October 1-2, 2019
Oct 01 00:53 McConnell, McCarthy tagteam Pelosi Oct 01 09:24 RNC, Ronna McDaniel vs. Pelosi Oct 01 10:53 111 'AOC Democrat' primaries? Oct 02 08:33 Bill Barr vs. Eric Holder: professional vs. political hack Oct 02 09:42 Impeachment, Constitution style Oct 02 14:56 "Making progress" on the USMCA Oct 02 23:43 Did Schiff just get caught lying?
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McConnell, McCarthy tagteam Pelosi
When Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy got together to write this op-ed that the WSJ published, they definitely tag-teamed Nancy Pelosi. Their opening paragraph definitely was the tempo-setter for the article:
President Trump and the leaders of Canada and Mexico announced the most significant trade deal in a generation a year ago this week. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is unambiguously a win for America. It would create new jobs, expand export markets, strengthen protections for workers, and generate billions of dollars in new prosperity. The USMCA would also help keep North American partners close while the U.S. hangs tough with China.
It wasn't until the third paragraph that McConnell-McCarthy brought out the sharp elbows:
Under pressure from progressives to deny the country any successes during the Trump administration, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tried to run out the clock on the USMCA. Leading House Democrats frequently claim to support the deal in the abstract but have spent months finding one excuse after another to delay passing it.
After that, their elbows get significantly sharper:
The administration has worked tirelessly to address these shifting objections. It's time for Mrs. Pelosi's delay tactics to end. House Democrats need to put the country first and stop blocking this significant victory for the American people. The USMCA isn't some political football. It's a critical piece of economic policy. Its enactment or failure will have life-changing consequences for workers. Twelve million American jobs rely on trade with our northern and southern neighbors, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mexico and Canada together represent a $500 billion export market for the U.S. They buy one-third of the goods America exports, plus tens of billions of dollars more in services.
Pelosi knows that she cant hold her majority if they don't have any accomplishments. If she can't put together the votes to ratify, then voters will know what today's Democrats emphasize economically, which is socialism.
Frankly, the Resist Movement hasn't helped Democrats going into this presidential election cycle. Resist has pushed for impeachment and hating Trump. That's led to nothing in terms of accomplishments. When Republicans face the voters, they'll rattle off an impressive list of accomplishments. When Democrats face the voters, they'll be able to say 'We impeached President Trump.
If anyone thinks that Democrats stand a fighting chance of winning swing districts, they're kidding themselves.
Posted Tuesday, October 1, 2019 12:53 AM
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RNC, Ronna McDaniel vs. Pelosi
Appearing on The Story last night, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel directly delivered a message to Nancy Pelosi . McDaniel said "What I'm going to say to Nancy Pelosi is we're coming for these Democrats in districts where President Trump won."
Also on Monday, the RNC announced a new counter-impeachment offensive called "Stop the Madness." Last night, Ronna McDaniel told Fox News "Democrats promised to reach across the aisle and work with President Trump and Republicans to serve the American people, but instead are now pushing their hyper-partisan impeachment agenda. Enough is enough; Americans are sick and tired of these witch hunts. We are going to hold Democrats accountable for their ridiculous charade and remind voters that their Democrat representative turned their back on them."
Democrats are championship promise-breakers. Last year, I knew that Democrats weren't interested in working across the aisle. The Resist Movement would've knee-capped them if Democrats had worked in a bipartisan fashion. The Resist Movement sustains the Democratic Party. If Resist says 'Jump', Democrats ask 'Off what?'
As an activist, I love seeing the RNC going on the offensive. Democrats are used to going on the offensive, then watching Republicans shrivel up into the fetal position. Those days are history, at least while Trump is president and McDaniel is RNC Chair. Brit Hume goes on the offensive in this interview:
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Republicans need to start acting on principles. They need to develop a spine, too. The republic hangs in the balance. This isn't a time for timidity. It's a time for clear thinking and courage. Unfortunately for Republicans, they've been infiltrated by corrupt people like Vin Weber, who put more emphasis on making money (even if that requires breaking bread with Corruptocrats like the Podesta brothers.) than they put on pushing the right public policies.
Draining the Swamp requires taking on swamp creatures like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi but it requires getting rid of swamp creatures like Vin Weber and Paul Manafort, too.
Posted Tuesday, October 1, 2019 9:24 AM
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111 'AOC Democrat' primaries?
There are some serious fights amongst House Democrats. According to the Intercept, Rep. Cheri Bustos, the chair of the DCCC, "counted as many 111 primaries for her incumbent members, a higher-than-normal number as the Democratic Party struggled with the leftward trajectory of their new coalition, which is less white, more educated and youthful."
In this article, we are told about incumbent Mike Doyle, who has represented the district since fist winning election in 1994. According to his primary opponent, Jerry Dickinson, Doyle isn't liberal enough:
Twenty-plus years is a long time in office. Look at the record. Is Doyle liberal enough to lead what is a safe, strongly Democratic district? The answer is no. Think about the safe blue districts all across the United States, whose representatives take on the liberal mantle, who are loud. They are leaders. They stick their neck out on the issues that really, really do matter to liberals. That should be happening here. This is a post-industrial liberal enclave, which actually makes it in a unique position to actually be the leader on all major issues.
The Democrats' spinmeisters have consistently told us that Democrats could investigate and legislate. Then Democrats like Jessica Tarlov have insisted that there are lots of Democrat moderates. Based on what's just been reported, there are more AOC progressives than there are 'Tarlov moderates'.
Republicans are dealing with retirements, most of which are from solid red districts. Will Hurd seems to be the exception to that pattern. If AOC Democrats have gotten into the circular firing squad business, that could help Republicans retake the House.
Posted Tuesday, October 1, 2019 10:53 AM
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Bill Barr vs. Eric Holder: professional vs. political hack
From the moment he was sworn in as the US Attorney General, Bill Barr has conducted himself professionally. He's launched an investigation into the origins of the spying of the Trump campaign to see if it was started improperly. He's made certain that Special Counsel Mueller's investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election was finished. Then he published a published a nearly redaction-free Mueller report. He's been the picture of professionalism.
Apparently, partisans aren't happy with him, including former AG Eric Holder. When Holder left the position, he left as one of the most disgraced AGs in US history. He left as the architect of the failed Fast 'n Furious gun-running fiasco. where he put guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. One of those guns was used to kill Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry . When he was asked about Operation Fast 'n Furious, Holder refused to answer Congress's question. That led to Holder's getting held in Contempt of Congress.
Holder is also the corrupt AG who refused to prosecute members of the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation.
It's within this context that Holder told Fox News that "current Attorney General Bill Barr 'is paying a price' and sacrificing his credibility by spearheading U.S. Attorney John Durham's ongoing probe into possible misconduct by the intelligence community at the outset of the Russia investigation."
Coming from one of the most corrupt AGs in US history, I'd consider that as proof that I'm doing the right thing. It isn't like I'd take him seriously. Coming from Mr. Holder, I'd take these accusations with several pounds of salt:
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Holder also remarked separately that it was a "reality" that Republicans will "cheat" in the 2020 elections by trying to "move polling places" and "a whole variety of things."
Why should we think that this is an honest person? I listen to him only to the extent that he's a troublemaker who wants to continue doing evil.
Posted Wednesday, October 2, 2019 8:36 AM
Comment 1 by eruc z at 02-Oct-19 10:41 AM
Get real. Two political hacks. Both owned by big money. Trump has surrounded himself with hacks. Obama pretty much the same. Biden and Pence are equally bad choices for VP. Obama did not boost family, unlike Trump with Jarad and his children. Obama kicked a number of cans down the road, Trump doing likewise, Gitmo and Afghanistan remain and prosper. Either could have been worse. Neither as bad as the idiot who used false info to get us into the Iraq quagmire, neither yet sending a Wall Street criminal to jail, neither for single payer real healthcare as a right. It is Bernie time. Warren time.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 02-Oct-19 01:32 PM
Whether they're "owned by big money" or not is essentially irrelevant, Eric. Thus far, AG Barr has dealt with the law as it's written. That's the only thing that I judge AGs on. Period. Stop. The other thing that I pay attention to with the USAG is whether they keep the FBI & other law enforcement agencies under control. I don't want a pariah like Holder politicizing (& weaponizing) law enforcement like Holder, then Lynch, did.
Thus far, Barr has been fantastic. He's easily the best AG in the past 25+ years.
Impeachment, Constitution style
Greg Jarrett's op-ed is must reading if you want to know the difference between the Democrats' definition of impeachment and the Constitution's definition of impeachment.
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution defines the basis for impeachment as an act of "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Anything less than that is not an impeachable offense. Were it otherwise, those who authored that esteemed document would have so stated.
Sadly, then-Republican Rep. Gerald Ford, as House minority leader in 1970, forever mangled the impeachment provision when he mistakenly observed: "An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history."
This was precisely what our framers did not intend. This is what they feared. They did not want a sitting president to be removed because a capricious Congress controlled by an opposing party disliked a chief executive or disagreed with his policies.
Republicans better get their act together on this. Democrats have declared war on President Trump and Republicans. Senate Republicans better prepare for warfare. They should opt to shut down the trial, if the House of Representatives approves articles of impeachment.
Here's why: Nothing that President Trump has done comes close to meeting the constitutional test of "treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors." In fact, President Trump hasn't come close to committing a crime, much less a high crime. When Bill Clinton was impeached, a grand jury identified a series of felonies that he'd committed.
Let's remember that, in the end, President Clinton paid Paula Jones a small ton of money and surrendered his law license in Arkansas. He wouldn't have had to do those things if he hadn't initially been indicted.
Mentioning Biden's name and Biden's son's name in the phone call with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy wasn't the best thing to do but it doesn't come close to a high crime. That isn't just my opinion. That's Alan Dershowitz's opinion, too.
The charade may eventually succeed in the House, where Democrats holds a comfortable advantage and a simple majority is all that is needed to impeach. But conviction in a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate will fail miserably because a two-thirds majority is constitutionally required.
This was the wisdom of the framers. They knew that unscrupulous politicians would inevitably try to subvert the democratic process for purely political reasons. The framers made it exceedingly difficult for such politicians to achieve that end.
I wrote about this recently because I'm convinced that governments shouldn't be overthrown for "light and transient causes" any more than presidents should be impeached for light and transient causes. This isn't a joke. This is serious stuff.
If, in addition to meddling, Ukraine possesses evidence that the former vice president's bragging about a 'quid pro quo' was a corrupt act intended to benefit his son by extorting $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds, it is incumbent on Trump to ask Zelensky to investigate. Biden isn't entitled to a 'get out of jail' free card simply because he is now running for president. Hillary Clinton coveted such a card, and it should never happen again.
Vice President Biden shouldn't get that get-out-of-jail-free card because nobody is above the law, not even former vice presidents . This video sums things up nicely:
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Hunter Biden was put on the board of Burisma Holdings and paid $83,000 a month for 5 years. What's worse is that he didn't have any expertise in the energy industry or in the Ukraine. Then, when investigators started checking out potential corruption, Vice President Biden threatened to pull $1,000,000,000 in loan guarantees from Burisma if Viktor Shokin, the prosecutor general, wasn't fired.
Impeachment is a political act because it involves the political branches of government. That being said, it also uses judicial principles if done properly. If articles of impeachment are passed on a straight party-line vote, Republicans should essentially throw the case out for not fitting the constitutional definition of impeachment .
Posted Wednesday, October 2, 2019 9:42 AM
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"Making progress" on the USMCA
Speaker Pelosi understands that she'll need some accomplishments to keep her House majority. That's why she wants this impeachment fiasco to be fast-paced and in the rear-view mirror. That's needed to keep the activists activated. Policy accomplishments are what's needed to win elections. At this point, Do-Nothing Democrats don't have a single significant accomplishment since retaking the majority in the House.
This morning, Speaker Pelosi said that they're "making progress" with the USMCA . Don't kid yourself that this isn't the result of WH pressure on Pelosi. That's exactly what's causing this progress. Still, the White House, the farmers and the car manufacturers need to keep applying pressure to the Do-Nothing Democrats.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday that Democrats are "making progress" on the trilateral trade deal with Mexico and Canada, known as USMCA, but need more assurances before they can approve the agreement. "We want to be sure that as we go forward, we are strengthening America's working families and our farmers who are very affected by this," Pelosi said at a news conference alongside House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Making progress isn't enough. Farmers and automobile manufacturers need to hear politicians say 'Mr. President, it's passed Congress.'
President Trump must read LFR because I've been frequently used the term Do-Nothing Democrats. Either that or he's as smart or smarter than me. This morning, President Trump started emphasizing the term Do-Nothing Democrats:
Nancy Pelosi just said that she is interested in lowering prescription drug prices & working on the desperately needed USMCA. She is incapable of working on either. It is just camouflage for trying to win an election through impeachment. The Do Nothing Democrats are stuck in mud!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2019
Don't think that didn't get underneath Ms. Pelosi's hide just a little. What's certain to get under Ms. Pelosi's skin even more is that she's painted herself into a big corner on the USMCA. If it's ratified by the House and Senate, the economy gets a well-timed jolt, which kicks the economy into a higher gear right in time for the general election campaign.
At that point, Democrats will have handed President Trump a huge victory on the economy, which should seal President Trump's re-election. Additionally, President Trump will be able to rattle off an impressive list of accomplishments in addition to the economy. Democrats will need to rack up other victories to win re-election. Atop that list that President Trump will insist on is fixing the US's asylum and immigration laws and funding to finish President Trump's wall.
I can picture President Trump pushing those things. I can't picture Pelosi handing him a victory on the wall funding, though. It's possible she might agree on updating the immigration and asylum laws, though I think that's mostly a long-shot.
Posted Wednesday, October 2, 2019 2:56 PM
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Did Schiff just get caught lying?
Apparently, Speaker Pelosi will need a different point person for impeachment. that's because Chairman Schiff just got caught lying about the whistleblower :
The Democratic head of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, learned about the outlines of a C.I.A. officer's concerns that President Trump had abused his power days before the officer filed a whistle-blower complaint , according to a spokesman and current and former American officials.
That's entirely different than what he told the crew of Morning Joe:
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Early in the interview, Chairman Schiff told Sam Stein that "We have not spoken directly with the whistle-blower. We would like to but I'm sure that the whistle-blower has concerns that he has not been advised, as the law requires, by the Inspector General or the Director of National Intelligence."
Mr. Schiff, this is the second time in the past 2 weeks where you've gotten caught lying. You first said that you haven't spoken with the whistleblower. Now the NYTimes reports that you "learned about the outlines of a C.I.A. officer's concerns that President Trump had abused his power days before the officer" filed an official complaint. I'm inclined to believe that you knew about this before the whistleblower went public because you said some things that mirrored things that the whistleblower said in his/her complaint.
It's important to remember that this isn't the first time that Schiff lived up to his nickname of Shiffty Schiff. At last week's hearing with Acting Director of the DNI Joseph Maguire, Schiff made up an entire portion of President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy:
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Considering how frequently Chairman Schiff has gotten caught lying, shouldn't he be dismissed by Speaker Pelosi as the person in charge of impeachment? With an issue as important and sensitive as impeachment, we need someone trustworthy steering the ship. That description doesn't fit Chairman 'Shiffty' Schiff. It's important to remember that Schiff also is famous for saying early in the Trump administration that he had evidence that was stronger than circumstantial evidence but that wasn't direct evidence. We're still waiting to see that.
Posted Wednesday, October 2, 2019 11:43 PM
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