It was on this date in 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, that we published our first two “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, Raul Labrador, who pretends to support Latino voters and immigration reform, but does nothing of consequence on the issue to actually make those reforms happen. Less than nothing, really, when you consider he also has defended some of the more racist and xenophobic remarks of Iowa Congressman Steve King. Labrador also whipped up sentiment against Hillary Clinton, particularly by spreading conspiracies about the Benghazi investigation. As numerous reports from investigators surfaced to indicate the GOP were trying to direct the investigators to harangue Sec. Clinton specifically, Labrador denied any and all partisan bias the Republicans in the House Oversight Committee had. Labrador also isn’t above throwing out red meat to Republican voters, like the time he spoke at CPAC and made a Birther joke, saying he was “born in Puerto Rico, is an American citizen AND HAS THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE TO PROVE IT”. Labrador has consistently moved to defund Planned Parenthood, and long before the Center for Medical Progress released their bogus “sting” video to whip up outrage, Labrador was claiming that Planned Parenthood’s “main business” was abortion (when it’s less than 3% of their actual budget). Rep. Labrador has appeared publicly with ACT! for America, an anti-Muslim group, at rallies where Islamophobia has been whipped up to the point of warning of Sharia Law takeovers, has made it a point to remind people on social media that Sept. 11th is also a time to “Remember Benghazi, too”, and after voting for the 2013 Government Shutdown, then voting to not reopen the government, telling the astounding lie that the Republicans “never asked for a full repeal of Obamacare”. Labrador has argued against the minimum wage during the greatest era of income inequality our country has seen in almost a century, arguing that if people feel like they aren’t being paid enough, they should “apply for a manager’s job instead”. He is, in short, awful.
Raul Labrador was re-elected in 2016 with 68% of his vote, leaving him to return to Washington and do things like this:
- February 16th, 2017: Labrador votes for HJR 69, to make it legal for hunters on wildlife reserves to kill several species of hibernating bears or wolves while they’re sleeping. Because… well, the logic really isn’t there as to why, it’s just awful.
- March 16th, 2017: Raul Labrador votes for HR 1181, which would allow veterans deemed mentally incompetent to continue to own firearms, and not have them taken away without a judge’s written order. We feel safer already.
- March 28th, 2017: Rep. Labrador votes for SJ Res 34, which allowed internet providers to sell the data information of their customers’ internet usage to businesses. Well, so much for privacy.
- May 4th, 2017: Labrador votes for the House GOP’s healthcare plan, that would kick roughly 24 million people off their health insurance plans, allow up to 28,000 more people to die a year, give $50,000 in tax breaks to millionaires, and would eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions which would include such medical conditions as pregnancy (current or past), postpartum depression, or prior sexual assault. Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Labrador would be allowed to keep his healthcare plan as it exists under the ACA, which would be repealed for the rest of the country. He and his Republican compatriots threw themselves a beer bash to celebrate taking away healthcare from millions and then gloated about it with Donald Trump at a White House press conference, as well.
- June 8th, 2017: Raul Labrador votes for HR 10, the GOP’s attempt to repeal Dodd-Frank financial reform, because what the country really needs is to allow the big banks to make the same mistakes that imploded the economy only a decade earlier.
- October 3rd, 2017: Labrador votes for HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would try to create an unconstitutional ban abortion at 20 weeks (even though medical science tells us fetuses do not have the capability to feel pain until 29 weeks).
- December 19th, 2017: Rep. Labrador votes for HR 1, the GOP’s $1.7 trillion tax cut to benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations permanently that coincidentally also removes the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and kicks 13 million people off their health insurance.
- February 18th, 2018: Labrador and his fellow Republicans decide that poor big businesses are suffering too much at the hands of the Americans with Disabilities Act too much, and vote for HR 620, which would strip most of the civil rights protections guaranteed by it.
And, adding to his own legacy, Raul Labrador had quite possibly one of THE WORST sound bites at what few GOP town halls that have been hosted in 2017. On March 7th, Rep. Labrador was trying to quiet an already testy group of constituents who were grilling him over his vote for Trumpcare, when he gave the positively ludicrous response that “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to healthcare!” The boos. THE BOOS that drowned him out. Good lord, that was the dumbest possible thing he could have said.
And yet… Raul Labrador thought that he should move on from serving Idaho in Congress for a fifth term, and instead, announced a run for Governor of Idaho to replace the departing Butch Otter in the governor’s mansion… three days after he embarrassed himself completely. It did not pay off, as Labrador was defeated in the Republican Primary in that race by Brad Little, the Lieutenant Governor of Idaho by 9,000 votes. He thus will be out of Congress, and any other elected office come January, and we’d like to wish him the finest “Good Riddance!” that we can muster now.
On this date in 2014, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” we looked at former Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Scott Lively, who hits particularly insane levels of anti-gay rhetoric, possibly beyond any of the many terrible examples of it we have discussed in CSGOPOTD profiles. Lively also runs Abiding Truth Ministries, which the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as an anti-gay hate group, and has said, among other inflammatory things:
- In spite of the fact that the Nazis were exterminating gays during the Holocaust, Lively wrote in his book, “The Pink Swastika”, that the Nazis running the Third Reich were all secretly gay. When confronted about those branded with pink triangles and killed in the Holocaust, Lively claims that the Nazis in power were “butch” gays, and they were trying to wipe out the “femmes”. But the Nazis’ gay agenda that would continue to threaten and menace the world. He blames gays for communism, Islam, terrorism, natural disasters, and the price of Saudi oil.
- He then, not surprisingly, plays the “victimized Christian” card and claims he’s like a Jew under Nazi oppression when he can’t make things miserable for homosexuals.
- Lively is currently still involved in a lawsuit for human rights violations committed in Uganda that he fostered, by moving for the government of that country to strip gays of their rights.
- He currently praises Vladimir Putin and the Russian government for their draconian crackdown on expressions of homosexuality.
- Lively claims that President Barack Obama is covertly gay and was once secretly married to a Pakistani man.
- Speaking of Lively’s thoughts on Barack Obama, he once claimed he was the Anti-Christ. Then he denied doing so. Then he finally admitted he did so, when a reporter played him the audio recording of Lively calling Obama the Anti-Christ.
- He claims that God blew up a Scores strip club in Springfield, MA. The fire department’s report on what started the fire, of course, disagrees, going with a ruptured gas line.
- His interpretation of the Bible is that the Great Flood happened because God was upset back then about gay marriage.
- Lively claims gay rights groups are planning on assassinating him.
For whatever reason, Lively decided to run for Governor of Massachusetts again in 2018, and proving how insane Republican voters are becoming, 36% of them voted for Scott Lively in the GOP Primary against incumbent Republican Governor Charlie Baker. Still, it remains highly unlikely that Lively will ever be elected to any office.
One Year Ago, October 16th, 2017: Raul Labrador (ID)… 2017 Update
Two Years Ago, October 16th, 2016: Raul Labrador (ID)… 2016 Update
Three Years Ago, October 16th, 2015: Raul Labrador (ID)… Original Profile
Four Years Ago, October 16th, 2014: Scott Lively (MA)