taxes. It was just crazy-old-coot talk, but it makes me think McCarthy would be doing us all a favor if he lets the House Republicans destroy themselves with their own monkey-poop politics. Maybe then rational actors will finally take control of the GOP.
Mickey, colorfully and well said. There is an old strategy that says when an opponent is busy hurting themselves don’t get in their way. Right now, the GOP is reaping what they sowed with Trump, Santos, Greene and the like. As for Pelosi, I am not a huge fan, but she is far more effective as Speaker than the last three Republican speakers and just closed out one of the more productive Congressional sessions in a while. Keith
Amen to that.