Hoot of the Day: People believe Jordan can force legislation when he struggles to get elected. 
Negative Progress
22 Republicans vote against Jim Jordan for House Speaker, up from 20 on Monday. Here is the Second Round GOP Math Scorecard for Jordan: 20+4-2=22
In the second round, Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) was opposed by all Democrats and 22 Republicans. That’s two more net GOP defectors than Tuesday – he lost four but picked up two. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R., Ind.) joined Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R., Calif.) in flipping for Jordan. Also, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R., Fla.) was absent Tuesday but voted for Jordan on Wednesday.
Here’s the list of Jordan opponents: Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Ken Buck of Colorado, Vern Buchanan of Florida, Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, Anthony D’Esposito of New York, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Jake Ellzey of Texas, Drew Ferguson of Georgia , Andrew Garbarino of New York, Carlos Gimenez of Florida, Tony Gonzales of Texas, Kay Granger of Texas, John James of Michigan, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Jennifer Kiggans of Virginia, Nick LaLota, Michael Lawler of New York, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, John Rutherford of Florida, Michael Simpson of Idaho, Pete Stauber of Minnesota, Steve Womack of Arkansas.
Only Takes 5
It only takes five to block Jordan and the total is now up to 22.
I fail to see a path for Jordan and for the good of the party he ought to pull his name.
What has Jordan ever done? Critics say nothing. That’s not quite accurate but it’s close.
Claims Rep. Jim Jordan Has Never Passed a Law Need Context
Verify comments Claims Rep. Jim Jordan Has Never Passed a Law Need Context
Jordan is a polarizing member within the GOP thanks to his continued questioning of the 2020 election results, his refusal to comply with Congressional subpoenas, and his reputation as an obstructionist.
Former Speaker of the House John Boehner, a fellow Ohio Republican, once called Jordan a “legislative terrorist” for his tendencies to blow up deals.
As Jordan’s campaign for the speakership materialized, so did more specific accusations about his ineffectiveness as a lawmaker.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called Jordan “a nominee who in 16 years in this Congress hasn’t passed a single bill.”
According to the congressional database, in the nearly two decades he’s served, Jordan has been the primary sponsor on 53 pieces of legislation. None have ever become law.
The vast majority of legislation introduced by Jordan did not make it as far as a committee hearing.
However, Jordan has signed on as cosponsor to several bills that eventually became law. Cosponsorship sometimes means the member is actively involved in the proposal’s composition, but it could also simply represent a quick show of support for a proposal brought forth by another member. Some bills have hundreds of cosponsors.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint project of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, assigns ratings to members of Congress based on how far bills they sponsor get and how substantial those bills are.
In the current Congress, only four members have a lower effectiveness score than Jordan. Six others have the same rating he does. Jordan has consistently rated near the bottom, meaning he has proposed little meaningful legislation in comparison to his colleagues, and the legislation he has proposed has had little relative success.
Something or Nothing?
Some would argue that it is better to do nothing than the wrong thing.
That’s true. However, it is also better to get something than nothing.
McCarthy agreed to shoot for some of the things the gang of eight who ousted him wanted. But the gang of eight decided nothing was better than something.
Hoot of the Day
The idea that Jordan can get legislation through Congress given his pathetic track record is more than a bit laughable.
Refusal to Deal
Political Reality: When you totally refuse to deal, you are at the mercy of those who will.
Jordan is a failure. If you insist, it’s a principled failure.
But who is the winner? The answer in this case is the Democrats.
To repeat for the third time, the idea that 8 people can change agenda is a total joke. There are too many people willing to compromise.
Political Hardball
Matt Gaetz took away McCarthy’s ball and bat and kicked him way out to the bleachers to watch. There was no plan for the aftermath. Many in Congress deeply resent that.
Now the role has switched. An even bigger force has booted Jordan to the bleachers as well. This time it isn’t a gang of 8. It’s a far more respectable gang of 22.
Someone will be elected who will compromise. It’s highly likely the gang of 8 would have gotten better results from McCarthy than whoever the next speaker might be.
Political Reality
Hardball backfires unless there is sufficient political support to force things through. In this case, failure was easy to predict in advance.
8 vs 213 will never achieve anything by hardball, only by compromise. That holds true even if Jordan somehow becomes Speaker.
Jim Jordan Falls 17 Votes Short for House Speaker in Round One
For further discussion of the political realities, please see Jim Jordan Falls 17 Votes Short for House Speaker in Round One
Will Jordan Eventually Carry the Day?
I suspect there are a few firm “no” positions and just two more would suffice.
Previously, Jordan has not backed more money for Ukraine. Now he is for it.
Regardless of your position, expect a hell of a lot more compromises like that from Jordan if he becomes Speaker. Otherwise, it will be an endless stream of continuing resolutions and “temporary” budgets.
Jordan has said that he would try to pass another continuing resolution, this one stretching through mid-April.
What a hoot. We could easily see continuing resolutions all the way to the next election. And we will if Jordan holds out for too much, assuming he becomes Speaker in the first place.
Major Irony
By the way, there’s a major irony in play. I have people telling me that 8 can force change. The irony is it only takes 5 to prevent that!
No One Will Fix This
“Compromise is always more spending for this in return for more spending on that.”
“Neither party will fix the deficits. Neither party will do anything about mounting debt. No one will do anything about anything because the political system is totally broken.” Mish
For discussion, please see Debt to GDP Alarm Bells Ring, Neither Party Will Solve This
Biden can’t win unless Republicans help.
Unfortunately, Republicans are fighting each other instead of focusing on Biden’s hugely inflationary energy policy and regulatory madness.
There’s also a border crisis to deal with.
This infighting is despite the fact it has a zero percent chance of accomplishing anything at all.
Gym is inept, some GOPers see that as a plus and so do the Dems – just for different reasons.
Washington DC is a city that runs on kickbacks, campaign contributions, no-work consulting contracts, and lucrative “book deals” with royalty advances bigger than any actual author would get.
This speaker battle is between the “old guard” politicians and bureaucrats, who see their cushy lifestyles running face first into insolvency and angry citizens — versus idealistic new-comers who think the corruption and insolvency can be fixed if we just work together.
Government spending has grown MUCH faster than the tax base (private sector economy) that used to fund it. If a tumor grows faster than its host, the host dies and the tumor dies with it.
For all that spending, our infrastructure is collapsing. Schools are a bad joke. the US health system is collapsing faster than a family farm, while the corn syrup business is growing faster than Oprah’s spokesperson paycheck from weight watchers. The military was just defeated in Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan – and its looking really bad for the Pentagon in Ukraine. Back home, cities are dominated by homeless, drug addicts, and illegal aliens.
Consider all the big spending programs from the last 50 years:
* LBJ’s war on poverty? The welfare department payroll grew gangbusters. Homeless camps grew. Food stamps were given new branding.
* The war on inflation? They called time out while Volcker was at the Fed, and a lot of inflation got re-directed into house prices and stock prices … but inflation never went away
* The war on drugs? The politicians want to legalize drugs so they can tax them (but DEA employees will be given raises). Pablo Escobar and MS-13 made a lot of money off Uncle Sam’s “war on drugs”, but they didn’t pay enough kickbacks to Washington DC.
* The health care wars on cancer, AIDs, obesity, heart disease? Loss, loss loss, and loss. Of course, the profits of tobacco companies were nationalized but you can still buy cigarettes. Pharmaceuticals are funding campaigns and advertising budgets like the tobacco companies of yester-year. Follow the money
* the war against tyrannical governments? The TSA and FCC won’t allow us to ask how this is going, and they have hired silicon valley techies to monitor anyone who talks about freedom. Edward Snowden remains a fugitive, while the bureaucrats who illegally spied on US citizens are collecting taxpayer pensions.
* the war on terror? Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya did not go our way. But at least the Israeli / Palestinian thing is go… oh wait, never mind
All these “war on …” have been EXTREMELY profitable for the folks in Washington DC, without accomplishing anything for ordinary taxpayers.
When there is a government shut down, benefits to the public are shut but payments to public employees are not. That’s bi-partisan “consensus”.
I don’t know why Mish spent so much time talking about democrats versus republicans? Who cares? Is there really any difference? Does it matter if we are robbed and plundered by someone with a D or R next to their name?
If Jordan gets elected house speaker, or McCarthy or Scalise or Pelosi or Jefferies or whatever other crime boss … it matters a lot ***to them*** because the political leaders get to decide how to divide the spoils of their crimes. It doesn’t matter to ordinary citizens.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, seated center (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
PHOTOGRAPHER: THE ASSOCIATED PRESSRep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, seated center (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans rejected Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker on a first ballot Tuesday, as an unexpectedly numerous 20 holdouts denied the hard-charging ally of Donald Trump the GOP majority needed to seize the gavel.
Mish, slightly, but not totally off topic.
I am willing to bet that others like me harbor a similar question:
Do you believe in the (political system) as it resides in the US?
If so then why? If not then what is wrong with it. For that matter, what is right with it, and what needs fixing and how?
This certainly would go a long way in clarifying a lot of your posts. Not saying that you are a bad writer. I do not follow bad writers since 2009. That’d make me a moron, now wouldn’t it?
I’ve been reading your column for more than a decade, have never made a rude comment, nor plan on it, but I have to ask this question because your position on this general topic – when thatching together your poo pourri of articles is about as clear as mud. Please, no offense meant.
Would you be so kind as to address this inquiry please?
Warm Regards,
Morpheus.
I am a Libertarian. I support free trade, limited government, and mind your own business social policies, and a sound currency. If two guys want to get married it’s not my business. But I hate the Woke policies, and the spending. Republicans are hypocrites, always demanding more and more military spending. The nut cases want to bomb Iran. I want to mind our own business not start another Vietnam or Afghanistan.
Almost no one speaks for Libertarians. There may be a handful if that in Congress. My recent posts might seem confusing because they are pragmatic. I would rather have some gain than nothing.
All this RINO bs is just that. Trump is a RINO. He wanted the big fiscal stimulus plan that Biden got. Biden will kill the US with inflation.
I am not an anarchist. Backing Jordan is backing anarchy.
I seriously do not know how to fix this mess. Well, actually I do, but it will never pass.
I agree that Trump is a RINO at best. A trojan horse at the very worst.
But I also think that DC needs an enema in the worst-possible manner and only utter, total chaos – for a time – will suffice.
I have no faith in our reps, but I do have faith in their ability to wage war among factions, and they just might be enough to snap even more dumbed-down Murcan’s out of their slumbers.
We have too many laws on the books as it is. I fail to see how Jordan wanting to peel that back substantially is “anarchy”. Sadly though, if Jordan is the best that we have then we’re already too deep in the hock to save ourselves.
If Trump is nothing else, he is the ultimate disruptor. An outsider who has probably exposed (directly and indirectly) more corruption and fraud in our government than all good people before him combined.
Libertarian here too, so naturally I agree with most of that. But placing Trump in the same group as McConnell, McCain, the Bushes, or any of the other establishment uniparty members is farfetched.
Gay guys are the most creative. They have sex, and they don’t even use a lady!
If this keeps them from printing another $100 billion out of thin air to give to Ukraine and Israel, then I would keep the Speakership open forever.
Those in D.C. are nothing but parasites and tools for the globalists, and for the good of the country – we are better off if they do nothing.
Aren’t there more candidate that are acceptable for moderate Republicans ?
Matt was the trigger. Hakkeem the regime change ousted McC. Hakkeem blames the republican for what he is doing : chaos. In a few weeks the gov debt might suffer from “election dysfunction”.
Putting the House in session will mean about $100 billion down the Ukraine rat hole. Rs should hold the Ukraine/Israel combo bill hostage until Ukraine and Israel are preseented in two separate bills. Until then we don’t need a Speaker.
What the author fails to realize is that most republican voters don’t want any more bills, laws, or spending. So a low score on the “effectiveness scale” is a good thing.
Good thing?
Try a default as a result then then will be booted out of Congress and Democrats will unleash an inflation hell hole.
Look I want less spending but these military warmongers are all hypocrites.
We’ve had 21 government shutdowns, Mish, and none have led to “default”.
SO STOP SPREADING FUD, BRO! THAT’S BENNETH YOU!
Now granted, the further we go down this fiscal road to ruin we stumble, the more likely is that a government shutdown might become a really big deal.
But you know as well as everyone else here that, for now, the UniParty IS NOT going to let the US default on it’s debt.
Again, you’re spreading fear, uncertainty, & doubt which is a JOKE!
STOP IT!
BTW, I agree with everything you said.
A default will never happen. Certainly not for lack of selecting a speaker. They’ll do everything necessary to keep the sham that is our government going, but the less they do, the better.
Agreed! They’re not going to impeach anyone, so why not just spend the next 13 months bickering over who’s boss. And when the Dems take over the house, miraculously their side of the house will unite 100% to push through their agenda.
Ha, Ha, Ha
The Greatest Show on Earth at the Big Top in DC. Lol
Mish writes “Neither party will fix the deficits. Neither party will do anything about mounting debt. No one will do anything about anything because the political system is totally broken.”
Our form of government is broken. What might fix it? How much degree of fix can be realistically expected?
We know that Democrat party Presidents admire China’s system of top down rule. It appears that so many of the rest of our national government wants to emulate Greece or Argentina, with perennial fiscal crisis. – I have come to think that “To form a more perfect union” is a mistake, and that a lot of authority should be taken away from Washington DC.
Democrats are evil
Republicans are idiots
Never remove a leader without having someone ready to replace him
Bipartinship can isloate the small amount of crazies in the GOP. Fingers are crossed.
“This infighting is despite the fact it has a zero percent chance of accomplishing anything at all.”
No one wants to talk about this republican on republican crime & hate but someone will need to step in and deal with it.
Perhaps some dialog, workshops, counseling, and compassion can help these poor souls. How did it come to this for the republican community? How did it fall so low?
Party of corrupt and the party of stupid.
The sh*t show continues. It’s hilarious. A small number of whiners and complainers who have never accomplished anything in their lives and think that they know how to run a country, when they can’t even work together with their own team mates.
When do they start b*tching that the vote was rigged by the Dems?
This is why I don’t vote.
Better to focus on things that I have some control over. Another good day in the markets. Sold a bit more of my oil and gas stocks for big gains. Think I am up to 20% cash now; which will sit and wait for the next good looking opportunities.
Right on PapaDave. I traded some naked puts AND covered calls on TLT today. Decent premiums and will collect some dividends at the end of the month. Having a great time watching bond yields go up day by day. Some corporate bonds are at 7% and tax free munis are nearing 6% too!
Choo! Choo!
And here you are bitching about bitchers like me, I assume, for like the 20th time this year alone. If people’s bitching sets you off, then just don’t bitch about our bitching. It’s horrendously hypocritical.
You’re not going to stop me from bitching, dude! Just scroll through and soak up the once in a blue moon investment nugget from MP045. You both are smart guys when it comes to investing. Then spend the next 364 days planning what you’re going to do on “I didn’t vote today” day.
Finally, you’d have to be living under a rock to think that the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop and millions of things Google, Facebook, Twitter, et did was not election interference (aka rigging an election). Absolutely nothing else may have happened, but any SANE person knows that big tech has done everything they could to sway elections since 2016. And they will continue to do so because the UniParty lets them.
None of what big tech or the Dems are doing adds up to free & fair elections. 99% of it might be “legal” but they’re gaming the system. But that’s not something you’re concerned about, because you don’t vote. And honestly, I don’t blame you. On that we agree.
Lol! What a f*cking moron. I wasn’t even talking to you. I was talking about the politicians.
But since you brought it up. You keep doing you. Keep b*tching and be as politically crazy as you want.
I am merely pointing out, for those with the ability to grasp it, that all the political garbage that people waste their time on, is not going to improve their personal life: ever.
And I will do me. I will ignore most of the political garbage and continue to focus on what I can actually control. And be as wealthy as I can be.
In addition, I will continue to request a feature that allows me to IGNORE or BLOCK the comments of morons like you so I never have to see them again. Because it is a waste of my time to have to scroll through them.
Just shut the hell up, PapaDave, about everyone’s bitching.
This is a 1A protected forum. I get onto Mish quite hard about a couple of things. But, he doesn’t bitch about my bitching. Does it hurt his feelings? Most likely not.
You and I have butted heads before, so in case you haven’t noticed, I could care less if you think I’m a moron. Sticks & stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
Just do us all a favor and stop bitching about our bitching. Rant about something else please. But, I’ll make this promise. This will be the only time I bitch about your bitching about my bitching, OKAY?
Now more than ever, my favorite German word is Schadenfreude.
Yeah that’s the ticket GOP & Trumpism😂 ..
Almost everything about our country was better under Trump. Then COVID hit. And I’ll be the first to admit that Trump should have done a much better job with that. The fact of the matter is that the Dems USED COVID as a means of ousting Trump. Almost nothing related from COVID was done right. Within 30 days of the first surge, the CDC knew the IFR was less than 0.5%.
The overall response was massively overdone. Too much stimulus. Too much regulation: vax & mask mandates, rent, mortgage student loan relief, etc. It truly solidified corporations as having way more control over our lives than the law should allow. It created such an incredible opening for the government to do all over again what the Bush administration did after 9/11.
It literally changed EVERYTHING.
I’d say COVID was planned and orchestrated, but that would mean there are some truly evil people in control who were willing to murder hundreds of thousands of people to get their way.
What do you think the vax did to millions of people. We’ll never know the true number of vaccine injuries.
Trumpism has ruined the GOP & caused irreparable damage to U.S. as a global leader & reserve currency! BRiCs+ is not buying Trumpism or U.S. Treasuries because they are sick of the BS printing & taking it in the assets🤔💯buy PMs & AKs😳
Trumpism exposed the uniparty. And continues to do so.
boo hoo – try UNIPARTY spending by CONgress
or better yet
the TERRORISTS OF DC
They will find a Speaker that the Democrats can work with and vote him in. Matt Gaetz who, is the origin of this mess will end up selling condos in Miami somewhere. They will change that rule because it really causes problems.
What is the objection of the down voters? Do they prefer, like the rabid ZH contingent, that the GOP shut down the government? Let’s see how airports work without ATC, just for starters. Do they prefer Gym Jordan lose an unlimited number of votes? Keep failing and eventually five or more will join in electing Hakeem Jeffries.
Let’s get away from what you’re against, and start offering ideas and solutions.
They’re butt hurt that McCarthy got pushed out via a rule he agreed to.
McCarthy should have impeached Mayorkas 60 days into being speaker, but he didn’t. McCarthy made promises about forcing the Dems to submit budgets. He didn’t follow through.
McCarthy is a card carrying UniParty member. NO MATTER THE COST, Gaetz did the right thing. I’d love to see the speaker go to Jefferies just to show how freaking idiotic the GOP is. They are a punch of spoiled rotten brats.
The 8 GOP that voted McCarthy out are the only ones who get it. Everyone else is a RINO. Some will publicly lament what’s happening to Trump is a travesty and then they’ll whip of their votes to go against Jordan just because he was supportive of Trump to a certain degree over Jan 6th.
Jan 6th is going to go down as the date that this country started its slide into the abyss, and real conservatives just sat around and watched it happen. The next moment of truth will come next year. Trump will probably be the GOP nominee, with a couple of convictions against him waiting appeal. He’ll have massive support like he did in 2020 and somehow Gavin Newsom will win. Go figure people. Don’t worry. Our elections are “completely fair & free”. No cheating, no big tech involvement, etc.
Oh, and nobody will have been impeached: Mayorkas, Garland, or Biden. And yet the current administration’s political opponent will have been the target of 4 investigations while the FJB Crime family gets to skate. There will be 10M illegals who’ve run across the border with no consequences. Afghanistan, Ukraine, Hamas and God knows what else is about to happen before Biden steps down due to his inability to perform his job.
There are real dangers that lie ahead, and we have the weakest possible president ANYONE could have imagined “acting” like he’s running the show.
It’s utterly embarrassing.
Shut it down for good. It’s not working anyway.
No, they will find enough RINO’s to agree to go along, as usual, but they will have to deal away a few things to do it. I say Jordan gets the Speakership next round, or the one after that. Not enough time to play around. State what you want, give it to them, and move on…
But not before a few more RINOs out themselves to be primaried.
Somewhere some random peasant on the other side of the world is close to accidentally setting in motion events equivalent to kicking over the financial ponzi derivative monopoly game board.
Then it will be vote for the Speaker Of The Outhouse.
I love his
NOW AT LEAST NOTHING CAN GET DONE
which is better than UNIPARTY spendthrift actions
like $TRILLION for illegals wars in ukraine and now Israel
I’m fine with no speaker until say nov 2024
Matt has a job as a hair model in his future.