Good profile of Massie overall, but it's really this bit that entertained me:
He suggested that, among the roughly 220 Republicans in the House, there are 30 that are “just bad people.”
He said those 30 people were motivated by money or helping special interests. “Totally grifting, or totally owned by a corporation, that are gonna come back and be a lobbyist for Monsanto,” he said.
And then, he said, there are “30 people who wake up every day and they’re principled.”
“They want to do the right thing,” he continued. “They still believe in what they campaigned on. They’re up here trying.”
“That leaves 160 that are NPCs,” Massie said, referring to Non-Player Characters. “They are following whoever prevails. They salute the speaker. And they are onboard every day. You don’t have to worry about those votes.”
But the good news, Massie said, was that if “the 30 good guys can become predominant and capture the speakership, we get a 160 for free.”
“Thirty trying to do the right thing. Thirty trying to do the wrong thing. And 160 along for the ride,” he said, though he clarified that, among the 30 principled Republicans, most of them “get their lunch money stolen before lunch.”
If it were that balanced, wouldn’t the good guys win every once in awhile?
I feel like Massie casts people who do not follow him or are willing to cut deals that he doesn't like as the bad guys. Yes, he does cut some deals himself, but more often than not, he turns those into PR spectacles, which isn't productive when you are in the Majority.
Whether something is productive depends on your goals.
I feel like at the end of the day people elected these Members to do something.... anything.... He has served for 7 terms (14 years) and has had zero bills signed into law. He has cosponsored many, but for a lot of those, Massie is one of 50+ Members to do so, and when people cosign, all that is done is their staff signs a form. The only cosponsors that I would say mean anything are when they are origninal ones and he has only 4 bills that have been signed into law in 14 years.
Just working on this stuff that is a terrible ratio and only shows how what little things get done actually have anything to do with him. Four bills you cosponsered in 14 years isnt even one a Congress. That is being an NPC.
The four are from the 119th (current) Congress the Epstein Files H.R. 4405, From the 117th Congress H.R. 1448 PAWS for Veteran Therapy Act, the 116th Congress H.R. 299 Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, and in the 115th H.R. 4533 To designate the health care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Lexington, Kentucky, as the "Lexington VA Health Care System" and to make certain other designations.
People who vote for someone like Massie don’t want more legislation.
The better metric would be how much he prevented from passing, including how much had to be removed from bills in order to get his support.
When NYT writes a puff piece about you, you are doing something wrong
Massie is the only principled Polly I've listened to..💪
Massie is really only a Member who is effective when in the Minority. Once in the Majority, his tactics do not work. He is just someone who can cut a deal and move on to the next thing, but if he does, he immediately complains about it and casts those who worked with him in a bad light.
He should have just flipped to an Independent instead of staying an R. He could have just done what others have done and caucus with the R's but had the I next to his name.
My interactions with him haven't been exactly positive either. Hell AOC has been nicer to me in person than Massie.
When NYT endorses, you are doing something wrong
He has it figured out: