I think the key point in this debate is that the conservative wing is not in the majority position within the Republican party. The move to replace Boner had to be conducted with a secret vote if there was any hope of persuading other Republican members to join the minority conservatives.
This was not a forum that lent itself to a contest with Boner, Pelosi and some unannounced candidate. It was mentioned above that 5 votes would have led to a 2d ballot. I haven't done the numbers but think it highly unlikely the conservatives, even with a 2d ballot, could have cut deeply enough into Boner's 216 without giving Pelosi's 164 a significant advantage.
Will stipulate I am not a political expert, but I think the only way for the apparent R minority to effectively test whether it was the R majority with no risk was with the secret November election. Otherwise, you get what we have.
Again, it is too damn bad there isn't anyone in the conservative wing sophisticated enough to have accomplished that. But that doesn't mean all the conservatives are two-timing a$$holes as some of the no doubt trolls in these various threads would have us believe. (Not referring to you, RinaseaofDs)
I agree. What still hasn’t evidenced is the analysis of the midterms for the establishment types. Some of them barely won. What’s his face loses in KS if McConnell doesn’t go to general quarters and saves his ass.
If the establishment believes they have a mandate, then the midterms were a pointless exercise. What I doubt is that they will look at the midterms as a wholesale repudiation of everything DC has tried to foist on us for the last 10 years. (yes, 10 - immigration).
You want to talk about timing? Paulson’s fix for the MBS mess gave rise to an even bigger bubble, exacerbated by the FedGov’s active pogrom on middle class jobs. The reason why there is a ‘minimum wage issue’ is because what few middle class jobs existed before the MBS mess are gone, either through attrition, technology, the ACA, the EPA, immigration, or record numbers of small businesses going the way of the dinosaur. McDonalds and WalMart ARE the only folks hiring. The jobs they offer USED to be jobs that STARTED a young person’s working life.
Now, they are all that remain.
What isn’t being talked about is the OTHER bubble that’s going to pop - education:
Record borrowing to build college palaces prior to 2007, and now enrollment in four year programs are dropping. Over $1T in outstanding educational loans, and probably an equal, if not bigger number in construction loans on college campuses that were offering extremely subsidized educations for majors that offer no prospect of getting a job after graduation. WSJ yesterday talked about how campuses are quietly closing facilities and buildings and trying to consolidate their facility cores. Unions are playing hell with them trimming staff, as is tenure.
That’s going to fall in all at once, not gradually. Junior colleges and vocational schools are booming. Also not a good sign. With the voc schools, the educations they are providing in the niches they cover are so underserved that they are giving MONEY-BACK GUARANTEES - you get a job after graduation (or before) OR YOUR MONEY BACK.