Posted on 01/02/2013 1:50:21 PM PST by SeekAndFind
COL Allen West. He was robbed of his seat, and he understands insider wheeling and dealing, as well as how the left thinks. We need someone with experience and a backbone.
AllahPundit is usually right on target, but he is incorrect in stating that no one can get elected Speaker without 218 votes and thus that 16 Republicans voting “present” can keep Boehner from the Speakership. The rules of the House have stated since at least 1913 (the earliest Speaker election analyzed by the Congressional Research Service in its 2011 study) that the election of Speaker requires a majority not of members, but of votes cast *for a person*. Thus, vacancies, abstentions, *and people voting “Present”* will not be included in the denominator. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30857.pdf
And this isn’t some arcane theory by the CRS; it was exactly what occurred as recently as 1997. That was the year of the attempted “coup” against Newt Gingrich, which fell apart, but around 8-10 Republicans voted “Present” in the Speaker election (plus 2 Republicans voted for RINO Jim Leach, 2 others voted for Republicans who had retired from Congress, and I assume that Newt abstained, as is customary for Speaker candidates). Due to all of those “Present” votes and abstentions, only 213 votes were required to elect a Speaker, and Newt was elected with 216 votes.
The House of Representatives for the 113th Congress will convene with at most 434 members (Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s seat will be vacant). If 16 Republicans vote “Present,” at most 418 votes will be cast for a person for Speaker, meaning that Boehner would need only 210 votes to be elected Speaker. But if 34 Republicans vote “Present,” then Pelosi or some other Democrat could be elected Speaker with the 201 Democrat votes. So voting “Present” for Speaker won’t keep Boehner from being elected Speaker, unless so many Republicans do it that a Democrat gets elected Speaker.
The only way that 16 Republicans can prevent Boehner or a Democrat from becoming Speaker would be if they voted for actual persons, not vote “Present.” And that is not going to happen. All incoming Republican members had the chance to select the party’s Speaker candidate, and they all voted for Boehner; maybe a handful will cast protest votes for Ron Paul or something (I betcha that Paultard Justin Amash of MI-03 does just that), but I don’t think it will come close to 16.
“I think ther are enough Democrats willing to go for loser Boehner”
Of course there are. He’s just one of them in the long(or short) run.
-— Anything short of that is either a.) incompetency or b.) dishonesty. -—
Or cowardice, or all of the above.
he is useful to them as has been shown
Damn Straight!!!!
If he can’t be President then he can be the speaker and reuse his platform
Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. I will pray for you, too, and thank you from my heart for your prayers. Winters just kill me...lol. I love our hot weather!
Is there a rule that says the Speaker must be a current member?
bachman, newt, issa, mcClintock, etc
I did enjoy and I replied.
:)
It will have to be two votes. The first vote will have Republicans abstaining, to deny Boehner the votes he needs for the job. But this could get interesting if enough Democrats cross the aisle to vote for him.
No Republican will dare to identify himself as challenging Boehner until after that first vote. The second vote will be where the bullet hits the bone. A heck of a lot of horse trading going on.
Importantly, and this is vital, the house does not have to choose a speaker who is a current member of congress!
That is, the Republican caucus could select Sarah Palin or Allen West (who is still in congress, but was not reelected) to be the next Speaker. This would be grand, because even if they were not elected, they would not be vulnerable to revenge by Boehner or whoever else was eventually elected.
Or, come to think of it, they could even elect Ron Paul to be Speaker. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?
Newt is the one we really need. Sadly, the GOP would have to work for their pay & nobody wants that (grrrrr)
Allen West would be good. So would Bachman.
We need Noot just as much as we need rectum cancer.
LtC Allen West for Speaker....Immediately.
Gov. Walker and LtC West, 2016.
I know he has his detractors, but 1. he was the only Speaker to get things done (balanced budget & welfare reform, to name 2- which we desperately need Again) & 2. he would turn the dummies *inside out*.
He would actually be more effective as Speaker than he would have been as president.
Man-o-man Vendome, I have been struggling to think of what they have on this guy and the more I think about it the more I think that you are spot on.
Just damn!!
Sure hope you get to feeling better onyx. Tonya got a bad cold about 3 weeks ago and I talked her into taking 4000 IU/day of D-3. In less than a week she ws completely over it. Thank the Lord! I need my wife. She cooks real good!!!
FReekin awesome damquestion if you ask me Tzimisce!
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