United States Congress 5: Still Looking for a Spine

[Destiny]

Continued from here:

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Ted Lieu had a great response to Dmitri Nunes:

 

[Howl]

Hey, @Cartmann99, Mike Conaway might be involved in the Collins investment scam, but not in the same way as Collins.  I saw a reference to it on Twitter, and here's an article from the Dallas Morning News.

As far as I can tell, Conaway and another Republican from Houston bought stock in the biotech company at the heart of the investigation, but did not sell it.  Collins had gone around touting the biotech company as a great investment.  If they BOUGHT stock based on insider information, they're cooked.  I guess technically they could be screwed because they bought it based on insider information, and screwed because they lost money on it.  Anyway, there will be scrutiny! 

Collins and others sold their stock on insider information that a multiple sclerosis drug failed in medical trials and got out before the price of shares fell on that news. 

[Howl]

Conaway isn't mentioned, but here's a closer look at what was going on with other Republican congress critters' purchase of that stock.

Chris Collins’ Big Pump and Dump?

[Cartmann99]

Thank you, @Howl! I saw that he had bought the stock and have been impatiently waiting to see if they are going to go after him. 

On a more positive note, his Democratic challenger is in the middle of her Dairy Queen Tour where she visits with the voters of TX-11:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Excellent op-ed by Dana Milbank: "The unimpeachable integrity of the Republicans"

Spoiler

Finally , Rep. Devin Nunes has given Americans a reason to reelect Republicans.

They want to have an impeachment!

No, not that impeachment.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee told donors that “most” Republicans are on board with impeaching Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, according to a recording broadcast this week by MSNBC. They just don’t have time “right before the election.” Hence the need to retain a GOP majority.

Rosenstein must have done something truly and utterly horrible, because these guys don’t impeach just anybody. In fact, they impeach nobody. Until now they hadn’t given a moment’s thought to impeaching a single member of the Trump administration:

Not Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who, Forbes reports, has been accused by former associates of siphoning or outright stealing roughly $120 million.

Not former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, who, while in office, got a bargain condo rental from a lobbyist’s wife, used his job to find work for his wife and had taxpayers procure for him everything from a soundproof phone booth to moisturizing lotion.

Not the former national security adviser who admitted to lying to the FBI, not the former White House staff secretary accused of domestic violence, not the presidential son-in-law who had White House meetings with his family’s lenders, not the housing secretary accused of potentially helping his son’s business, not the many Cabinet secretaries who traveled for pleasure at taxpayer expense, not the former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director who bought tobacco stock while in office.

And certainly not the president, whose most recent emolument bath was poured by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince: Bookings by his highness’s entourage spurred a spike in the quarterly revenue at the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan.

What Rosenstein has done must be worse than all that, and worse than the behaviors of Michael Cohen, Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Rick Gates that inspire no curiosity among House Republican investigators.

So what grave act of corruption has finally stirred them? Well, according to impeachment articles filed last month , Rosenstein “repeatedly failed to produce documents” that House Republicans demanded as part of their ongoing effort to discredit the Russia probe and revive investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Now that is pure evil. But it gets worse! Some of the documents Rosenstein provided “were heavily and unnecessarily redacted.”

This is nigh unto treason.

Among the allegations in the impeachment articles: “The Department of Justice, under the supervision of Mr. Rosenstein, unnecessarily redacted the price of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s $70,000 conference table.”

Has there ever been a higher crime committed?

The House Republicans are ideally positioned to sit in judgment of Rosenstein because of their own unimpeachable conduct. So above reproach are they that one of their first votes after swearing in was an attempt to kill the House ethics office.

But I quibble with Nunes (Calif.) on the timing of Rosenstein’s impeachment. It must be immediate, even if it postpones confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, for one reason: House Republicans are running out of prospective impeachment managers.

Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), an obvious candidate, resigned over his use of public funds to settle a sexual-harassment lawsuit.

Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.), another ideal choice, resigned after word got out of a sexual-harassment settlement with a staffer the married congressman called his “soul mate.”

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) also can’t be of use. He resigned over allegations that he urged his mistress to seek an abortion.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) likewise won’t be available. He quit when a former aide alleged that he offered her $5 million to have his child as a surrogate.

But if Nunes acts soon against Rosenstein, he still has talented prospects to name as impeachment managers. May I suggest:

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who remains tentatively available to sit in judgment of Rosenstein, after his arrest this week on charges of insider trading. Five other House Republicans who invested in the same company but haven’t been charged are also available.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), assuming he has free time after battling allegations by seven former Ohio State wrestlers that he turned a blind eye to sexual misconduct when serving as a coach.

Others who could judge Rosenstein: Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.), who pleaded guilty to assault after body-slamming a reporter; Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), who is retiring after a naked photograph of him leaked online; and Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.), who is under investigation by the FBI over the alleged use of campaign funds for his children’s tuition, shopping trips and airfare for a pet rabbit.

Nunes himself is battling allegations that he got favorable terms on a winery investment and used political contributions to pay for basketball tickets and Las Vegas trips.

Let’s hope these trifles don’t distract him from the nation’s urgent business: impeaching Rosenstein for the high crime of redacting the price of a conference table.

 

[fraurosena]

Let’s also not forget the hypocrisy of wanting to impeach Rosenstein for not producing documents when the Repugliklans are refusing to produce the requested Kavanaugh documents in order to rush through his confirmation hearing, now hastily scheduled for September 4.

 

[Cartmann99]

Gee, I wonder if my congresscritter is having trouble keeping his breakfast burrito down this fine morning? It sure would be a crying shame if he got caught up in this insider trading mess.

*Straightens Jennie Lou Leeder yard sign, laughs maniacally, goes back in the house*

 

[Howl]

16 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Thank you, @Howl! I saw that he had bought the stock and have been impatiently waiting to see if they are going to go after him. 

On a more positive note, his Democratic challenger is in the middle of her Dairy Queen Tour where she visits with the voters of TX-11:

Great to see more Democratic women running for office. Jennie Lou looks like a winner! 

ETA: That guac looks epic! 

ETA II: I've noticed that although not every teeny tiny town has a DQ, every teeny tiny place now has a Dollar General.   We just got back from NM and CO using the Brownwood, Lubbock, Clovis route and dang, there is a Dollar General on the highway/main street in every little bitty town; these are places too small to support even a small grocery store, but I guess that's the point.  

[Cartmann99]

6 hours ago, Howl said:

Great to see more Democratic women running for office. Jennie Lou looks like a winner! 

I know it's a long shot, but I'd really like to have a congressperson who doesn't attempt to impress me with their high school football career:

Quote

A native Texan, he grew up in Odessa and graduated from Odessa Permian High School in 1966 after playing on Permian’s first state championship football team. 

https://conaway.house.gov/meet-mike/

Jennie Lou's from Llano county, so she's actually closer to you Austin area folks than to me. Crazy district!

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

They're so pro life and so anti crime that they're pro violence against women.  

[Howl]

Like many posts in the Politics section of FJ, I'm in a quandary about where to post anything Devin Nunes:  Congress or Deplorables? 

Anyway, I'm going  to post here in Congress, because...you know.  Anyway, Devin called 911 due to protesters outside in office in California, because old people protesting draconian changes to Social Security are SO. DAMNED. SCARY!  Nunes hasn't held a town hall or public meeting for YEARS. 

Raw Story reported, full text with video here. 

Quote

 

Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) was publicly called out for misusing 9-1-1 by beckoning police to shield him from constituents in his central valley congressional district.

“Clovis police were called and the building housing Congressman Devin Nunes’ office was locked during a rally for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security on Tuesday,” the Fresno Bee reported.

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

31 minutes ago, Howl said:

Like many posts in the Politics section of FJ, I'm in a quandary about where to post anything Devin Nunes:  Congress or Deplorables? 

Or the main Russia thread, since he's in Putin's pocket like so many of his comrades.

[Cartmann99]

On 8/13/2018 at 2:00 PM, AmazonGrace said:

They're so pro life and so anti crime that they're pro violence against women.  

They'd like us to go back to the days when it was a "family matter", and many people would look the other way. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[47of74]

Former Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell has passed on

Quote

Former U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, an Iowa farmer and soldier turned politician who served 16 years in Congress, has died. He was 84.

The Democrat and former state Senate president, died at a Des Moines hospital on Friday after suffering complications from a rare form of cancer, said family spokesman and former chief of staff Grant Woodard.

Although he focused his political career on agriculture, securing services for veterans and their families and helping college students with financial aid, Boswell may have been best known for his plain-spoken, courtly demeanor. The civility he was known for in the state Senate initially carried over into his congressional campaigns, and he gained national attention when he and his first opponent stuck to their agreement not to launch personal attacks. Later campaigns, however, weren't quite as gentlemanly.

Boswell spent two decades in the U.S. Army before beginning his political career in 1985, when he was elected to the Iowa Senate. He was also a farmer who often said one of his proudest political accomplishments was serving on the board of the Farmers Co-op Elevator in Lamoni. He helped keep that elevator going during the Midwest farm crisis of the 1980s.

Maybe if we had a few hundred more of him and a lot less Steve Kings we wouldn't be quite as fornicated. 

RIP Congressman.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[candygirl200413]

I'm in love with Eric Swalwell so I'm here for this lol. But again let us focus on 2018!

[AmazonGrace]

It's as if they're not at all worried of ever having to win an election again.