US Politics Mega-thread - Page 128

On April 19 2018 03:07 Plansix wrote:
Campaign finance reform.

On April 19 2018 07:26 Plansix wrote:

It is not a lot of fun for sure. The part that bothers me most is the complete lack of leadership across the board. Congress is supposed to oppose an imperial president, not protect him.

On April 19 2018 09:43 zlefin wrote:

what is your take on why the electorate doesn't vote for leadership?

Scott Pruitt Is Now Being Investigated By The House of Representatives, Senate, White House, Office of Management and Budget, Government Accountability Office, and EPA Inspector General


* The General Accountability Office has already determined that Pruitt broke laws when he installed a privacy booth at exorbitant expense; the nonpartisan investigator has also been asked to look into the raises Pruitt gave to staff using an obscure legal loophole and his purges of the EPA’s advisory boards.

* The House Oversight Committee asked Pruitt for a series of documents and witness interviews spanning many of his scandals.

* The House Energy and Commerce Committee is now “seeking information on a flood of ethics questions and lavish spending” by Pruitt.

* The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is investigating Pruitt’s use of multiple emails, and whether he evaded FOIA requests.

* The White House said it would probe Pruitt’s relationship with an energy lobbyist who gave him a special deal on his condo rent.

* The Office of Management and Budget will investigate Pruitt’s wasteful spending of $43,000 on a privacy booth.

* The EPA Office of the Inspector General is currently conducting investigations into Pruitt over (1) his possible violation of anti-lobbying laws (2) his spending on security (3) his expensive privacy booth, and (4A) his travel, a probe which it subsequently (4B) expanded (4C) twice.

On April 19 2018 08:26 zlefin wrote:

no, i've been on taped tv, but not live, which iirc already caused alot of anxiety issues. so my statement was poorly worded.

On April 19 2018 09:49 Plansix wrote:

The same take I have on on an electorate that barely shows up for mid term elections. Let people win that campaign on doing nothing and fixing nothing, you get what you vote or didn't vote for. Congress should manage itself and if it doesn't, people should vote those folks out of congress.

On April 19 2018 18:50 A3th3r wrote:


People need to vote in the candidates that they campaign for! I wish people cared more about mid-term elections. Those are the real elections that are substantial in terms of changing the status quo, not the presidential elections.

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans are plowing ahead with their plan to pass a bill out of the committee that would protect special counsel Robert Mueller, despite Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's vow not to put the measure on the Senate floor.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, put the bill on his committee's agenda for a markup Thursday, which under the panel's rules means it will it will come before the committee next week.
Grassley said that he was unconcerned about McConnell's vow that he wouldn't bring the bill to the floor, saying it was irrelevant to his committee's work.

"Obviously the views of the majority leader are important to consider, but they do not govern what happens here in the Judiciary Committee," Grassley said. "If consideration on the floor was the standard for approving a bill in committee or not, we wouldn't probably be moving any bills out of this committee."

The bill, which was co-authored by Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware and Cory Booker of New Jersey, would make it harder for President Donald Trump to fire Mueller by allowing Mueller to seek a 10-day expedited judicial review if he's dismissed.

On April 20 2018 02:24 Plansix wrote:


Source

Folks, I think the phrase "I decide what bills come to the floor" might have been a bit much for some Senate Republicans. Lord Turtle might have pushed the limit of his control on this one Or maybe the Senate republicans are tried of being told what they can and cannot debate?

On April 20 2018 02:35 Plansix wrote:
That is a terrible plan. Even if the amendments can’t be read by the committee members, the Democrats can just filibuster the bill before it reaches the floor and read the amendments.

Edit: Ok, that seems acceptable.

On April 20 2018 02:52 iamthedave wrote:


A terrible plan? Out of this administration? Never.

Still, it'll be interesting if they go over McConnell's head.

Was the Democratic leader of the house/senate as bad as this, by the way?

On April 20 2018 03:17 Plansix wrote:
People didn’t like Harry Reid for a ton of reasons, but I don’t believe there were as many fights over bills coming to the floor during his 10 years as leader. His big mistake was the rule change that allowed for Judges and appointment to be confirmed with 50 votes because Republicans were holding up Obama’s nominations since like 2011 on. That shit has backfired in spectacular fashion.

On April 20 2018 03:17 Plansix wrote:
People didn’t like Harry Reid for a ton of reasons, but I don’t believe there were as many fights over bills coming to the floor during his 10 years as leader. His big mistake was the rule change that allowed for Judges and appointment to be confirmed with 50 votes because Republicans were holding up Obama’s nominations since like 2011 on. That shit has backfired in spectacular fashion.

On April 20 2018 03:20 Gorsameth wrote:
Implying that the Republicans wouldn't have changed the rule themselves if the Democrats stopped Trump's appointees.

Two of President Trump’s top legislative allies met with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein this week to press him for more documents about the conduct of law enforcement officials involved in the Russia probe and the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server, according to three people who were not authorized to speak publicly about the discussion.

Rosenstein’s meeting at his office Monday with Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) came days after Meadows, an influential Trump confidant, warned Rosenstein that he could soon face impeachment proceedings or an effort to hold him in contempt of Congress if he did not satisfy GOP demands for documents.

Trump and Meadows spoke at some point after the meeting, the three people said, but they declined to share details of the exchange.

The visit by Meadows and Jordan — leading members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus — is the latest sign of the rising tensions between Trump’s inner circle and the Justice Department. Rosenstein, a veteran prosecutor, is confronting a torrent of criticism from Republicans and an uncertain future that puts special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia probe at risk.

Two of President Trump’s top legislative allies met with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein this week to press him for more documents about the conduct of law enforcement officials involved in the Russia probe and the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server, according to three people who were not authorized to speak publicly about the discussion.

Rosenstein’s meeting at his office Monday with Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) came days after Meadows, an influential Trump confidant, warned Rosenstein that he could soon face impeachment proceedings or an effort to hold him in contempt of Congress if he did not satisfy GOP demands for documents.

Trump and Meadows spoke at some point after the meeting, the three people said, but they declined to share details of the exchange.

The visit by Meadows and Jordan — leading members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus — is the latest sign of the rising tensions between Trump’s inner circle and the Justice Department. Rosenstein, a veteran prosecutor, is confronting a torrent of criticism from Republicans and an uncertain future that puts special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia probe at risk.

Before that release, Trump sent a barrage of tweets accusing the Justice Department of “slow walking” document production and asked what the FBI and Justice officials “have to hide” on multiple fronts.

But the anger inside Trump’s orbit goes far beyond concerns about Mueller’s Russia probe and related documents and includes the Clinton investigation and memos from former FBI director James B. Comey about his interactions with Trump. On Wednesday evening, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) served notice to the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), that he intended to issue a subpoena for Comey’s memos, which have been turned over to Mueller.

Nadler, noting that the memos were part of the special counsel investigation and likely could not be handed over to Congress, accused Goodlatte of seeking to create “an excuse” to hold Rosenstein in contempt of Congress. That possible motive, he added, might give the president “the pretext he has sought to replace Mr. Rosenstein with someone willing to do his bidding and end the special counsel’s investigation.”

Earlier this year, a federal judge in Washington refused to order the public disclosure of Comey’s memos in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by media organizations. The Justice Department has said the release would interfere with Mueller’s investigation.

Many critics of Trump say congressional Republicans are, fundamentally, attempting to build a case against Rosenstein in the hopes of closing the Mueller investigation — using the battle over documents to paper over their core aim of ending a probe that has become a political and legal burden for the president. Meadows contested that suggestion in the interview Wednesday.

On April 20 2018 03:17 Plansix wrote:
People didn’t like Harry Reid for a ton of reasons, but I don’t believe there were as many fights over bills coming to the floor during his 10 years as leader. His big mistake was the rule change that allowed for Judges and appointment to be confirmed with 50 votes because Republicans were holding up Obama’s nominations since like 2011 on. That shit has backfired in spectacular fashion.