{"id":16340,"date":"2015-10-09T02:51:46","date_gmt":"2015-10-09T09:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=16340"},"modified":"2015-10-09T02:51:46","modified_gmt":"2015-10-09T09:51:46","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-09102015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/09\/squatchs-open-thread-09102015\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch’s Open Thread 09\/10\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today has been somewhat relaxing.  I even managed to cut the nails of my three furbabes and watched a movie for my "me time"!  Tomorrow is my busy day with physio, teaching and a few errands.  TGIF!!!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Puzzle<\/strong> — Today’s took me 3:27 (average 5:29). To do it, <\/span>click here<\/span><\/a><\/strong>. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The New Yorker<\/span><\/a><\/strong> — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has entered rehab to deal with his “struggles with nouns and verbs,” an aide to the congressman has confirmed.<\/p>\n

According to the aide, McCarthy abruptly dropped out of the race for Speaker of the House because his difficulties with those two parts of speech had “spiralled out of control.”<\/p>\n

Well McCarthy certainly did spill the Republican beans, didn't he!  And now out of the race for Speaker.  Was it the beans really?<\/span><\/p>\n

NOLA.com<\/span><\/a><\/strong> — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's surprise decision<\/a> Thursday (Oct. 8) to drop out of the race for speaker likely puts an end to Rep. Steve Scalise's run for the No. 2 House leadership post.<\/p>\n

McCarthy announced that he plans to stay on as majority leader. McCarthy, a California Republican made his announcements to a GOP caucus meeting that had been expected to vote him the members' choice to be elected speaker during a full House vote slated for Oct. 29.<\/p>\n

McCarthy said it's important the GOP caucus be "100 percent united," and that "if we're going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to do that."<\/p>\n

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said McCarthy dropped out because he didn't think he could get the 218 votes needed in the House to replace John Boehner as speaker. Issa said neither of the other candidates – Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, could, either, although McCarthy had the backing of a majority of the GOP caucus.<\/p>\n

Continue reading about these GOP follies at <\/span>NOLA.com<\/span><\/a><\/strong>.  It would seem that there is a lot of confusion and the issue of the ultra conservatives vs the conservatives is shredding the party right now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prompted by an e-mail I received, I looked into the Constitution to see who could be the next Speaker.  The Speaker need not be a sitting member of the House and "…based on tradition and practice from the earliest days of the nation, to be elected speaker a candidate must receive an absolute majority of all votes cast for individuals, i.e. excluding those who abstain. If no candidate wins such a majority, then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected." (from <\/span>Wikipedia<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Huffington Post<\/span><\/a><\/strong> — Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Thursday that the GOP's investigation into Planned Parenthood's use of federal funds hasn't turned up anything.<\/p>\n

"Did I look at the finances and have a hearing specifically as to the revenue portion and how they spend? Yes. Was there any wrongdoing? I didn't find any," he said during a Judiciary Committee hearing on the family planning provider.  …<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chaffetz said Thursday that he still supports digging into Planned Parenthood's activities, even if they're using their money appropriately.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

"I think there will continue to be investigations," he said.<\/p>\n

Read the rest at <\/span>Huffington Post<\/span><\/a><\/strong>.  Enough already!!!  How many tax payer dollars are going to be misappropriated for what in my mind, should be classified as partisan politics?  I would say the same about Benghazi and the ACA too.<\/span><\/p>\n

My Universe<\/strong> — It's Carnivale for these two energetic Bengals!<\/span><\/p>\n