House comes out in favor of open corruption [Merged] (1 Viewer)

[Galbreath34]

House GOP guts ethics panel - CNNPolitics.com

House Republicans voted 119-74 Monday night in favor of a proposal that would gut Congress' outside ethics watchdog and remove its independence. Republican Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte's proposal would place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics -- an initial watchdog for House members but without power to punish members -- under oversight of those very lawmakers.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and other top GOP leaders opposed the change to ethics rules, but rank-and-file members disregarded their views and voted to approve the new structure for ethics reviews going forward, according to a senior House GOP leadership source familiar with the closed door discussion.

The proposal would bar the panel from reviewing any violation of criminal law by members of Congress, requiring that it turn over any complaint to the House Ethics Committee or refer the matter to an appropriate federal law enforcement agency. The House Ethics Committee would also have the power to stop an investigation at any point and bars the ethics office from making any public statements about any matters or hiring any communications staff.

And the ethics office would no longer be able to accept or investigate any anonymous reports of alleged wrongdoing by members of Congress.

Ok, if you got swindled by election hype, that's a shame but you have an out of saying you fell for the lies once. If a single one of these 119 criminals gets reelected in 2018, though, then shame on every single Republican voter who rubber stamped them. If there are recall processes in any of these districts and they aren't started right away, then shame on the Republicans in those districts.

It's mind boggling that on the first day of a session you could be so brazen. Buckle up for the Trump era. The secondary effects of his election emboldening the crazies has begun.

 

[PayOrPlay]

Oh, the irony . . .

The provision would "provide protection against disclosures to the public or other government entities," essentially sealing accusations against lawmakers. Currently those investigations are made public several months after the OCE refers the matter to the Ethics panel.

Quite right: if we learned anything from the presidential campaign, it was that we mustn't have public disclosure of ongoing investigations!

 

[RetroMcBananaFace]

This is astounding and blatant, yet at the same time, not at all surprising.

But they know they can get away with it. Couch it in complicated-sounding enough language and most people won't read past the first paragraph before yawning and turning their attentions back to their Ithings.

Repression of liberty right here folks, plain as day.

 

[DaveXA]

As if Congress' approval ratings couldn't get any worse. Pathetic.

 

[wnelson]

Oh, the irony . . .



Quite right: if we learned anything from the presidential campaign, it was that we mustn't have public disclosure of ongoing investigations!

Pretty much this

 

[J-Donk]

House GOP guts ethics panel - CNNPolitics.com

Ok, if you got swindled by election hype, that's a shame but you have an out of saying you fell for the lies once. If a single one of these 119 criminals gets reelected in 2018, though, then shame on every single Republican voter who rubber stamped them. If there are recall processes in any of these districts and they aren't started right away, then shame on the Republicans in those districts.

It's mind boggling that on the first day of a session you could be so brazen. Buckle up for the Trump era. The secondary effects of his election emboldening the crazies has begun.

Yeah I would say you don't have to vote Democrat, but every single one of these Reps should lose in the primaries.

 

[Saintamaniac]

This is basically a North Carolina move on the national level.

 

[Tapxe]

This is just left wing media hype over nothing. None of those 119 people are coming after our guns or about to let gays get married. So they're good people we can trust. Yall are just getting news from the wrong site. Try reading real news from rt.com. They don't even cover it proving it's not worth worrying about.

People just need to work harder. they'll make more money and have less time to stir up ugly questions about how our patriotic elected officials keep us safe from those horrible illegals and terrorists.

Good thing we have a new celebrity apprentice for everyone to concentrate on so this will blow over. And look over there, a brown person is taking your job.

 

[saintmdterps]

House Republicans eviscerate Office of Congressional Ethics

Because our congress is so well-behaved. Just when I thought my opinion of congress could go no lower, they pull this stunt in a secret nighttime meeting

Honestly this is just further proof of the sense of entitlement our congress has and how it feels it is above the laws that govern the rest of us. Make no mistake, this measure has bipartisan support.

What a bunch of lying, cheating, pond scum dirtbags. The greatest path In the world to self-aggrandizement and enrichment with a license to steal. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the US. Congress

House Republicans vote to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics | PBS NewsHour

 

[Saint_Ward]

What do the lawyers think about this?

I'm a bit torn. I see the obvious need for an independent watch dog that is free to make accusations.

At the same time, accusations have a powerful damaging effect. And it probably is better to have federal law enforcement investigate actual crimes.

Also at the same time, we have the right to know if someone is being investigated and if they were cleared or charged.

How long has this independent board been in effect?

 

[donato]

It clearly does not have bipartisan support. How are you interpreting it as such?

 

[donato]

2008

 

[staphory]

In American politics, the only thing that matters is the letter after the politicians name. Nobody goes after their own party for things like this for fear of empowering the evil other side.

 

[Galbreath34]

The thing is the most publicizing the office did was for investigations of Rangel and Waters, both Democrats.

The brazenness and the importance is holding a special post-midnight day 1 session to shut down any independent oversight of wrongdoing. For that to be your most important priority, even requiring an unusual midnight session tells you a lot about the priorities and where they plan on starting. That makes it pretty different from something done in April or even February.

 

[Galbreath34]

BTW, even though it's attenuated, give Trump credit for calling them out.

Donald Trump criticizes Republicans' move to gut watchdog - CNNPolitics.com

I also give Ryan and others credit for opposing it, but a lot of blame for no longer being able to reign in the crazies euphoric over the anything goes now mentality on the fringe right.

 

[saintmdterps]

It clearly does not have bipartisan support. How are you interpreting it as such?

Misinterpretation on my part. The actual Office of Congressional Ethics was/is an independent and bipartisan effort to reign in congressional shenanigans. apparently house republicans would like to continue these shenanigans unfettered by such niceties as Ethics.

Our Republican lawmakers apparently think they are above reproach by the public that the allegedly serve.

This is going to be a crappy 4 years.