In a measure that cannot be described as anything other than an open effort to make it much more difficult for law enforcement to conduct criminal investigation and prosecution of members of congress for corruption and misuse of public funds, congressional Republicans have passed legislation that says, and I quote:
"Records created, generated, or received by the congressional office of a Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner in the performance of official duties are exclusively the personal property of the individual Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner and such Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner has control over such records." link
So after trying, abortively, to abolish the independent anti-corruption agency, Republicans now pass legislation to hinder the investigation and prosecution of corruption. How is this in any way serving the public good? Why is the Republican party so pre-occupied with protecting congressmen from prosecution for wrongdoing?
This is a wake-up call. As if the emotionally unstable preschooler-president isn't bad enough, the congressional Republicans are working hard to protect themselves from the law. This is well on its way to moving America back into the late 19th century, the age of corrupt political machines and politicians conducting themselves illegally with near impunity.
40% of America didn't vote, and another 30% voted for Trump. They get exactly what they deserve.
I feel bad for the remaining 30%, and have zero sympathy for those with buyer's remorse - their stupidity is inexcusable. link
America is showing its true colours. It always wanted to - and now it can.
It remains to be told if this is the beginning of the end of western civilization, but we can be almost certain that this is the beginning of the end of the American empire.
The Real Wizard wrote:
America is showing its true colours. It always wanted to - and now it can.
*PARTS* of America are showing their true colors. For the record, a huge and relatively organized number of us are out there fighting this terrifying insanity with every ounce of energy we have and in any way we can think of that might further the cause of The Resistance. We're exhausted, but we're not about to give up on this any time soon. Please, don't give up on us.
Rogue GOP elements insitigated these ludicrous proposals. Trump, Pence and Ryan were all against abolishing the agency.
Congressional Republicans have long complained of what they consider an overly aggressive ethics office and probes that deny them due process.
Mostly lost in the hubbub of coverage and commentary are a number of substantive concerns about how the office operated.
Brett Kappel, who practices government ethics law at the firm Akerman LLP, told PolitiFact that it’s an "overstatement" to say the office is "out of control," and he added the office has been "very successful in weeding out truly frivolous complaints."
Still, he added, the office was "inordinately and inappropriately aggressive in dealing with third-party witnesses and low-level congressional staffers."
Robert Kelner, another government ethics specialist at the law firm Covington & Burling, agreed.
"From its inception, OCE has felt constrained by its lack of subpoena power," he said. "As a result, it has acted out in various ways, subjecting witnesses and members of Congress to undue pressure, without regard to fundamental principles of due process."
Specifically, Kappel said that the office had a tendency to handle "preliminary reviews in marginal cases as if they were criminal prosecutions, demanding vast amounts of documentation from witnesses outside of Congress and trying to find some minor rules infraction by low-level congressional staffers to use as leverage to get them to flip on their bosses."
One of the biggest problems was that lawmakers and their handlers had learned how to game the system for political gain.
"Political consultants learned they could manipulate the timing of the OCE process to generate negative headlines for their clients' opponents – headlines that could then be turned into 30-second commercials – even if the OCE's recommendations were eventually rejected by the Ethics Committee or if the Ethics Committee simply failed to act on the OCE's recommendations," Kappel said.
Kappel added that it’s unclear how much value has been added by the creation of the office. He said that in its nine years of operation, the office referred approximately 60 lawmakers to the Ethics Committee for further investigation, yet only two resulted in sanctions – a censure against Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., and a reprimand against Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif. link link
The Real Wizard wrote:
It remains to be told if this is the beginning of the end of western civilization, but we can be almost certain that this is the beginning of the end of the American empire.
Yes. People thought they were voting FOR a "resurgence" in American domination, after what the perceived as a period of deline, when, in reality, in the long run, they voted for a decline in the importance of the US. This will only make things easier for China, and probably also India and Russia.
We have enjoyed a relatively long period of peace and stability in the West, characterised by Anglo-American military and economic dominance, and by the security which the European Union has created. This is set to change.
I don't mean to sound at all "patriotic" (I'm not even American, of course), but America's role as the police force of civilised Western countries was and is of great importance. The US, for better or for worse (and there was a lot of "worse" - just look at the bombing of the Serbs in 1999 with the excuse of defending the Albanians from Kosovo, or the havoc which the second Iraq war caused), was generally a force for good.
The Real Wizard wrote:
America is showing its true colours. It always wanted to - and now it can.
*PARTS* of America are showing their true colors. For the record, a huge and relatively organized number of us are out there fighting this terrifying insanity with every ounce of energy we have and in any way we can think of that might further the cause of The Resistance. We're exhausted, but we're not about to give up on this any time soon. Please, don't give up on us.
I haven't entirely, but mostly.
Unless the Democrats come out in full swing at midterms, America is done for. Four years of Republican majority, and decades of progress will be gone. America will be a third world country by then. By delegitimizing the media and beginning the process to scrap the EPA they're already half way there.
These things aren't being done by Trump alone. Not a single Republican has spoken out about anything he's doing that's so obviously an attack on western democracy.
And impeaching him isn't the answer - Pence is arguably worse, and Bannon will remain the most influential (yet unelected) man in US politics.
Costa86 wrote:
Yes. People thought they were voting FOR a "resurgence" in American domination, after what the perceived as a period of deline, when, in reality, in the long run, they voted for a decline in the importance of the US. This will only make things easier for China, and probably also India and Russia.
We have enjoyed a relatively long period of peace and stability in the West, characterised by Anglo-American military and economic dominance, and by the security which the European Union has created. This is set to change.
I don't mean to sound at all "patriotic" (I'm not even American, of course), but America's role as the police force of civilised Western countries was and is of great importance. The US, for better or for worse (and there was a lot of "worse" - just look at the bombing of the Serbs in 1999 with the excuse of defending the Albanians from Kosovo, or the havoc which the second Iraq war caused), was generally a force for good.