Draining the Swamp

[Shapley]

It would result in a resignation if Mr. Burris were a Republican. Democrats have no sense of shame.

[jamiebk]

Oh come on Shap....you know damn well that the Dems were not in favor of seating Burris. They never wanted him and tried to oust him...to the point of trying to limit his term. He's HARDLY favored by the party. They would have just as soon seen him go. If they get enough dirt, that will be possible.

[Shapley]

But where are the honourable Demcrats that are demanding his resignation? I believe they are much more concerned with the 'filibuster-proof majority' than any noble sense of honour. Why are they not on the air, demanding him to fall on his sword? They didn't want a special election because they were concerned that Blago's troubles might lead to a Republican victory, which is why we got Burris in the first place. Fitzgerald tipped them off about the auction for the Senate seat so they could strip Blago of the power, but they wouldn't do it.

Even so, I was speaking about Burris himself, who is a Democrat and, quite obviously now, has no sense of shame.

[jamiebk]

Even so, I was speaking about Burris himself, who is a Democrat and, quite obviously now, has no sense of shame.

No....you were not:

"Democrats have no sense of shame."

Another sweeping generalization

[Haggis@wk]

Even so, I was speaking about Burris himself, who is a Democrat and, quite obviously now, has no sense of shame.

No....you were not:

"Democrats have no sense of shame."

Another sweeping generalization

Absolutely, I'm sure there's at least one Democrat who resigned out of a sense of shame...I just can't think of one at the moment

[piqaboo]

Whyd' the guy who wrote that article about 454 or however many people, why'd he put Iraq in all caps? Weird.

[Haggis@wk]

I remember when politicizing the justice department was supposed to be bad: Career lawyers overruled on voting case: Black Panthers had wielded weapons, blocked polls.

“Justice Department political appointees overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense of wielding a nightstick and intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place last Election Day, according to documents and interviews. The incident - which gained national attention when it was captured on videotape and distributed on YouTube - had prompted the government to sue the men, saying they violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scaring would-be voters with the weapon, racial slurs and military-style uniforms.

Career lawyers pursued the case for months, including obtaining an affidavit from a prominent 1960s civil rights activist who witnessed the confrontation and described it as ‘the most blatant form of voter intimidation’ that he had seen, even during the voting rights crisis in Mississippi a half-century ago.”

Obviously, we need to allow voters to carry weapons to the polls, to protect themselves from such thuggery. . . .Sadly, I expect to see many more cases to be dismissed for political gains, including the pending cases against ACORN.

[Shapley]

No....you were not:

"Democrats have no sense of shame."

Another sweeping generalization

In that particular instance, I was referring to Burris. However, he is typical of the general attitude of the party:

Gov Blagojevich, President Clinton, Rep. Jefferson, Rep. Frank, the list goes on...

...the, of course, there are the tax cheats that President Obama appointed to his cabinet. Only Daschle withdrew, and that was because his confirmation looked to be in jeopardy.

[jamiebk]

It's reassuring to know that none of this ever happens in the Republican party...

[jamiebk]

Hey Shap and Haggis....I am going to order up a bunch of these for your cars and trucks. Maybe I'll get a few coffee mugs for ya for the office too http://www.cafepress.com/stickem.85390081

[Haggis@wk]

Hey Shap and Haggis....I am going to order up a bunch of these for your cars and trucks. Maybe I'll get a few coffee mugs for ya for the office too http://www.cafepress.com/stickem.85390081

ACK!!! That'll be a tar and fethering offense if that showed up on a car in Texas!!!

[Haggis@wk]

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION:

Rep. Barney Frank has already been leaning on GM to favor his Massachusetts district, and the first round of dealer closings prompted an outcry about favoritism.

Democrats already got their first case of bailout indigestion over the AIG bonuses in March. Authorized in the stimulus bill, the bonuses have pushed Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., to the brink of electoral defeat and have left simmering resentments in their wake.

With so many banks and insurance companies now part of the $700 billion bailout family, the AIG pratfall was more likely foreshadowing than culmination.

Meanwhile, Democrats are dragging their feet on dealing with congressmen like John Murtha, D-Pa., [Pete] Visclosky, D-Ind., and Jim Moran, D-Va., who were the biggest recipients of campaign cash from the PMA defense lobbying firm at the center of a pay-to-play investigation. Last week, House leaders caved a bit to Republican pressure by promising to make public the work of the Ethics Committee on the issue, but they again blocked a move for a special investigation.

Rather than learning from the Republicans’ mistakes and rooting out wrongdoing by wayward party members, House Democrats are still looking to protect their own. When the FBI finishes its work on PMA, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will regret the see-no-evil strategy.

I think that’s right.

[Shapley]

Confrontation Erupts Between Reps. Waters, Obey On House Floor

An altercation erupted on the House floor Thursday evening between House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wisc.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).The incident stemmed from Rep. Obey's refusal to fund an earmark that Rep. Waters requested, sources told FOX. Waters specifically wanted federal money set aside for an institute named after her. Obey, who is skeptical of many earmarks, has long refused to fund any more "monuments to me." The institute in question was named for Waters before she requested the earmark.Upon Obey's refusal, Waters insisted Obey reward the money instead to a school that could serve as a conduit to the institute, but Obey told Waters that wasn't acceptable and "became irate," said a source.Obey tried to walk away from Waters, but she continued to browbeat the Appropriations Committee Chairman and followed him around the House floor, according to reports."She was in his face," a source said.Other media reported that the altercation evolved into a "shoving match." Those reports could not be confirmed.Ellis Brachman, a spokesman for Obey said that Waters "accosted" his boss and "made a scene."

[Haggis@wk]

The Culture of Corruption continues! The Cleveland Plain Dealer conducted a review of disclosure statements from members of the House Financial Services Committee, and guess who made a killing on bank stocks while Congress debated bailing out the financial sector?

As financial markets tumbled and the government worked to stave off panic by pumping billions of dollars into banks last fall, several members of Congress who oversee the banking industry were grabbing up or dumping bank stocks.

Anticipating bargains or profits or just trying to unload before the bottom fell out, these members of the House Financial Services Committee or brokers on their behalf were buying and selling stocks including Bank of America and Citigroup — some of the very corporations their committee would later rap for greed, a Plain Dealer examination of congressional stock market transactions shows.

Inside traders in the House includes both Republicans and Democrats — although you may not know that from the CPD report. Check out how they mention Ohio’s Charlie Wilson, a Democrat, as compared to their reporting on a Republican from the same committee:

Financial disclosure records show that some of these Financial Services Committee members, including Ohio Rep. Charlie Wilson, made bank stock trades on the same day the banks were getting a government bailout from a program Congress approved. …

For example,

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, a Florida Republican

, bought Citigroup stock valued between $1,001 and $15,000 on Oct. 2, the day before the House passed the financial rescue bill and President George W. Bush signed it into law, records show. She opposed the bill.

Name That Party! It takes four more paragraphs for the CPD to remind readers that Wilson is a Democrat. They improve later as they mention the other characters in this little inside-information ring:

· Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
· Jackie Speier (D-CA)
· Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV)
· Judith Biggert (R-IL)

[Shapley]

The Minnesota high court has ordered the certification of Al Franken as the winner in that State's Senate race.

Of course, we pretty well knew this was coming, but it's sad. We now have another tax cheat in high office. This time, we're placing one who stole money from an orphanage to operate a left-wing radio station. The Senate, no doubt, will breathe a sigh of relief to know that he is now a member of their club...



BTW, Coleman has now conceded. He will not pursue the matter any further.

[Shapley]

And, In related news:

Amhadinejad Declared Winner In Iran, Backers Rejoice


Voters Rally For Mousavi or Coleman or someone else, somewhere. It's all the same...

[jamiebk]

And, In related news:

Amhadinejad Declared Winner In Iran, Backers Rejoice


Voters Rally For Mousavi or Coleman or someone else, somewhere. It's all the same...

A lot of people in Florida felt that way in 2000..............

[Shapley]

A lot of people in Florida felt that way in 2000..............

Not really. There were unsubstantiated claims of 'voter suppression', but investigators could not find any evidence. Al Gore attempted to invalidate absentee ballots, but was largely thwarted in his efforts. The real issue in Florida came down to Al Gore's attempt to count undervotes in his favour by attempting to determine the 'intent' of the voters, giving him votes that were not actually cast. In order to ensure that this new, never-before-heard-of standard did not benefit President Bush, he sought to only apply it in four heavily-Democrat counties. The Supreme court ruled that this would violate the equal-protection clause, and rejected his petition.

Al Franken did get over a thousand absentee ballots rejected. Apparently, this were cast in violation of the rules, whether too late, or whatever. This is normal. At issue is the fact that similar ballots were allowed in heavily-democrat districts, providng a differing standard from county to county. Mr. Coleman could have pressed the issue, and may have won in the Supreme Court with Bush vs. Gore as a precedent. However, there is no evidence the disputed ballots would put him over the marke, since they have not been counted. It would be hollow victory to require the votes to be accepted, and then lose the election because an insufficient number of them went to Mr. Coleman. It would have been an expensive gamble, and he wasn't willing to take it.

Now, as for those ballots found in the trunk of a poll-workers auto...

[Shapley]

I've asked before why no one ever seems to wonder why recounts always seem to 'find' more missing Democrat ballots than Republican ones. Are Democrats just that much sloppier with their ballot handling?

[piqaboo]

And, In related news:

Amhadinejad Declared Winner In Iran, Backers Rejoice


Voters Rally For Mousavi or Coleman or someone else, somewhere. It's all the same...

The guy in the green shirt (far right) is definitely 'checking out' the lady with the anonymity-scarf over her face.
That too would appear to be all the same.