The people who are elected to office are a reflection of the voters. One commenter (Harry) said that "Texas legislators represent pure ignorance and greed." But to get elected, people have to tell the voters what they want to hear -- regardless of whether it is true, ethical, honest, etc. Or use racial/cultural/religious antagonism to get out the vote. The voters want to hear what they want to hear, or what Faux and Rush told them they want to hear. If a candidate was honest and told the voters the truth, he/she could not get elected in many areas. So the honest, ethical, capable people don't run for office. That leaves the field open for the hucksters, grifters, and snake oil salesmen who will get elected. Politics (republican politics in particular) have become almost synonymous with shysterism with a healthy dose of ignorance and arrogance thrown in.
This is why the federal government is going to be largely dysfunctional for the foreseeable future. The country has real problems such as the economy which is leaving many people behind, the need for infrastructure rebuilding, etc. but there will be no attempt to deal with these problems. The rich will get richer and the left behind will be farther behind. I am 70 years old and don't expect to see the democrats in charge in Washington in my lifetime. That would require a democratic president, filibuster proof democratic Senate, and democratic majority in the House. It won't happen.
8
Do not for a moment believe their reasons -- that they're losing their chairmanships and do not want to be a back bencher. Sounds good but doesn't work. They would still bring great institutional knowledge to the Congress and they would still have one vote -- one out of 435 -- to determine America's future. That's not small potatoes.
Nope. They're leaving because of the guy at the top. Instead of following a responsible course, speaking up and naming names, they shrink away.
Shabby.
7
To bad Repubs on the verge of a comfortable retirement (such as few among their constituents will ever know) didn't get elected on the basis of 'completely satisfied or your money back' sort of guarantee. They'd get taken to the cleaners!
3
"It's humbling living in a small apartment in Washington four nights a week," says Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, whose estimated net worth in 2016 was in excess of $5 million, and whose campaign committee has close to $1 million on hand.
Yes, Congressman - it's tough to be you.
8
Ah, poor Republican babies. They've spent almost all their time since the mid-80s aligning their party to hate liberals, hate diversity, hate new ideas, hate a black man as President, that they have nothing with which to govern by.
Good riddance.
9
But as strong and experienced Republicans and Republican leaders abandon the sinking ship, their novice replacements of either party will be no match for El Presidente -- thus further endangering the Republic.
2
One aspect of changes in the GOP over the past 30-40 years is that it's gone from a party of builders to a party of destroyers.
17
I am afraid we are going to lose all the decent patriotic Republicans and end up with a bunch of Bannon/Mercer/Putin/Trump zombies.
8
Republicans who vote with their party are not decent or patriotic. They are participants in a plot to make the debt big enough that we will have to roll back the New Deal. They are part of an organization that wins elections by stirring up racial and religious tensions; this organization stirs up anti-immigrant sentiment which, if it gets out of control, will lead to pressure on Hispanics and other nonwhites to leave the country by putting their lives and health in danger.
Democrats may give you higher taxes and a bossier Uncle Sam, but they dont do stuff like the above.
4
Are there any decent party republicans. I don't think so
2
Texas legislators represent pure ignorance and greed. After Harvey devastated Houston my fingers were ready to donate, then I read about their rainy day fund that they refused to spend on their constituents. I will never donate to another natural disaster ever again. Enjoy your black mold and your dufous representatives like Smith and Gohmert. How can anyone vote for a Gohmert, anyone?
13
Not even Puerto Rico?
3
If any more Republicans want to resign, I would be happy to provide them with all the pens, stationery, postage stamps, desks, chairs, and runners to the Post Office if it will help make it easier for them.
6
Please, please take DJT, Ryan, and McConnell with you! We beg you...
8
“Nobody lasts up here forever,” Mr. Gohmert said as he left the House floor on Thursday. “And if they do, they shouldn’t.”
Never thought I'd agree with Louis Gohmert. But he's right.
4
The GOP is now, and soon Congress will be, the personal property of an Immoral Narcissist who will shape it to serve his own interests, the interests of his family, and the interests of his oligarch allies.
Perhaps the only thing more spectacular than the way American democracy is disintegrating at the hands of the Immoral Narcissist is the blissful lack of awareness of most Americans about what is going on. The rise of the retrogrades, the emergence of ignorance as the new normal, and the dismantling of American values goes on as if nothing were happening. It must be witnessed to be believed.
16
Republicans are doing their darndest to hand over the House and Senate to us libs, come the 2018 midterms. But will we come up with a short, punchy message that voters can take to the polls with them? The bumper sticker approach to policy worked for Trump so well, after Bannon began managing his campaign. We need to learn from that.
6
Lamar is leaving? Good riddance. Possibly one of the worst junk science enablers in history.
19
While I sincerely hope the article predicts the future, I believe it it magical thinking. Republicans in these deeply red states would rather stick their hands in burning acid than pull the lever for a Democrat. It doesn't matter who retires in these locations....the seat will be filled by another radical.
12
That ma be so, but according to Cook the greater the disparity in retirements, the more likely seats will flip in general. It is a barometer. So if not the seats you mention, then others elsewhere. We need a strong message and a big push to GTVO.
6
Why oh why is the Times still going to Newt Gingrich for comment? His positions are as variable as the wind. Worse, he's the person who lit the fuse on the Republican demolition of Congressional norms.
32
Also the Times has over years often gone to Limbaugh for quotes on various issues, even in the same sentence as Obama to oppose him.
Newt, Rush, etc dominate policy and news media in many places. The opposition hasn't got the clout.
Example:
NYT Aug 2, 2016 -- "4 More Years: Rush Limbaugh Signs a New Radio Contract" (for hundreds of millions). Are there any comparable liberal media hosts quoted by the Times? No way.
5
we can but hope
vote out Republicans
12
If only Louie Gohmert would be among the departing. He's a disservice and an embarrassment to his East Texas constituents.
24
The state of Texas is an embarrassment to the rational people of the United States.
18
I would happily contribute to a Texas secession fund.
9
Mr. Monckton, I believe your prior comment to be amazingly accurate and erudite.
Please be aware that many Texas are working very hard to turn Texas blue, again. We did not go off on idiot runs until the mid-80s. Note that all state populations have idiots, although our current upper levels of state government in Texas certainly stand out.
9
...and good riddance.
7
What a joke -- a bad one, at that, on the American people! Lamar Smith's retirement has NOTHING to do with a grandchild on the way. He'll see the child as much as when he was in Congress. The piece of the equation that all the coverage of this issue -- from the Boehner profile in Politico to almost everything in the Post and NY Times -- is that all of this is a result of the tortured and extreme gerrymandering of all of as many districts as possible. If the Speaker thinks it's rough waters now just wait till he finds out what he gets next November. The new batch of Repubs will make Gohmert and Diane Black (what a joke!) look like geniuses. Raul Ryan won't last either and the party will have cleansed themselves of all of their wise, experienced leaders.
The Repubs only have themselves to thank for this. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Sad!
3
The GOP has been getting shaped a lot by rightwing rich dummies who make substantial donations, people like the Kochs, Adelson, etc. It's the public who needs to realize that these rightwing-supported candidates do them no good.
2
The Republicans have long since cleansed the House of all their wise leaders leaving only an experienced rabble.
2
It is gratifying, perhaps, to think of those mediocre to really stupid legislators.
right wing gravel of the past, are going home.
And Americans who've given the present congress absymally low marks
might flll the seats with reasonable democrats, or even sentient
republicans. And those who'll forstall a Trump hissy fit war.
But don't count on it. If America is the greatest nation on earth,
and we once indeed were, this planet better be looked over.
Where is the good news, except that the Trump cabinet is sneaking in
more money and the little jerks who sneak in and out are doing their
jpnd. stupidly, but doint them. Because Trump wants so much to be an
oligarch. That's all he wants. Pure power and no restraint if he
keeps on the right side of Putin. God, he longs for that.
5
They should leave since they have no solutions, no ideas and no guts. Whaaaaa they whine about failure and living in small D.C. apartments when they could be home in their McMansions with their agents getting gigs on FOX lined up. The GOPERS are going to need candidates made of sterner stuff than these primadonnas.
6
Lamar Smith must truly despise his grandchildren, given how hard he has worked to destroy their future.
30
Now THIS is real swamp cleaning. Adios.
6
Time for a much-needed House-cleaning. Vote'em out in 2018, and still more in 2020. Time for America to progress and join the 21st century, instead of staggering backward to the 18th century, as the Republicans would have it.
14
just another angle to the ongoing story of how the "republican party" is now an "after party". it ceases to exist at a national level. It was stumbling, and then the failures of 8 years of Bush 43, followed by a gasp called Palin, and finally a huckster marketing guy.
But rather than a migration to democratic positions, we are seeing the sprouting of extremist factions, claiming a republican banner.
it will take time to work itself out.... lets just hope we survive to tell the story
4
The rats are deserting what is, hopefully, a sinking ship.
15
I would have included the "hopefully," too.
3
The rats are abandoning a sinking, stinking ship. Talk about snowflakes. If they bothered to be actually constructive maybe they would not Cut and Run.
2
“It is humbling living in a small apartment in Washington four nights a week. and I seldom leave the office before late at night.” So says Mr. Smith. Well I have news for you, sir, millions of people live in small apartments 365 days a year, often with children, parents and grandparents living together. Many not only work till late at night, but also have to have more than one job to make ends meet .. if they are lucky enough to have a job. Cry me a river.
77
So, to sum up..... Many of the obstructionist Republicans are dropping out of the House because they recognize they will have a hard time overcoming a challenge from their hard-line, further right cell-mates, this after spending the last 8 years of syncopated party based inertia.
What do you wear to go with the yellow stripe that runs down your back?
12
And I must add: "It's about time!".
7
A group that was a medium low grade in the dumbest and least productive
congress ever run. Even the right wing thinks so. If we are a great
nation, the greatest, this planet better get a little cleanup and
some reasonable brains.
2
We (sometimes) must be grateful to those who take the time, raise the money, and -no matter which party- are willing to serve our Country within the confines of our Congress. It is just very sad that we now have a President who knows absolutely NOTHING about how best to serve our Country and save our Democracy. Everything is about him and ways HE can serve himself and family (and billionaire friends). Too many were chumps to have voted him into office; they are now more than chumps with their continuing support of him and HIS "ways and means".
4
bravo....keep departing until the majority is departed. there seems no way we will have any change in gun control legislation (or other vital items, i.e. health care) until republicans (and some democrats) vacate the halls of congress and the presidency.
1
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
2
Seems like plans for filling the swamp with Trumpites is in progress. Unless the Dems get serious, we may see a swamp never before encountered in American politics. Already the smell from the WH (their breeding site) is overwhelming.
7
Time for women of liberal persuasion to take control.
12
I wish I could believe that this is good news for Democrats, but people like Smith are leaving because he figures it's a good time to be sure that another just like him or worse will replace him.
4
Just because the Competitive Enterprise Institute calls itself "a libertarian think tank" doesn't mean it actually is libertarian — nor that the Times should refer to it as such.
The organization supports both tax subsidies for carbon polluters and political infringement on the work of independent scientists — positions that put it in direct conflict with the libertarian philosophy.
More accurately — and based on what little can be learned about its secretive funding — CEI is a front for fossil fuel industries and various other special interests that depend on favorable government treatment as part of their own business models.
7
The article says, "“Part of our original thinking was there is always new talent, there are always new people,” said Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker who in 1994 instituted a three-term limit for top Republican committee positions. “I don’t know that having fresh blood is necessarily a bad thing.”
Yes, we all know what great things Gingrich did for democracy - starting with the contract on America. Mr. Greed himself. One big ego.
We must have policy experienced people running our government. By the time a U.S. House member's two-year term is up they haven't managed to do much more than find the restrooms. That's how the Koch brothers and other democracy-destroying Robber Barons got ahold of OUR governments at every level. As the illustrious dictator Grover Norquist said, "We do not want anyone who thinks - we'll think for them." So here we are.
WE THE PEOPLE had better make sure we have real thinking/smart/policy-educated people working for us as elected officials unless we want the Robber Barons to turn us into a 5th/15th century fiefdom of kings and peons. I do not.
VOTE tomorrow. If you aren't sure who to vote for look up the Progressive Voter's Guide for your area and they will steer you to the most socially conscious people.
8
We can only hope that many others will leave involuntarily and these will have some sensible successors.
2
This is what Bannon has wanted; the dismantling of the 'establishment Republicans' in congress. What Bannon has never included in this deep desire to be destructive is what his long-term intended outcomes are to be. The reason I suspect is because he and the Mercers want a conservative party based on anarchy of systems writ large. They know that until they can create chaos in the 'conservative party' of the country, they will never be able to destroy the institutions they so clearly despise and distrust. Bannon's chaos appears to be effective, as these long-time conservative, many very conservative members of congress are throwing in the towel.
4
There are two reasons the Republicans cannot get their legislation to the finish line. First, they are the party of demolition and destruction, not constructive change. Second, the public does not like what they are selling on health care or taxes.
Good riddance!
13
“It is humbling living in a small apartment in Washington four nights a week,” he wrote. “And I seldom leave the office before late at night.”
Poor baby. Good God!
7
These are the same Republicans that voted to repeal Obamacare and many other immoral pieces of legislation. Stop calling them moderates. All Republicans are radical right wingers.
20
Bannon can't wait to replace them with White Supremacists.
19
These articles never stayed the obvious – that these folks were happy to have their high profile positions when all it was was PR and posturing. Sticking out rage was a great way to raise money. Now they are going to be asked to account for why they are not governing and the rats leave a sinking ship.
16
"16 terms" …. if this guy really cared about his grandchild he wouldn't be a Republican. That's the same grandchild that will swim in polluted water, be fried by the sun, have almost no education and …oh yes… be paying off the 1.5 trillion yearly debt that the new tax bill will saddle him with.
43
Quoting Gingrich and Gomert as sources is a great idea. They demoralize people who believe in smart, timely, transparent and effective government.
6
Good riddance, Smith and Hensarling, but given how thoroughly Republicans have gerrymandered the state of Texas there is little doubt that they will be replaced by people who largely share their perspectives. Or, to put that another way, the special-interest groups that got them elected should have little difficulty finding new blood to serve them in Congress.
Smith, especially, demonstrates one of the weaknesses of our system of representative government. As the chairman of a powerful committee, his work has national impact, but he only answers to the people in his district. Given the historically low voter turnout rates in Texas, that means that although he has substantial influence over legislation that affects hundreds of millions of people, there are only about 250,000 or so people that really matter to him. Where's the accountability in that?
56
And don't let the door hit your backside on the way out!
It's time for Democrats to speak up for all struggling and disadvantaged Americans strongly, not just in a few words per speech. It's time for Democrats to find candidates that truly do motivate voters. It's time for Democrats to have a program that relates to everyone who is in the bottom 90%. In other words, it's for Democrats to distance themselves from rich donors who only seek access to DC.
9
"New blood"? God alone knows what we'll end up with instead of these guys. No one in their right mind wants to be associated with Republicans just now, so the dregs will be dredged up and, no doubt, elected. After all, Republicans think Trump is great. Imagine who else they'll go for? Unless the Democrats can take some of those seats, expect an even worse, more reactionary, even farther right congress in 2019.
12
they are small men and women. good riddance.
6
These new races will be important for both the futures of the Republican and Democratic parties. Will the Democrats create serious challengers for these seats? And which Republicans will be running Trump style bombastic characters or the business as usual neo-cons?
4
The inevitable comparison to rats deserting a sinking ship comes to mind. Why diddle around with $174,000 per year when the sirens of Wall Street, or various lobbying firms, or pharmaceutical companies need help writing legislation? Because that's where the real money and real power are now.
Pity the poor fool "living in an apartment in Washington four days a week." He or she is just a foot soldier, carrying out the orders of their plutocratic and corporate masters.
36
With every Republican member who decides to leave, the House under Paul Ryan can be expected to look and act more and more frantic if not irrational in trying to defend the undefendable tax cut bill and their equally indefensible fake President.
So long as the Republicans eschew compromise they will more and more look and act like the authoritarians they claim is everyone else. This bill is the nail in the coffin for our democratic government as it shuttles ever more money into fewer and fewer hands while leaving Joe the Voter with a $1.5 trillion dollar deficit and fewer and fewer services. Our oligarchs will laugh all the way to the bank as their investment pays off.
18
Yes, and as several others have pointed out -- when it turns out the deficit has further ballooned, Republicans will then cry that we "can't afford our onerous entitlement programs". This is the Republican dream - the wealthy and corporations pay little to no taxes, and nothing at all is funded by the government with the exception of the military. No education, no health care, no environment, no safety net programs, no infrastructure. Let the peasants fend for themselves as the ruling class eats caviar in their gated communities. We deserve our fate after all, since we didn't have the fortitude to be born into a rich family.
1
When Trump encountered rough financial times he went bankrupt, multiple times. Our bankruptcy, if properly managed, would give the superrich a haircut, worldwide. They have been rigging the world economic system for years and hiding money away to avoid taxes. They hide most of it here because we are politically stable and tend to hold money sacred. I do not understand why protecting their loot should come before our own people.
A realistic threat of world instability that would reduce or wipe out their holdings might get them to behave with a bit more concern for the general welfare. On the other hand, it might inspire them to promote the worldwide emulation of Russia.
1
The rats are abandoning the S.S. Trump.
36
In the 1980s there was a major push by the Republicans in California for "term limits." Their effort, of course, was to force Democrats out of office. Democrats now hold nearly 80 percent of the seats in the legislature.
There should be term limits for all members of Congress, no matter their political party. Looking representatives serving for 17 terms, one need look no farther to understand why the Congress has no fresh, innovative ideas. It's all about their power structure, their committee chairmanships and their perks.
Here's hoping more of them retire, just like millions of Americans who are forced out of their workplace because they have "aged" or who can't get hired in the first place, but can't go to a lucrative corporate/lobbying job and do nothing there, either.
10
Voters are and should be the only term limiters. If voters want to reelect someone, they should be able to, and vice versa. Term limits benefit only the staffs and the lobbyists....not the public.
1
What is needed is not term limits, but rather voters who are willing to honestly evaluate their elected officials every time they run for reelection, and politicians who are willing to choose chairmen and other leaders on the basis of competence and vision rather than seniority. There have been congressmen who have been outstanding for long periods.
1
Mr. Chafetz didn't wait long to profit from his time in Washington. Good riddance.
30
I don't care for a number of Republicans who are retiring, but I shudder to think who will replace these Republicans.
This Trump era just keeps getting uglier and uglier.
72
Very good point.
They are becoming worse with each passing day.
They truly think that country and the people are there for the looting, and have less fear of just “going for it”.
2
Is this simply what's left of the 'sane' centrists getting out before the sky falls? Just curious. Is this country soon to be run by a collection of Judge Roy Moore clones in Congress with a slightly underdeveloped Roy Moore type at the helm?
God help us all.
17
The House is already a den on thieves of millionaires and wannabe millionaires. While Paul Ryan had been the government employment and benefits welfare dole ever since his father died when he was a teen. But Ryan has never been bravely honorable and patriotic enough to volunteer to wear an American military uniform. Nor has Ryan ever been humble humane and empathetic enough to perform any community civil rights human service.
Ryan preens and prances pretending to be a deeply intellectual policy wonk who blows off journalists who ask for details by threatening to get into the weeds and talk forever. We are still waiting. Ryan became Speaker because he is not as dumb as Republican majority leader Kevin McCarthy. A football can make a similar claim.
65
"...strong candidate for a lucrative next act in the private sector".
Congress is rapidly becoming just a stepping stone for acquiring
wealth!
Become a Congressman, do a few years fundraising, then head out the door to work for those who hold the real power in this nation... Corporate Lobbyi$t$!
18
So the Times sees fit to quote Newt Gingrich on new blood?
In on it all the way.
10
One can only hope that after Dems retake the House, the science panel will subpoena Smith and demand that he reveal the motivations behind his anti-science witch hunt. His behavior as chairman was anything but productive, and he leaves behind a legacy of suspicion, coercion, and enmity.
In their relentless quest to destroy our nation, Republicans can be pleased with the effects of Smith's attacks on science. Way to go, Republicans.
23
Bottom line here, democrats have a chance of retaking both the House and the Senate if they run the right candidates.
The right candidates are progressive populists more to the tune of Bernie than Hillary.
They don't have to give in to progressive ideas, just don't make them the number one issue. Concentrate on blue collar jobs going to slave labor countries, useless wars, Wall Street running wild etc.
The identity obsessed Hillary was wrong on all of the above. I told my Hillary fans she was courting disaster but they did not listen. It was too late for her anyway to change.
Trump successfully demagogued the issues and now we are stuck with him for up to eight yrs.
8
And if we can include the Republican representatives who won't be re-elected we may have a chance to do something to undo the damage already done to specifically our country and the world in general.
30
I imagine there will be some unpleasant karma for several of these hacks who live in states heavily impacted by climate change, healthcare, immigration, and myopic policy on guns. Guess that's what gated communities are for. Cabinet members like Tom Price didn't want private jets just because they are snobs; They just don't want to have to rub shoulders with the citizens they are screwing.
95
Wonderful news . . . unless, of course, the Democratic Party is sitting on the sidelines gloating. We need to see more from the DNC than Brazil bad mouthing the Party.
I'd like to be encouraged by fleeing Republicans but all I can arouse is a slight hopefulness.
31
May be the swamp is being cleaning up - One promise that Trump may be keeping.
5
No, the swamp isn't being cleaned. More Tea-Taliban-GOP--extreme right wing libertarians, will be recruited for those empty seats. An opportunity for Dems, but who knows if they will seize it!
2
The problem with your post is that the truly revolting swamp creatures are not leaving.
Nope, wrong, whatever your name is. The swamp is the Mafia family who took control of the WH last January. The guys that are leaving are the ones who don't think it is worthwhile to risk being on Trump's hit list. They will be replaced by lieutenants loyal to the god father.
2
Would that the Democrats had any good candidates for these seats. On the whole they don't.
7
How do you know who the Dems have for those seats?
2
How would we know? Has anyone else noticed how little press coverage there is of Democrats these days?
2
That would require Democrats to accept a big tent approach. It means a person concentrating on the economy, affordable health care, progressive taxation, a vigorous approach to ending interference in our elections and internet platforms by state actors, protecting the environment and rebuilding our third world infrastructure. A huge agenda.
But the bi-coastal identity politics crowd wants culture war litmus tests and ideological purity instead. Dems will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
1
Since Mr Trump takes the fun out of everything, I've stopped following politics, something I used to enjoy doing. Where are we now? Is it that the "center" now means slightly to the right of Ghengis Khan, and "right" means King Leopold plus Hitler plus the Trail of Tears plus the Monroe Doctrine plus Manifest Destiny plus the Middle passage-JimCrow-Apartheid-Rosewood-Tulsa...? It's hard to keep up with the reality show brought to us by the Supreme Court, Mercers and Kochs.
106
I'm on your side, Kim, but such absurd exaggeration in your comparisons takes the validity out of progressive criticism, and it gives ammunition to the right wing. We need a real 'reality show' for both sides.
I guess Donald's response would be: sarcasm!
1
They want nothing to do with THIS bunch. Who could blame them? Maybe they're smarter than they look.
10
Although it is normal in any cycle for a number of Representatives or Senators to retire, the people who are departing this year seem to share common traits. Namely, that they want the Congress to function in a bipartisan manner and they cannot abide the push to support an authoritarian president. We all see what's happening-- no decent Republican wants to be associated with what the party has become. When will Republican voters figure this out and realize that what they now vote for is not the respectable party of the past?
35
Are you kidding? Lamar Smith and Jan Hensarling are extreme partisans who never even nodded toward bipartisanship ... and never let truth or common good get in the way of partisan gain.
Don't believe me? Check out Hensarling's inquisition of Elizabeth Warren when she was Obama's nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protections Bureau or any hearing chaired by Smith. Check youtube.
9
"He wrote on Thursday that with his chairmanship ending and a new grandchild arriving, the time felt right to step aside after 16 terms." We need term limits. This is ridiculous!
65
We HAVE term limits - they're called elections.
2
This could be a big win for Americans in general. While our reality TV POTUS has promised to drain the swamp, it seems many old school Repubs have decided to leave on their own. Either way, getting fresh faces into both parties and Congressional houses is welcome. Maybe we might even see more go and the chance for term limits to be enacted.
Many career Politicians have last touch with constituents and become more focused on special interest and those who can help them keep their positions for life then addressing real issues. We need change in this country and having career politicians won't get it done.
Oh and good news if the Republicans lose enough seats in House/Senate maybe we can get rid of this troll of a POTUS who is focused more on Twitter and attaching the media, public figures and anyone who doesn't agree with him, then dealing with real issues in this country
13
Beware of Steve Bannon taking over the US Government.
65
I'd like to think this would help, but then the US voter, apparently, loves death by gunfire and/or war and legislative dysfunction. They have a strong distaste for science, laws, and fear humanity as a whole, (although people who look like them and were raised nearby might be ok.)
94
Generally likes being abused, humiliated, and played for a gool.
But most of all likes being robbed.
2
Hensarling-Smith to-do list:
1. Pass GOP ‘tax reform’ bill
2. Set up pass-through lobbying firms in DC
3. Buy bigger condo to replace small apartment
4. Enjoy tax cut
52
That just over 10% of the current Republican class is leaving ought not be something abnormal. That implies that almost 90% are staying, which means on average they are spending nearly 20 years in office. Hardly consistent with the "Citizen-Legislator" model that they claim to love.
14
Lamar Smith's exit will be a huge blow to Fake Science.
110
Yes indeed, for which we must all cheer; but let's not forget Smith's prime misachievement, the Silly Online Privacy Assault (a.k.a. the Stop Online "Piracy" Act). It offers all sorts of measures to deep-inspect internet packets, kill identity-protecting encryption, further tip the DMCA provisions to the side of the megacorps, and generally prop up the failed and dangerous "intellectual property" ideology. It would kill the internet and jobs alike, and inconvenience (and worse) users, while having no impact on Russian security breachers or copyright-infringement "pirates".
I say "offers", not "offered", because even if the bill as such is dead, the TPP (and covfefe corporate pacts that claim to be better but are based on the worst of it) continue to try to codify this vile act in various and often secret ways. Like Zombie RyanCare (which Paul of Ryan happily boasted might ride along with the covfefe-GOP tax misreform), it continues to shamble to our necks for a bite of both our safety and our liberty.
2