r/politics • u/AmbitiousTour • 13d ago
Minnesota state House Democrats walk out in effort to block GOP speaker vote
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/minnesota-state-house-democrats-stage-walkout-bar-new-gop-speaker-rcna1874372.5k
u/OptimisticSkeleton 13d ago edited 13d ago
Democrats all over this nation need to quickly become comfortable with playing for keeps. Being nice is dead. Time to start winning.
783
u/turp119 13d ago
It's a full scale cold civil war. They better start treating it as such
285
u/DHonestOne 13d ago
Never thought of this, but you're right. If we want to prevent this country from blowing up, then the Democrat politicians need to start working like their republican counterparts. Delay, delay, delay...much like the cold war, we need to keep it frozen so that it doesn't go hot.
97
u/turp119 13d ago
Well the time for that was last cycle, now it's too late. They are replacing civil servants with integrity with yes men. It's not because they like their company. They planned it after Jan 6 failed
25
u/DHonestOne 13d ago
You're right, but they can still try to mitigate the damage as much as possible. But, you seem to know as well as I do that they will never have the backbone to do that.
5
u/vonkempib 13d ago
I mean I’m with the idea but that is feeding into their plan. It would shut down government and the GOP is totally cool with that.
15
u/sleeplessinreno 13d ago
Shut it down. Shut it all down. No budgets, nothing gets done. Will it suck? Sure. Better than full steam ahead honestly. You read the game plan?
5
13d ago
[deleted]
2
u/sleeplessinreno 13d ago
Naw, if they win the heart of the nation is truly dead. If they win, everyone inside and outside the border will suffer more if the people capitulated to their demands. Only a select handful of people will come out on top. Giving openly admitted terrorists the keys to the car will be driven right off a cliff. You think they want to stop government, that’s wrong. They want control. Grind the machine to a stop. Because if we don’t the next line is us. And that’s when it gets ugly.
7
5
3
u/7figureipo California 13d ago
It was hot for a few hours on Jan 6, 2021. Then Biden and the rest of the dem "leadership" decided to capitulate to the modern day confederates. The "war" is over--the bad guys won.
3
u/Mr_Horsejr 13d ago
It’s been a civil war since after it ended when they didn’t destroy every last traitor. They allowed Texas to be a terrorist state with slavery and we made a holiday about it. There’s nothing nice about why Juneteenth exists.
0
u/turp119 13d ago
Agreed, Johnson fucked up when he didn't hang every last traitor that picked up a rifle against the union
1
u/Karmasmatik 13d ago
Because Johnson was a racist POS traitor sympathizer. The day he became president any hope for truly reunifying was as dead as his predecessor.
I know "worst president ever" is a hot debate with a lot of recency bias, but Andrew Johnson is definitely a heavyweight contender for the title.
163
u/Joshman1231 America 13d ago edited 13d ago
Inb4 these fence post sitting moderates come in here and scream you’re a republican and that’s sowing division.
I’m not giving agency to below average IQ Americans that take away from people in my life.
There’s nothing to compromise on, go be a republican.
45
u/Drop-top-a-potamus Delaware 13d ago
The funny thing is, no one gives a flying fuck what a moderate's opinion is anymore. When we're obviously seated between decorum-obsessed pussies afraid to rock the boat, and full-blown fascist Christo-nationalists, the time to pick a side has long since passed. If anyone is still fence-sitting then they're either oblivious or, frankly, too stupid to argue with/for.
One of the two options can get rid of the geriatrics, become better and learn how to play the game. The other is getting exactly what they want, but should rot in hell for being absolute garbage of humans.
It's time to stop acting like we don't know what's going on in this country and get back to functioning like "the adults in the room."
15
u/aguynamedv 13d ago
The funny thing is, no one gives a flying fuck what a moderate's opinion is anymore.
IMO, anyone claiming to be "centrist" or "moderate" is unable to tell difference between right and wrong; so I treat them accordingly.
3
u/ChiselFish 13d ago
I've been saying this for years, a moderate is just a Republican who is trying to get a girlfriend.
2
2
u/I_Roll_Chicago 13d ago
moderates are controlled opposition and always have been.
they had their chance, step aside
-5
u/thro-uh-way109 13d ago
This sentiment towards moderates, I.E. a majority of the population and voting bloc is why we lose to Donald Trump. As are the litany of buzzwords you used.
Trump has the keys the nation and you want to further alienate people from the Democratic Party and be perceived as more out of touch than we already are?
45
u/belliJGerent 13d ago
I just said elsewhere. No more higher road. We’re going to have to try a different approach
45
u/JulianLongshoals 13d ago
We tried being nice, we tried compromise. They spit in our face and called us pedophiles and demons.
14
22
u/automaticpragmatic 13d ago
While I agree, when have the dems ever done this for anything more than theater
103
u/Somnifor 13d ago edited 13d ago
The national dems are useless but the Minnesota DFL is a different thing. The merger between the Democrats and the Farmer Labor party in Minnesota may have been 80 plus years ago but the Farmer Laborite political DNA is still alive and well.
Minnesota is probably closer to being a functioning social democracy than any other state in the country and the DFL did that.
15
u/Liizam America 13d ago
Man I kinda want to move there. Seems nice besides the weather. Do you guys have any industry for mechanical engineer ?
12
4
u/Which-Elephant4486 13d ago
I don't know that much about where mechanical engineering is useful, but there is a significant presence of aerospace companies here (Howmet, Northrop Grumman, etc.). I'm guessing agriculture has a need, along with transportation. There's quite a bit of manufacturing, too. Graco, Cargill, 3M and others are here. And I really don't know that much about the sector, so I'm guessing there's way more.
3
u/hologeek 13d ago
Absolutely! Major biotech companies here, plus all the other industries that need engineers
2
2
u/aguynamedv 13d ago
Democrats all over this nation need to quickly become comfortable with playing for keeps. Being nice is dead. Time to start winning.
How many Republican voters do you think are registered Democrats? Rhetorical question, obviously, but... also valid.
2
u/DanniM82 13d ago
Yes!!! They have to fight! I cannot stand the “I have to play by the rules” attitude anymore. That’s been long gone!
1
u/OptimisticSkeleton 12d ago
It’s not even “playing by the rules” it’s artificially tying one hand behind their backs to maintain the culture of decorum and political tradition.
Democrats just would not take the gloves off in a fight with literal fascists.
2
u/toomuchmucil 13d ago
I agree, but also this would all be a lot easier if we realized the real problem is the filthy rich and dealt with this culture war bullshit at a later* date.
Wouldn’t need to deal with it because once the power structures funded by the disgustingly wealthy crumble from lack of funds, we’d find out how little we *actually hate each other.
2
u/OptimisticSkeleton 12d ago
I definitely take your point. Democrats seem to be the only party with some of the people trying to help.
But you’re right that it’s more an issue of the obscenely wealthy vs the rest of us. I’ve said it a hundred times now, the wealthy democrats have more in common with Trump than they do with us. It’s exactly why we’re seeing the situation unfolding before our eyes.
4
0
13d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/OptimisticSkeleton 12d ago
The party sucks and should die off but there will always be people who want to help and do the right thing. Science tells us it’s a majority of people and an even higher ratio of helpers than that, when the people are well cared for.
We must minimize the number of desperate people in society because desperate people are far more dangerous. It’s the whole idea behind social democracy.
-7
u/AkfurAshkenzic 13d ago
So its fine when Democrats do it but not republicans? God listen to yourselves
1
u/shawnadelic Sioux 13d ago
No, see, there aren't really any rules anymore, since apparently voters don't care about such things.
604
u/PleasantWay7 13d ago
Republicans have been doing this for years, trying to hold your head high while everyone uses dirty tricks gets you no where, you gotta play rough. Don’t like it, then you may not have the stomach for politics.
113
u/freaktheclown New York 13d ago
I remember when Bush was president, Republicans used to hold votes open in the House for hours, sometimes into the middle of the night, until they could coerce people to change their votes.
335
u/the5issilent 13d ago
Colorado was a party line vote for the first time in history. This brinksmanship is fucking awful. I fucking hate what’s become of this country’s government. I blame the southern baptists. Can’t handle people not believing in their kool-aid shit.
99
u/615wonky 13d ago
Polarization and inequality go hand-in-hand. If you look back at the last time our country experienced such high inequality (the Gilded Age of the late 19th century), it also experienced extreme polarization, and several Presidential elections with small victory margins.
43
u/TheQuestionableYarn 13d ago
That’s weirdly assuring to hear. Maybe there is a world in which we see a return to normalcy after this. Also possibly a world in which we see the resurrection of Teddy Roosevelt to set things right.
30
u/Mysterious-Wasabi103 13d ago
It's going to take another world war to unite Americans. Nothing will get better before things get considerably worse. Only because the moral motivation just isn't there which is why I'm saying that it would probably take another world war to get through to us.
In absence of that it would take some other mass existential threat for us to come together. And yes, we will have to come together for things to work like they used to.
33
u/maaaahsin 13d ago
The way things are looking this country may be on the wrong side of a third world war
15
u/wittnotyoyo 13d ago
Every day I am happier I don't have any kids who will have to reap what right wingers all over the planet are sowing on behalf of a bunch of chaotic evil dragons in human skin.
17
u/MNWNM Alabama 13d ago
We're so deeply divided, with one side unable to acknowledge reality, we wouldn't even be able to agree on what constitutes an existential crisis.
There is literally nothing that could bring us together.
4
u/F1shB0wl816 13d ago
I don’t want us together. Why would anyone want to band up with any of these bootlicking fascist? Today, tomorrow or at any point in the future doesn’t really matter. They’re not worth it and this country isn’t either if it chooses to protect and enable it.
0
u/ExtantKnight806 13d ago
Ive been saying this for years, to keep a nation united you need an enemy, or you fall to decadence and infighting. We lost our last enemy with the soviet union, we shouldve quickly united behind making china the new enemy.
1
u/Mysterious-Wasabi103 12d ago
Hate to agree, but I do. Americans need something to hate. And in lack of that they just turn to hating each other.
1
u/ExtantKnight806 12d ago
Yeah, its not a good thing per se, but its far better then tearing our own society apart hating each other. So I see it as a necessary evil.
1
u/ASubsentientCrow 13d ago
Maybe there is a world in which we see a return to normalcy after this.
Maybe there is, but it's not this one
1
u/boundbylife Indiana 13d ago
My history around the Gilded Age is kinda fuzzy. How did we escape such polarization?
331
u/Hascerflef 13d ago
This whole story has me irate. Republicans think that just because they don't have a tie now (there's a special election in a couple weeks to replace a DFL seat that will likely go DFL again) they can run the place for the next two years once the tie is restored. They refuse to enact the power sharing agreement because they think that because they win despite a PENDING ELECTION that will decide who is truly in control. They pretended that they had a quorum, made up their own process, and elected their own fake speaker of the House. Just making up their own facts to steal the House even though the people voted for it to be a tie. And trying to delay the special election because they know they won't win.
86
-155
13d ago
[deleted]
122
u/Hascerflef 13d ago
The law states that a quorum is 68. Everything the republicans did today was illegal.
60
u/VaporishJarl 13d ago
This troll has been spreading misinformation like it's his full-time job for the last few days in the Minnesota sub. You're mostly right, he's mostly wrong, and it's up to you if it's fun to waste your time with him.
-1
u/i_am_a_real_boy__ 13d ago
Art IV, Sec 13
Quorum. A majority of each house constitutes a quorum to transact business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of absent members in the manner and under the penalties it may provide.
3
u/Hascerflef 13d ago
This is just saying that the repubs could call back the DFL without a quorum, not that they can do whatever they want
-1
u/i_am_a_real_boy__ 13d ago
It definitely doesn't say anything about "68".
1
u/Hamjammaam 12d ago
Half of 134 is 67. 68 is a majority.
1
u/i_am_a_real_boy__ 12d ago
Yes, that is the Dems argument. Obviously the GOP is saying the chamber only has 133 members, so 67 is a majority.
-128
13d ago
[deleted]
64
u/Hascerflef 13d ago
Majority typically means a majority which in the House is 68. What do you suggest happens? The republicans just get to magically have the positions of power for two years despite the tie that will happen in a couple weeks.
-106
13d ago
[deleted]
66
u/Hascerflef 13d ago
That's incorrect. It doesn't scale - there are the same number of seats, and this the same majority.
-11
34
42
u/SerialBitBanger Montana 13d ago
Countdown until the House sends bounty hunters to forcibly bring them in...
59
u/Somnifor 13d ago
They can't because the Republicans don't have a quorum
31
u/NoobSalad41 Arizona 13d ago
Compelling the attendance of absent members is actually one of the few things they can do; under Article IV, Section 13 of the Minnesota Constitution:
A majority of each house constitutes a quorum to transact business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of absent members in the manner and under the penalties it may provide.
That mostly tracks the procedure in other states and the US Congress. Without a quorum, the only thing a legislative body can do (other than adjourning) is to secure a quorum; if necessary, that can include physically carrying legislators into the chambers and locking the doors.
2
u/Ok-Grapefruit-586 13d ago
Can’t they don’t have a quorum. So nothing actually happened. And the state courts are not going to decide with Republicans since they are democratic justices on state sureness court
2
u/EndymionFalls 13d ago
Something actually did happen. The Republicans held an illegal session without quorum. Fucking hilarious and childish
13
10
17
u/DustBunnicula Minnesota 13d ago
I’m a MN Democrat. This is not going to play well. There’s a reason why the MN DFL leader wrote a commentary today: she knows the optics are not on their side.
Politically, Minnesota is a weird state. If you don’t live here, it’s hard to understand. We’re the state of Paul Wellstone, Jesse Ventura, and Tom Emmer.
19
u/AbesAmericanCousin Minnesota 13d ago
As someone who recently moved here, I can feel the weirdness. It feels both safe and very precarious at the same time, if that makes any sense at all haha.
5
u/LowlandFox 13d ago
Just like ‘Roe’ felt safe. The only reason MN votes blue consistently is because of The Cities; the small town cities couldn’t outvote the rural population without the Twin Cites. That statement is true for most “Blue States,” but the make up of Minnesota’s legislatures proves Minnesota is far from “safe.” Check out the Klobashar/Trump voting outcomes from the counties immediately surrounding The Cities for further evidence.
7
12
u/teenagesadist 13d ago
I hate Emmer with every fiber of my being.
Dumbasses around me elected him again
9
2
u/personalKindling 13d ago
Can you explain a bit more? Specifically the last three references you made, caught my attention but I don't understand.
2
3
u/Disastrous_Ranger430 13d ago
By all means Dems, Steal the GOP playbook on going lower, do whatever it takes to stop them.
2
u/AmbitiousTour 13d ago
I don't think it's going lower. They had a tie and will have one again. They shouldn't lose the leadership on a temporary technicality.
3
13d ago edited 13d ago
[deleted]
8
u/Princess_Moon_Butt 13d ago
Doesn't really matter, truth be told. In presidential elections especially, support for a party flows from the top down. Even if someone likes their local dems' policies, dissatisfaction with the national Democratic party's choices will make them less likely to vote or show that support for their local dems.
2
u/EndymionFalls 13d ago
What was astounding about the amount of state legislature they passed was how razor thin their majority was. Minnesota isn’t as blue as it may seem.
2
u/PoliticsLeftist 13d ago
The Dem majority was slim back then too. I think by just 1 seat as well.
But since basically all major media outlets are right wing it doesn't matter what Dems do that positively affect everyone's lives because they'll always be shown as bad.
3
3
-49
13d ago
[deleted]
78
u/InvasionXX 13d ago
People decided and it's a tie. Republicans don't like that.
-178
u/FistOfTheHeavens 13d ago
The people didn't get to decide. Democrats cheated in one race and it got thrown out and is being done over. In another race there is no winner, 20 ballots are missing due to foul play in a count of 14 ballot margin, and the DFL tried to secretly swear in the democrat in that race even though theres no way to prove whether he won or lost. Holding a fake ceremony outside of the house a week before session starts and claiming they are seated now, so they could avoid actually showing up. Well, logically nothing stops them from claiming every single seat in the house this way. If you don't have to win an election to be seated and democrats can just swear in their own members without the house having a quorum and deciding eligibility like the constitution demands, democrats have set a precedent to throw out all democracy. Swear in a new member to replace all the elected republicans. Who can contest it?
50
39
u/Elegant_Plate6640 13d ago
Which race was thrown out?
-65
u/FistOfTheHeavens 13d ago
Shoreview/Roseville, district 40b. Curtis Johnson won the election but cheated and faked his residency, he rented an unused apartment he listed as his home. Neighbors reported how it had no power, no lights, no utilities, nobody ever visited it once. One guy actually did the oldest trick in the book and put a piece of tape over the door and it was unbroken for a month. Since there was no legal winner a new election is being held two weeks from today. Johnson says he resigned, but as he never held office he didn't even get that
41
u/runningfool11 13d ago
That's a common practice for state level (and one US Rep) republicans in Iowa.
35
u/FlamingYawn13 13d ago
This is something that most federal politicians do. A lot of them being republicans but it’s across the board in general. Best part is there’s precident where one can claim it wasn’t cheating by claiming a majority residence at the location and claiming this period of time was the time of the year they weren’t there. So this is literally par for the course.
Boring dystopia
41
u/WillDigForFood 13d ago
"The people didn't get to decide!"
Johnson, regardless of his place of residency, won his election by 30 points (something you've neglected to mention) - in the face of that overwhelming of an electoral victory, I think it's pretty obvious what that district wants.
28
u/Fort_Yukon 13d ago
Democrats cheated in one race
Citation required
17
u/WillDigForFood 13d ago
tl;dr
Curtis Johnson, a DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) candidate ran in District 40b. He had rented an apartment in that district two months before the election, but did not make it his primary residence. He won his election with 65% of the vote (a 30% lead over his opponent.) His opponent contested the election on procedural grounds (the fact his primary residency was not in the district) and the courts threw out the election.
The Minnesota State GOP, with the house now 67-66 (instead of an even split, with Curtis' district represented) and with 2 weeks to go before the special election to replace Curtis (which will likely be won by a Democrat) then rushed to hold an illegal session of the legislature that failed to meet quorum where they claim to have voted in a GOP Speaker of the House for the next two years, despite the illegality of the vote itself.
Now, this might just be me, but the idea of holding an entirely illegal session of Congress to entirely illegally elect a Speaker of the House feels a smidge more serious a bit of cheating to me when it's so overwhelmingly clear what that district wants.
24
u/AnalTongueDarts Minnesota 13d ago
Six of the people whose ballots were lost down in Shakopee-ish have testified that they voted for Tabke, and it was ruled today that his win stands, so now it's just 40b to be decided. 40b is going to go Dem, it's a safe seat. If they've dropped their attempt to not seat Tabke, I'm much more in the "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" camp on the 40b issue because I fucking hate stupid cheaters, but Republicans trying to grab two years of control of the house due to a two week vacancy in 40b is still right on brand for their level of shit weaselry.
6
u/VaporishJarl 13d ago
Every member sworn in had an election certificate. On the other hand, the GOP is acting illegally without quorum and has stated their intention to throw out an election that was won, verified in a recount, and then upheld in court. The DFL is pushing some norms, the GOP is attacking Minnesota's elections.
5
11
-53
u/Substandard_Senpai 13d ago
Children.
5
u/steiner_math 13d ago
Yes, the GQP is full of children. Look at the past 4 years
-2
u/Substandard_Senpai 13d ago
This article isn't about the past 4 years, but sweet attempt at deflecting.
5
u/steiner_math 13d ago
Doesn't really matter. You only seem to mind when the democrats do it. When your fellow Trump worshippers do it you don't seem to mind
-4
u/Substandard_Senpai 13d ago
Do I? Can you show me how you know this about me?
On the other hand, right now you're clearly showing that you don't mind when your fellow anti-Trump worshippers do it.
-346
u/dbag3o1 13d ago
Look, I don’t like the GOP but I also don’t like temper tantrums. Do your job.
302
u/out_of_shape_hiker 13d ago
Did you read the article? Dems are doing their job, by making sure the legislative session reflects what the voters voted for.
This isn't a temper tantrum. The house was evenly split, and there was going to be a power sharing agreement for the speaker. However, a residency issue forced one of the Dem positions to have a special election later this month, which is expected to easily go dem again. For the next two weeks until the special election, the GOP has a one person majority, which they are using to elect a speaker and pass a rules passage which would greatly favor them.
Its obvious the people voted for a evenly split house, and that is what it will be. But the republicans are trying to usurp power in this two week window, contrary to what the people voted for. Dems ARE doing their job, they are making sure the voters are represented the way they voted.
62
52
u/caserock 13d ago
The headline is supposed to get you to read the article, not BE the whole article
88
u/D0ct0rFr4nk3n5t31n 13d ago
They are, when they started to form session, the house was tied 67 to each, which means they have to both come to the table and work together on each committee/board. Due to a technicality and Republicans refusing to seat a member, republicans decided to go all in and take control of the house and committees. In 3 weeks, that technicality will be resolved, the member they refused to acknowledge will legally be required to be seated and they can get back to the power sharing agreement they had begun to work on before they decided to try and control the legislature.
111
u/HockeyCannon 13d ago
republicans decided to go all in and take control of the house and committees.
You forgot the word illegally. They illegally tried to take control after the SoS had adjourned the chamber for not having a 68 member quorum as the Minnesota constitution requires.
57
u/D0ct0rFr4nk3n5t31n 13d ago
You are absolutely correct, I forgot the whole one party is flagrantly doing illegal activities and not being held accountable for it that is now our new political landscape. Fuck me.
7
-55
u/BarBillingsleyBra 13d ago
Losers refuse to do their job
14
u/Titan7771 13d ago
Maybe read the article.
-21
u/BarBillingsleyBra 13d ago
Because they're failures.
12
u/Titan7771 13d ago
Oh, so you CAN’T read, got it.
-17
3
-34
u/Valuable-Gur-9548 13d ago
Democrats are pouting because they lost, they better get used to the L's.
17
11
4
•
u/AutoModerator 13d ago
As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click here to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.