Senate Scam Impeachment Trial

Enemy of Justice

Nancy Pelosi will be passing the impeachment articles on to the Senate the week of January 13th.  Shortly after that, Mitch McConnell will begin the Senate trial to decide the status of Trump's presidency.  

The fate of our Democratic Republic depends on the outcome of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump. 

Senator McConnell said that he will not be an impartial juror and will coordinate every step of the Senate trial with the White House and Trump.  Before the Senate trial even starts, Mitch McConnell, has publicly stated that Donald J. Trump will be acquitted and not be removed from office.

 McConnell says this, not because he believes Trump is innocent, but because he and the GOP Senators are rigging the trial to allow a guilty President to go unpunished and continue his abuse of power.  The GOP will ignore their oath of office and the oath they will take before the trial to be impartial jurors.  If there could be a definition of a treasonous party without there being a war, the GOP would exemplify it.

The prosecutors of the Senate trial are the House members who are chosen as "case managers."  At this time it is unclear who these people will be, but it is fairly certain that  Adam Schiff, House Intelligence Committee chair and Jerry Nadler, Judiciary Committee chair will be among them.   

Besides every Republican member of the Senate, Trump will have White House lawyers defending him.  There is rumor that Alan Dershowitz may also be on Trump's legal team.

It's possible that the Republicans may vote to dismiss the impeachment even before a trial commences.  In the case of a Senate impeachment trial, only a simple majority would be needed to eliminate the impeachment proceedings.  Although the expected outcome of dismissal would be the same as a scam trial, it may be too arrogant or at least unwise for the GOP to eliminate the trial altogether.  There is the smallest chance that a few Republicans would vote against dismissing. With a dismissal, Republicans would not have a chance to cloud the issue of Trump's guilt and help him appear innocent to confuse American voters.

As the trial starts, the Senate's sergeant-at-arms will proclaim that all persons are to remain silent, on pain of imprisonment, while the House is exhibiting to the Senate the articles of impeachment. 

The trial will be overseen by Chief Justice John Roberts.  With the Republicans so openly partisan and standing steadfastly by their guilty president, John Roberts' role may be moot.  The Chief Justice will be able to rule on questions about evidence, however, his decision can be overridden by a simple majority vote in the Senate.  Unless the Democrats can convince four or more Republican Senators to vote with them, it is likely that all votes will follow the Republican game plan and favor Trump.  

McConnell said that he does not want any witnesses to be heard, however, Republican Senator Susan Collins has publicly announced that she is working with a small contingent of Republicans to ensure that witnesses can be heard.  Based on Collins' previous actions it is fairly certain that she will walk back those words if a vote on witnesses is required, but we shall see.

It would take a super majority of sixty-seven votes to convict and remove Donald Trump from office. Anything short of that leads to an acquittal.  That verdict would be final and no appeals would be allowed.

The outcome is certain.  Donald Trump will be allowed to continue his pursuit of the destruction of our Constitution and democratic republic.  

Perhaps the GOP believes Donald Trump will support their re-election, helping to maintain their Republican Senate majority.  But they miss the most important point.  Trump is guilty of violating our Constitution and is abusing Presidential power.  The GOP has lost its sense of justice and its ability to do what is right for the country.  Some could argue that the GOP lost those things many years ago, but it has become worse with Trump.  

The best result of the trial we could expect is that it could generate significant controversy around the actions of the GOP in excusing Trump's violation of our Constitution.  It may lead to more active participation by more Americans in peaceful demonstrations against autocracy.  It may cause more Americans to vote against the GOP and Donald Trump in upcoming elections. Let's hope the GOP loses their Senate majority and loses the Presidency in 2020.

The GOP will regret the day that they helped create the first American dictator. 

McConnell's Senate Graveyard

Pelosi describes McConnell's Bills Graveyard

The primary duty of Congress is to write, debate and pass laws.  Congress is composed of two bodies; the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The leader of the House of Representatives is a person selected from the members of the party in the majority.  In the house, the Democrats are in the majority and Nancy Pelosi is the leader known as Speaker of the House.  

The leader of the Senate is known as the Senate Majority Leader and is also selected from the party in the majority for that body.  In the Senate, the Republicans are in the majority and Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader.  

The White House and the Congressional GOP have often used derogatory terms to describe the Democrats in Congress.  Much like the childish bullies they are, they believe that name-calling is a useful policy tool.  We have heard Trump use slogans like "Do nothing Democrats" to convince their  own gullible constituents that it's the Democrats who are not getting anything done in Congress.  However, in this case, the name-calling tool is really a projection of their own failure to work for America.  

In order to pass legislation that originates in the House of Representatives, Mitch McConnell must bring those bills up for debate in the Senate.  In a normal functioning Congress, the goal is to find agreement in both houses through compromise and concessions during a healthy debate. The goal is to enact legislation intended to help all Americans and improve the condition of the country.  But in the Republican led Senate, the goal is to stifle Democratic legislation that would help Americans.

McConnell has stated publicly that no Democratic bills will ever pass the Senate and will "die" there.  McConnell has been so pleased to prevent America from progressing with bipartisan legislation that he sees his new job as that of a "grim reaper," a name that he gave himself.  And he has been true to his name.  

According to the website congress.gov, in this 116th Congress, the House has so far passed 258 (H.R.) bills since the session started in 2019.  To view each bill and search for other interesting data, visit congress.gov at the following shortened url:  http://bit.ly/2PJQ9A5 .

Only thirty-three House bills have passed the Senate and only thirty-one have become law.

McConnell and the Republicans in the 116th Congressional Senate have introduced thirty-nine bills.  Eleven of them have become law.  Included in those Senate initiated bills that became law are:

• S.2249 A bill to allow the Deputy Administrator of FAA to continue as Deputy
• S.1693 National Flood Insurance Extension
• S.1379 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness
• S.998 Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis
• S.863 A bill to amend title 38 to clarify pay grade and pay of podiatrists of the VA
• S.744 Effective Prosecution and Possession of Biological Toxins and Agents
• S.483 Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension
• S.252 A bill to authorize Bob Doyle to grade of Colonel in the regular Army
• S.163 Alaska Remote Generator Reliability and Protection
• S.49 A bill to designate the outstation of the VA in North Ogden, Utah as Major Brent Taylor Vet Center Outstation

There are so many House Democratic bills that McConnell is holding up, I cannot include them all, but a few of the more important ones include:

• H.R.3722 Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking
• H.R.3710 Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation
• H.R.3625 PCAOB Whistleblower Protection Act of 2019
• H.R.3525 U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards
• H.R.3239 Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody
• H.R.2513 Corporate Transparency Act
• H.R.2359 Whole Veterans Act
• H.R.1585 Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act
• H.R.1331 Local Water Protection Act
• H.R.1112 Enhanced Background Checks Act
• H.R.987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs
• H.R.986 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions
• H.R.582 Raise the Wage Act
• H.R.6 American Dream and Promise Act

If you visit the government website mentioned above, you can see the stark reality that it is the Republicans in Congress that are obstructionists.  You realize that the Democrats in Congress have the energy, desire and concern for America that enables them to create these bills.

Republicans have proven themselves to be liars, obstructionists, and now grim reapers.  They may think they are attacking Democrats but it is you, the American people, that the Republicans are really hurting. Vote smart when the time comes and don't believe the Republican lies.   

The real reason Republican leadership hates ObamaCare

The Affordable Care Act (which is now law) provides health insurance to nearly 30 million Americans who did not previously have it.  It requires health insurance companies to treat Americans fairly.  It mandates a set of health insurance standards to ensure that Americans understand the kind of coverage they are getting.  It eliminates "junk" insurance that does not truly provide helpful coverage.  It provides Americans with a known set of insurance coverages which they have the freedom to choose from.

The law provides subsidies to those families and individuals who could not otherwise afford sensible coverage.  It prevents insurance companies from denying insurance for individuals with pre-existing conditions.  It prevents insurance companies from dropping individuals when their illness becomes too costly to the insurance company.  It provides women with free preventive care for such things as PAP smears.  It allows children to remain on their parent's insurance policy until they are 26 years old.  It eliminates lifetime caps and ensures Americans can remain insured during catastrophic illnesses.  It provides for rebates to insured Americans if their insurance company charges more than 20% of their premium price for management and administrative costs.

The Congressional Budget Office has indicated that the Affordable Care Law will return money to

the economy.  They found that repealing the law would increase the deficit by 108 billion over 10 years.  It has been estimated that the increase in the number of patients will add a windfall of profits to doctors, hospitals and medical device manufacturers.  That profit is estimated to be so high, that most medical device manufacturers have agreed to pay the government back over 80 billion dollars in ten years.  The rise in the patient population is said to be good for jobs.

Where expanded medicaid is implemented in the states, it will cover the very poor and improve state economies not only by preventing costly emergency room visits by the uninsured, but also by providing states with 100% of the cost involved in implementing it in the first three years and 90% of the cost in all future years.

The well being and pursuit of happiness of Americans that is guaranteed by our constitution will improve for millions and millions of Americans because of the law.  So what is the real reason that Republican leadership hates it?

We have heard Republican complaints that people will lose their jobs, businesses will  reduce full time employees and death panels led by the Obama administration will decide who lives and dies because of the law.  Is any of it true or is it just more Republican fear mongering?  You can rest assured that none of it is true and it is just more Republican fear mongering.

Fox news has assisted in this fear mongering by inviting a few guests who have misrepresented their situations so as to appear affected by the law, but when investigated by outside impartial observers, have been found to be mistaken.  Fox news' Sean Hannity has had several staged shows where his invited "audience" of Fox news reporters make stuff up to continue the lie that ObamaCare is the worst thing ever.

We know that Republicans hate ObamaCare.  They have proven it over 40 times when they have wasted taxpayer money to try to repeal it unsuccessfully.  Ted Cruz, that Canadian born Tea Party Senator, has even given a performance in a "filibuster of nothingness" to show his determination that ObamaCare is bad.  He's made millions by conning the American public to support his efforts with contributions in television ads.

So lets get down to it.  The real reason Republican leaders hate ObamaCare has a lot to do with Republican leadership's commitment to a decision they made as a group while President Obama was being inaugurated in 2009.  They all agreed to make the President ineffective in any way they could.  During his first term, Mitch McConnell publicly announced that their most important goal was to make Obama a one term President.

Failing that, they continued to support their goal that this President's legacy will show that he accomplished nothing during his terms in office.  Republicans in Congress have used their power of filibuster, obstruction and majority rule in the House to prevent passage of everything proposed by the Democrats and the President.  The 112th and 113th Congresses, both of which have had Republicans controlling the House, have been the least effective in the history of the United States, passing no substantial legislation in either session.  But that is their goal and they are accomplishing it very effectively, regardless of the impact it has on America.

They are hopeful that when time passes and the memory of their personal acts of destruction to America are forgotten, what history will record is that the first black American President could not accomplish anything.  They are counting on the fading memories of Americans who know about their actions and the ones who don't know the difference in the legislative branch and the executive branch, to wrongly see the President as ineffective.  Their hope is to never allow a black Democrat to become elected President again.  Somehow, their perverse and some would say, bigoted ideas about this appear to them to be the thing that returns public opinion and favoritism to Republican candidates for the office.

The one thing that saves President Obama from this is ObamaCare and Republicans hate that fact.  They hate that all of their efforts may be for nothing unless this ObamaCare law is erased from history.  And so it has become the most important thing that Republicans can target in order to accomplish their goal.

Americans must begin to see the truth about ObamaCare.  They must see the lies coming from the Republican party.  Any party that is willing to take such devious actions and sacrifice Americans to carry out their partisan goals does not deserve to be in office.

Your vote is the key to returning decency to government.  I urge you to vote Democrat in all elections.  

Harry Reid is giving Senate Republicans one more chance before launching the nuclear option

Senator Harry Reid

Senate majority leader Harry Reid entered closed door session Monday evening with Minority leader Mitch McConnell and other Senators interested in avoiding the "nuclear option" being threatened by Reid which would likely change Senate filibuster rules solely by Democratic votes.  

Because Republicans in the Senate have caused an unprecedented number of filibusters, some of which are directed toward obstruction of President Obama's appointments to key federal agencies, Reid has hinted that the rules around Presidential appointments might be changed to allow a simple majority vote for approval.  Currently, appointments must be approved by 2/3 of the Senate, or 67 Senators.  Additionally, the rules change could also reduce the number of votes necessary to overcome a filibuster.

Reid's urgency to adopt a rules change is the result of the Republican disruption of government affairs.  There are a good number of federal agencies that cannot function properly without the appointees who are being blocked.  Republicans have publicly announced that they do not have a problem with the appointees, but they are opposing the appointments because they are trying to change the mandates of and prevent affected agencies from being effective.  To paraphrase, Republicans believe this conspiracy to obstruct government affairs is necessary in order to mold government into one that would better serve their constituents.

What has been disclosed about the meeting thus far indicates that no agreement has been reached that will prevent the nuclear option.   Senator Reid will test the stubborn determination of the Republicans in blocking President Obama's appointees by calling for a vote to approve some critical bureau appointees in Tuesday's Senate session.

Among these appointees is Richard Cordray, acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  If Republicans block this appointment, Reid will go ballistic and initiate the nuclear option.  It is not clear if Reid will still go nuclear if all of the previously blocked appointees are still blocked by Republicans.   See the details about the CFPB here.

During the meeting, some Republican Senators were still expecting to get the advantages they have been fighting for by offering empty compromises.  For example, they offered approving Richard Cordray provided the CFPB could be changed the way that Republicans wanted it.  

Reid has said that if the rules change is enacted, only Presidential appointments would be affected by the simple majority rule and not all Senate business.  Some are concerned that such a change could be used against Democratic  introduced legislation, such as ObamaCare if Republicans take the Senate majority after the 2014 elections.

Opinion is that the chance for the nuclear option is high, particularly because of the blockage of the appointees to the National Labor Relations board.  Republicans want to eliminate that agency and approving the appointees is the furthest thing from their minds.

Senator McCain is trying to strike up a deal with other Republicans and Senator Reid to stave off the nuclear option and is leaning toward approving the appointees.  Senator McCain was not sure what the outcome would be.

So we wait.  The one thing that seems most certain is this: if an agreement does not happen before tomorrow's vote and Republicans still block the appointments, the nuclear option will be used.

McConnell partners with Crapo and other obstructionist Republican Senators hoping to flush CFPB down the toilet

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created as a new government bureau in 2010 and is tasked with the important role of enforcing laws in the financial industry.  Its founding is the recommended cure for the recklessness in the financial industry that caused the financial disaster of 2008.  Its enactment is legislated through the Dodd-Frank Act.

Crapo (rear) and McConnell

It appears that the Republican obstructionists in Congress do not believe that they have demonstrated well enough their lack of support for the American consumer.  Led by Mitch McConnell and Mike Crapo (pronounced cray-po), forty-three Republican Senators have signed a letter to President Obama indicating that they will not approve Richard Cordray as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Director unless their demands are met.  (Sounds like something a terrorist group might say.)  According to Senator Crapo, it is not Richard Cordray that they oppose, it is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in general.

This same scenario happened last year.  The Republicans blocked Richard Cordray so the new Bureau operated without a Director.  But the bureau has no enforcement power under the Dodd-Frank Act unless it has a Director.  So  President Obama assigned Richard Cordray as Director once again, but this time while the Senate was in recess.

A President is constitutionally entitled to make such recess appointments and many of both Parties have done so in the past.  The controversy this time is about the Republicans claim that they were really working and in session at the time of the appointment.  To prevent President Obama from making this appointment, on their way out the door for intersession vacation, Republicans indicated that they were in a "pro-forma" session.  That supposedly means that they are in session and working so they must approve Presidential appointments.  But no one was present or working in the Senate.  It was simply a tactic that Republicans used to block the President's constitutional authority.

In a similar case concerning the National Labor Relations Board appointments, the US District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the President can not be allowed to make a determination that the Senate is in recess because it could allow him to make recess appointments at any time.  It is my opinion that this decision proves our judicial system is fallible.  Perhaps they do not follow politics, but it should have been obvious or very easy to check that the Senate was in recess.  The mere statement of a "pro-forma" session does not make it so.  The court's decision actually gives license to another example of Republican obstruction tactics where the constitutional rights of a President can be blocked by intentionally lying about being in session.  The decision is expected to be reversed in future court appeals.

To be fair, Republicans have two major demands that would change the autonomous intent of the bureau.

First, they are demanding that the structure of the CFPB be changed.  They believe that there is too much power in the control of one person, namely the Director.  Republicans would prefer to see a board or commission in charge.  My guess is that the Republican's goal for the commission would be to staff it with the same financial experts who helped bring on the financial crises or at least staff it with people whose business interests conflict with the bureau's autonomous role.  Sort of like having gangsters run the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Second, they want Congress to have oversight of the Bureau's budget.  They claim that the Director can tap into the Federal Reserve System to get any money he feels necessary at any time.  In actual fact however, the Director must submit a budget request to the Federal Reserve with justification and evidence of actuals from prior years.  Legislators have approved this procedure as acceptable when passing the Dodd-Frank Act.  In passing Dodd-Frank they have also approved a discretionary $200 million in Fed funds to be available if necessary, but that discretionary amount must be approved by the  Congressional appropriations process.  Perhaps Republicans don't like Dodd-Frank, but it is the law and they can't simply not abide by its rulings.

In summary, here is my assessment of the situation.  The Republicans do not disapprove of Richard Cordray, yet they are willing to reject him or anyone that the President selects so that they can accomplish their primary political goal of bending the structure of the CFPB into one that benefits their wealthy supporters instead of the American consumer.  I wouldn't expect anything less.