Why Congress does nothing

Congressman Buck reveals the Corruption on Capitol Hill
and explains the unwritten rules

We continue to find and share articles of interest to our followers.

This interview provides an inside look at Congress and the 

political machinations which put money first, leaving the 

wishes of the voters and constituents in the dust.

This explanation makes one of the strongest cases we've seen yet for term limits!

For Congressional Representatives:  Six terms of two years each.

For Senators,                                      Two terms of six years each

[Congresspersons could extend their influence by running for the Senate]

Click here for full article
BY FULL MEASURE STAFF 1 OCTOBER 2017

Congressman Ken Buck [CO-4th District] was interviewed and disclosed all the dirty tricks on Capitol Hill, and how it is that Congresspersons and Senators start off by pinching pennies but end their careers as multi-millionaires.  

A former federal prosecutor, Buck has been in Congress less than three years. He says his education from Washington DC’s school of hard knocks began right after his election during his orientation trip to the Capitol. 

Republican Congressman Ken Buck speaks out of school about the shocking, transactional nature of Washington politics. About Party elites he says, "live like kings and govern like bullies." And he's lifting the curtain on why he says nothing gets done in Congress, describing collusion between Democrats and Republicans to fleece taxpayers on behalf of special interests. 

For students of politics, think of this as an advanced course in PoliSci 400.
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Representative Ken Buck:
The game here is not to take a tough vote.
Nobody wants to take a tough vote, Democrats and Republicans, there’s a quiet conspiracy going on that
‘If you don’t make me take a tough vote I won’t make you take a tough vote.’

He says a “tough vote” means anything that cuts spending or programs that benefit political and corporate interests, and the result is that the ability to cut federal programs or to reduce spending in other ways, or to get our tax structure under control- simplify the tax structure is very, very difficult. And that results in higher spending.  He says it’s why Congress consistently spends wildly more money than it receives from taxpayers: $600 billion last year alone.

And, why the federal debt has been allowed to balloon to record levels:
the US owes about $20 trillion dollars it doesn’t have on hand.

Sheryl Attkison

Sharyl Attkisson [Interviewer]:
Is there an element of that Democrats and Republicans may appear to disagree with things in public and yet privately agree because sometimes they cater to the same interests?

Buck:
Sure, I think Democrats and Republicans disagree on some social issues and make a big deal out of that, and disagree on some other major issues. But for the most part, there’s agreement behind-the-scenes not to make waves and to get things done quietly. Not good things, but things that involve spending more money. If I scratch your back you’ll scratch my back.

Sharyl: 
Is what you describe what some Americans might call ‘The Establishment’?

Buck:
Absolutely. The Establishment consists of the Republican leadership and the Democrat leadership getting along and pretending not to. But clearly getting along!

And that’s when a lot of the rules were explained to us about the dues to the NRCC other requirements.[
[Buck said he was stunned to find the NRCC [National Republican Congressional Committee] just like its counterpart for Democrats,; it requires hefty party dues, especially if members hope to aspire to meaningful committee positions.

Ryan: RINO
[Married to DNC Strategist

Rep. Paul Ryan comments on fund raising:
Talk about a record $30.1 million right here in this room. 
Give yourself a big round of applause. 

Buck:
It’s mildly offensive to think that to serve on a committee in Congress you need to pay a private political organization dues, and that’s what they were asking for.

Sharyl:
Did you have any idea before you were elected that that was the case?

Rep. Buck:
I did not know that there were mandatory dues here, no.

Sharyl:
How did they tell you?

Buck: 
Ah, well it’s not a big secret. They have a big chart in the National Republican Congressional Committee offices, and you can see everybody’s name and the dues that they owe and how much they’ve paid.

Sharyl:
What was going through your mind when you started to hear this news?

Buck:
Well, as Freshmen we have to raise $200,000 and that’s a lot of money. You know I just finished campaigning and raising money, and now I had to go back to donors and ask them for money again.  Rep. He says to meet fundraising quotas, members of Congress spend hour upon hour of public work time asking for money from the very interests they’re supposed to oversee, ending up beholden to them instead of the public at large.

Sharyl: 
For people who really have no idea how things work up here, can you tell us how the special interests and corporate interests, for example, actually influence members? How does that happen? R

Buck:

Rags to Riches by election to Congress

It starts with committee assignments.

If you’re on the transportation and infrastructure committee, the transportation bill will come before your committee and all over town there will be receptions and the members on the Transportation Committee will be invited to those receptions, expected to attend those receptions and receive donations as a result of that.

They know the easy money, the low-hanging fruit, is gonna be at receptions that are given right before a major piece of legislation goes to committee.

Everything is called ‘across the street’ because at the Capitol behind me, you can’t accept money there. You can’t give money there, but once you walk across the street, then the bags open up.

Sharyl Attkisson: 
Restaurants around here?

Buck:
Restaurants: the Republicans, the Capitol Hill Club has a lot of different receptions and dinners. Industries paying for those receptions and dinners include tobacco, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, TV broadcasting, beer and wine, defense and Hollywood.

Democrats have their own fundraising hangout nearby: The National Democratic Club.

I’ve attended receptions where I’ve had 10, 12 corporations represented and they have made their case to me on why they need me to vote a certain way on a piece of legislation. And I know that if I accommodate them, I will have a reception later on where they will support me.

Sharyl Attkisson: 
You’re describing an entire system where almost every consideration that ought to be for constituents is instead about special interests and corporate interests and donations.

Buck: 
It surprised me when I got here and I’ve been involved in politics since I was a teenager, and getting to this place is really shocking to see the influence that money has in politics.

[Early on, Buck challenged GOP leadership on a vote he felt would give President Obama too much power on trade issues.  Republican leaders retaliated by trying to oust him as president of his freshman class. But he went on a public offensive and survived. He says he’s watched colleagues get punished for doing what they think is right instead of what party bosses demand; booted from committee positions and even denied dining room privileges.] 

Buck: 
The incentive structure right now is to vote for more money.
You never vote for less money, because someone’s gonna get mad if you vote for less money. And so as long as the American public doesn’t stand up and demand that members of Congress are accountable, Congress will continue acting the way it does.

Sharyl: 
Do you think a lot of people come to Washington really hoping it will be different and planning to work for their constituents and just find out it can’t be done?

Buck: 
I absolutely think most members come here with the best intentions. And I think within a year or two they realize that there is no hope of changing this place. And a lot of them leave fairly early on. Others become disillusion
ned and some others just settle into the swamp and enjoy it.

Sharyl Attkisson: 
I’ve not heard another sitting member of Congress talk about these things.
What happens to you now because of this?

Buck:
 You know I didn’t come here with any friends, Sharyl, and I’m not leaving with any friends and I’m okay with that. I didn’t come here to make friends. And so, if I’m gone in a couple of years, I did what I came here to do and that’s hopefully make Americans aware that this place is broken.
--------------

Buck says solutions include requiring a balanced budget meaning Congress wouldn't be able to spend more money than it has and they'd be forced to make the tough choices they now avoid and term limits to restrict the number of years people can serve in Congress.
-------------

Buck reveals the unwritten rules and outlines the allegations in his book: 
“Drain the Swamp: How Washington Corruption is Worse than You Think.”
----------------

[Will Congressman suffer the fate of House Majority Whip, Steve Scalise, who chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations - and perhaps, investigated a bit too closely for comfort?]

-----------

Editorial Update:

Ed Buck won his 2022 reelection bid for a fifth term in Congress - winning 61% of the vote

Trump's Hatchet Job

We publish commentary which is incisive

 and applicable to current events. 

This was written by an author who prefers 

anonymity, but the content is a superb 

analysis of President Trump's business 

management style as applied

to Washington politics.

How things work in the real world of business and corporate America; most notably. the concept of the "hatchet man."

Say you are a business tycoon. You just successfully completed a large-scale acquisition and merger, bringing together multiple smaller companies into one conglomerate. After the merger, you want to put your own people in charge of everything. 

However, all those smaller companies had their own executives - and, at least for the short term - you need to keep many of them around the keep things running. 

So, you keep many of those executives around, and let them retain their own senior staff. You even appoint one of them - the head of the largest of the companies you acquired - to be the CEO of the conglomerate, and he pledges to get all the departments working together harmoniously.

After a transition period, some of them are doing fine in the new conglomerate - but others are clearly causing trouble. In fact, the one you appointed CEO is clearly a disaster. The newly merged departments are working against each other.

Furthermore, you have good suspicion he is dealing in insider trading - nothing you can take to a prosecutor, but there is a lot of circumstantial evidence building up. Worse, he is not only doing his own dirty dealing, but it appears he may even be leaking intellectual property to your competitors, helping them take market share from you.

Clearly, he has to go - and go now.

Problem is, many of the senior employees in your conglomerate are loyal to him. If you just fire him and put in your own chosen CEO, you know you could get a lot of backlash from disgruntled employees. And in your business, there is such a small profit-margin that you really can't afford anything at all that threatens performance. So what do you do?

In comes the hatchet man.

The hatchet man is someone you bring in for the sole purpose of slashing the problems and shaking things up over a very short period of time - but doing it in a way that deflects any blame or blowback away from you. As soon as the problems are hacked away, the hatchet man leaves - taking the ire and resentment with him, and leaving you free to bring in your new team for a fresh start.

This happens in the business world all the time. 

And Donald Trump is a businessman. 

[One of our jobs was as a Hatchet Man in the Intel Community (IC) many years ago; the process worked quite well there to eliminate "dead wood", and, of course, it is time to renew that process with today's IC.]

He knows this. He has lived this. We've seen him do it on "The Apprentice." We've read about it in his books. This is not a surprise to anyone. Except for liberals and never-trumpets.

Enter Scaramucci.

Scaramucci - Hatchet Man

Liberals and never-Trumpers see recent events as proof of a Hitler-clown-circus spectacle, as evidence that Trump is unhinged and our government is in the hands of madmen! 

Anyone who understands the business world and Donald Trump fully understands that what we just witnessed was a perfectly executed hatchet man maneuver.

When Trump won the election, he essentially performed the political equivalent of an acquisition and merger. He brought together different political factions - establishment Republicans, conservatives, tea party, religious right, moderates, independents, cross-overs - into one winning political coup. For some, it was a hostile takeover - and if they were going to be dragged in against their will, they would sure as hell resist.

This is where Reince Priebus came in.

Priebus - Dead Meat

Priebus, as the then-chairman of the Republican National Committee, was hired as White House Chief of Staff to be a sort of post-merger CEO. I

It was his job to bring all these political factions together and get them to work harmoniously. But he failed. Worse, there is ample evidence to suggest he not only failed, but worked against Trump and the Trump agenda. 

Look at the leaks. Look at all the chaos. Look at all the bureaucracy continuing to work at odds with the president. Priebus - and a number of other people around him - had to go.

Back to Scaramucci.

Donald Trump had known for some time that Priebus was a disaster. He was going to give him his six-month trial period - that's a fairly common thing in the private sector. After that, heads were going to roll. But Trump himself couldn't be seen as the hatchet man. He needed to be able to lead after the bloodbath. 

So what does to do? 

He turned to an old friend he had known for many years - someone with nothing to lose, someone who could step in with a hatchet and hack away, someone who can then just walk away from it all and leave the slate clean. 

He turned to Scaramucci.

So what did Scaramucci do? 

He came in swinging. He fired a few people to make a quick example and then told others they could "resign" immediately if they wanted to - but if not, they would be fired. Others saw what was going on and quit of their own accord.

                                     That problem CEO, Priebus? 

Mucci to Priebus: YOU'RE FIRED!

Oh, the new "structure" of the organization put Scaramucci in direct competition with Priebus - and Priebus threw up his hands and announced

 "fine, I'm out of here." And Scaramucci did it all in a way that is spectacularly visible to draw all the fire from Trump critics.

[Most notably, by drawing Priebus out from his position as Chair of the GOP, Trump eliminated Priebus' power as an adversary since the scramble of power brokers to replace Priebus ensured he could not return, and guaranteed that it would take years for Priebus' replacement to create a power base.]

So how did it all end? 

It ended up with Trump putting in his new CEO - the one he probably wanted from day one, but held back - and the new CEO says 

"OK, Scaramucci - you are no longer needed here."

New Chief of Staff: General Kelly

General Kelly now has a clean slate to start fresh - and Scaramucci takes all the heat. Where the Left and Never-Trumpers see a circus freak-show, realists from the business world see a perfectly executed post-merger hatchet-man job.

The political wonks see Kelly taking command as the first sane thing to happen in this administration. They don't realize they've been played, and played perfectly. And soon, we will likely see some other changes that move the Executive Branch further towards what Trump has wanted from Day One. 

And then watch the real swamp-drainer get to work. 

Oh, and Scaramucci? 

He got a sweet deal out of all this - no doubt, he and his friend Donald Trump talked it all out first.

Scaramucci was already facing a nasty divorce that would result in the liquidation of his business to divide assets. A little-known law allows people who are legally required to sell a business as a condition of employment in the Executive Branch (to prevent conflicts of interest) to defer the taxes on their profits from the sale.

Scaramucci was going to have to sell his company anyway due to his pending divorce. Now he and his soon-to-be ex-wife just saved $80 million in taxes. So don't think for a moment all this was an unplanned mess that went awry. Scaramucci and Trump knew exactly what they were doing.

All of this was planned - and foreseen by folks in the business world. 

Scott Adams wrote before Trump was inaugurated that, to his critics, the first year of Trump would be a play in three acts:

Act One - Trump is literally Hitler.
Act Two - Trump is not literally Hitler, but Trump is incompetent.
Act Three - Trump is not incompetent, but we don't like his policies.

We've seen this play out.

From election night up through the first 100 days, the Left was out rioting and acting as though Trump taking office was literally the end of Western Civilization.

But after 100 days, when Trump had failed to do evil-dictator things like round up all the brown people and put the gays into camps and force women to stay home and have babies, it became farcical to continue the "Trump is Hitler" narrative.

And so from that 100 day point up until now, it has been the "Trump is incompetent" game. 

Look at all the chaos. 

Look at all the leaking. 

Look at all the tweets. 

Now, we begin Act Three. 

With Priebus out and Kelly in, things will settle down. Pretty soon, all the Left -- and the RINOs will have to say is "we just don't like Trump's policies."...Act Three.

And once that happens, the Left is dead, as will be the GOP if they don't get behind Trump. 

Because, Trump's policies are policies that most Americans actually agree with. 

We should put America first. 

Build back our economy. 

Create jobs. 

Strengthen the military. 

Protect the border. 

Outside of a few densely-populated liberal strongholds like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and - of course - Washington, DC, Americans in general agree with all of this. So when all the Left has to say is "Trump's policies are wrong," the Left, and Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell, will literally be telling most of America, "you people are stupid."

Trump will win 47 states in 2020. The Left will be scratching their heads and wondering what the hell happened. And you'll be able to look back and say, 

"hey, some of us told you all this back in 2017"

Consider this a free lesson in Advanced Business Administration as applied to Politics 401.

Hillary - GOP's Choice?

We are of the opinion that the GOP threw both the 2008 AND the 2012 elections -- and that it is about to throw the 2016 election as well.  Mainstream America, however, may block that path, and elect a non-politician antithetical to the political corruption endemic on Capitol Hill.

In 2008, Sarah Palin was a logical pick for VP for the "War Hero" McCain -- a shoo-in against Obama, a junior, unaccomplished senator of questionable citizenship [sort of like Cruz];  Palin, an attractive, accomplished family woman with a superb record of responding to, and support of her constituents and the state of Alaska, would normally have been a Media Darling -- except she had acquired an extremely powerful enemy -- Exxon and the oil industry -- when she forced Big Oil to share its revenue/profits with the citizens of Alaska, from whose territory the oil companies were extracting huge profits, and who were polluting both the land and waters.

Palin kicked their butts in Alaska, and garnered enough payment from Big Oil to eliminate the income tax for her Alaskan constituents.  And, Big Oil continues its slander campaign against her recognizing she will likely be included in the Trump Administration.

And the GOP stood aside and let Big Oil propaganda machines destroy her candidacy, and completely ignored McCain as the GOP Presidential candidate.  They ran a highly effective Media campaign, highlighted by Saturday Night Live, portraying her as an ignorant peasant woman of no merit, and even bought a house next to Palin's so the Media could have 24/7 access to every movement in her house, and to monitor every word she uttered.  All this for a Vice President candidate?
A first in the history of US elections.

But, Big Oil knew that if Sarah were in the national limelight, she'd go after Big Oil -- to include Warren Buffett's highly polluting and dangerous oil trains -- and make them not only clean up after themselves, but pay a higher price to the American people.

Would McCain have made a better President?
At worst, he would not have been as bad as Obama [but we'll reserve our criticism of him for another time].

But, then, after two years of Obama, American voters rebelled against both Obama AND the GOP, electing Tea Party candidates to replace the worthless Obama acolytes from the GOP.

The Tea Party, a new political force, has many rough edges, but its independence and focus on supporting their constituents vs special interests was refreshing.  Nonetheless, the GOP managed to gather enough blackmail on them, and offer them special benefits, that they eventually fell into line with the GOP leadership.

The GOP was surprised when Scott Brown, a Tea Party Independent unexpectedly beat Martha Coakley in a landslide victory, the Establishment's Democrat candidate who ran for Ted Kennedy's seat.  Brown filled the remainder of Kennedy's term, but, when the GOP determined Brown voted independently, they joined forces with the Democrats  -- and supported Elizabeth Warren to defeat him.  Brown then shifted to New Hampshire to run against Jeanne Shaheen, who as governor, had reneged on her promise of "no new taxes", and as senator, endorsed ObamaCare, and supported gun control -- all opposed by her constituents.  Nonetheless, with GOP support, she defeated Brown.

And then, in 2010, we watched in horror as the GOP campaigned against its own candidates to defeat them, and elect their Democrat opponents.  And the GOP told us these GOP or Tea Party candidates were crazy, and wouldn't represent THE PARTY very well because they were an embarrassment.

But, when we dug into the history of those candidates, we learned that they each had independent streaks, couldn't be bought, and had declared they would represent their constituents rather than bow and scrape to THE PARTY.

Most notable was Sharron Angle in Nevada, running against Harry Reid -- the most despicable Democrat in the Senate, and the Senate Majority Leader who gave us ObamaCare.

Angle had whipped all the other GOP candidates in the Primaries by large percentages and was leading Reid in the election by 10 points when the GOP marshaled its forces and the Las Vegas Media to condemn Angle as a crazy woman who had expressed an interest in witchcraft when she was in high school. And, the GOP elected Harry Reid to return to the Senate.

We learned only later that the GOP opposed her because she had challenged the GOP governor's tax plan as unconstitutional, and fought that battle all the way to the Supreme Court, paying the costs out of her own pocket -- and she won!  The GOP never forgave her, and recognized she'd be an independent force to reckon with should she be elected to the US Senate where she would most likely be outspoken in her condemnation of GOP [and Democrat] corruption.

In 2011, we had Benghazi, which should have led to Obama's impeachment since all indicators pointed to a White House-State Department-Pentagon collusion.

The facts were there, yet the GOP did nothing in the face of blatant lies about our Military not having the capacity to respond for at least 16 hours -- a lie which was dispelled by evidence that we had at least one counter-terrorist ship parked off the coast of Benghazi loaded with SpecOps troops and aircraft, plus the Sixth Fleet, plus AfriCom forces, plus European Command forces -- all of whom had been ordered to stand down.

But, the GOP Congress pointedly refused to acknowledge the blatant lies and only raised lackluster complaints and investigations into that conspiracy -- alluding to all who questioned the official stories of Hillary and Rice and Jarrett as conspiracy theorists wearing tin-foil hats.

And, we gradually came to understand through Benghazi Committee testimony and Wikileaks releases of official documents, to include Hillary's classified emails, that all those accusations were accurate, and the evidence mounted that the GOP leadership had not only been aware of the White House - State Department - Pentagon collusion, they had been part of the conspiracy.

By 2012, even Obama doubted he could get reelected, and Romney had him on the ropes after demolishing Obama in the first debate.

In the second debate, all Romney had to do was respond with force against Candy Crowley and demonstrate he was a strong leader with the experience to fix the problems of the US economy.

Barack, I concede the election to you and Candy!

Instead, Crowley's blatant lie on Benghazi caught him like a deer in the headlights, and in that moment, Romney lost the confidence of Mainstream America.

Romney remained mute, and let Crowley cow him with her attack on national TV, and the American people figured this wimp, who clearly couldn't defend himself against a lying, conniving, obese, witch wasn't the leader they thought he was.




And, he still could have won the election had he paid attention to the famous Bill Clinton slogan being shouted from the rooftops:
'IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID!"

All he had to do was present to America his track record of creating tens of thousands of jobs.
But, mysteriously, he omitted those facts from his campaign.  At this point, it was clear he was throwing the election.

And, Obama was reelected.
And Congress, both  Democrats and  Republicans, were then free to continue their corruption unfettered.  And, Mainstream America was bewildered.

By 2014, the American Rebellion continued, and more Democrats were evicted, and more Tea Party candidates came to Capitol Hill, but more were corrupted by either promises of Party support for reelection, or perhaps coercion.

In 2015, Congress jumped on the money wagon to pass Obama's Fast Track package for the Trans-Pacific Partnership {TPP}Trade Proposals which would bar Congressional Members and Senators from
1) Submitting amendments to trade proposals
2) Limit how long proposals can be debated
3) Restrict dilatory tactics that create a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate

Essentially, Congress voted to opt out of the Trade Proposal process, and to remain ignorant of the content of those proposals -- not what we call due diligence in fiscal responsibility, and in direct contradiction to the Constitution -- passing its powers of legislation and Executive Oversight to the Oval Office.

How did this happen?  Were they coerced? or, were they bought.
You're Right!
It was door number 2, and the bill passed Congress by eight [count them] 8 votes!

Who paid what and to whom?
The money came from Wall Street, Big Pharma, Defense Contractors, and lobbyists for special interests.  Interestingly, the Republicans took most of the money, and many Democrats abstained.

Open Secrets and MapLight identified 346 companies [e.g., Monsanto, Google, Facebook, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, and Walmart] and key organizations provided the bribes.

A sampling of the payouts and recipients:

HOUSE:  [partial list; note, Democrats can be bought for less]

 1)  John Boehner:        (R-OH)   $5.3  Million
 2)  Paul Ryan:               (R-WI)   $2.4  Million
 3)  Kevin McCarthy:    (R-CA)     $2.4  Million
 4)  Pat Tiberi                 (R-OH)    $1.6  Million
 5)  Jim Hines                 (D-CT)    $1.14 Million
 6)  Pete Sessions           (R-TX)    $1.06 Million [House Rules Committee Chair]
 7)  Bob Goodlatte         (R-VA)      $1     Million
 8)  Ron Kind                 (D-WI       $1    Million
 9)  Cathy Rogers          (R-WA)      $900,732
10)  Mike Pompeo         (R-KS)      $949,708
11)  Marsha Blackburn  (R-TN)      $700,687 [voted for uncontrolled immigration]
12)  Ami Bera                (D-CA)     $602,985
13)  Gerry Connolly       (D-VA)     $408,305
14)  Don Beyer               (D-VA)     $461,454
15)  Rick Larson             (D-WA)    $359,965
16)  Earl Blumenauer     (D-OR)     $352,711
17)  Debbie Wasserman Shultz  [ D-FL] $303,400 [Chair: DNC]
18)  Suzanne Bonamici   (D-OR)   $273,500


SENATE:

 1)  Mitch McConnell  (R-KY)  $9.01 Million
 2)  John Cornyn           (R-TX)    $5.30 Million
 3)  Mark Warner          (D-VA)    $5.04 Million

 4)  Claire McCaskell   (D-MO)   $4.4   Million

 5)  Mike Bennett         (D-CO)   $4.36 Million

 6)  Marco Rubio        (R-FL)    $4.17   Million
 7)  Ted Cruz               (R-TX)   $3.70 Million
 8)  Tim Kaine              (D-VA)   $3.66   Million
 9)  Ron Wyden            (D-OR)   $3.4   Million
10) Lindsey Graham    (R-SC)    $3.4 Million
11) Dianne Feinstein   (D-CA)   $2.86 Million
12) Jeanne Shaheen    (D-NH)   $2.02 Million

[Note: Figures are cumulative and reflect the varying stages of the Bill from introduction to name and content changes to enactment]

How did this Bill even get to the floor without public awareness?

On 12 May 2015, HR 2146 [Defending Public Safety], a routine bill for benefits for Law Enforcement Officers and Firefighter retirement funds passed the House 407-5.

My Bible Proves I'm Pure

On 4 June 2015, Ted Cruz added the magic amendment "with changes" to the House Bill, adding "TPA" [Trade Promotion Act] and "TAA" [Trade Adjustment Assistance (offset US worker job loss due to international trade agreements)] with "unanimous consent".

Me?  Corrupt?

Paul Ryan then picked up the ball and accepted the TPA change, but removed the TAA [a financial assistance package to train union workers].  Pelosi objected, but was coerced by Obama to go along with the package.  The House then passed the bill again, but with greater opposition this time [218 -  208] and sent it to the Senate where Ted Cruz maneuvered it through with a 60-38 vote.


The TAA element was the kicker here, since politicians of either Party who voted against this Bill would be accused of voting AGAINST benefits for Police and Firefighters -- the kiss of death in local elections back home.

On 29 June 2015, President Obama signed the Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority into law, giving the Executive Office unprecedented power and gutting Congressional oversight.

To further emasculate Congress, Senator Cruz defeated an amendment contained in HR 1314 that would have required Congress "to be consulted" if China [or other nations were to join after the fact.

Meanwhile, Trump was protesting the deal noting that TPP carried a "backdoor for China and Russia to join" this trade agreement -- which Cruz and Rubio had officially denied.

However, Secretary of State John Kerry, on 4 November 2015] invited China and Russia to join the TPP.  This followed declarations by Cruz and Ryan that neither China nor Russia would be allowed to participate in the TPP.



So, now that you are completely outraged and frustrated by this Byzantine corrupt political process, you might ask:
How do these sleazy SOBs get away with this!
Why don't the new politicians raise a stink?
Why not prosecute them!

Two words:
1) Bribes:  From the day Congresspersons are elected, they spend virtually all their time soliciting campaign donations and campaigning for reelection, selling their souls to get reelected.  Sometimes, they even have time to represent their constituents.  Some even do that well - specifically those who have made their fortunes before arriving on Capitol Hill, such as Darrell Issa [R-CA] and Thomas Massie [R-KY].

2) Blackmail:  This practice goes back to the LBJ Administration, which employed J Edgar Hoover to illegally wire offices in both the House and the Senate; LBJ then used recordings of the politicians to coerce them into supporting is initiatives; in some cases, he even used videos recorded in condominiums of his White House "hostesses" who invited newly elected Representatives and Senators [geographical bachelors] to their "homes".   Later, those wiretaps were reactivated by Clinton Administration and First Lady Hillary who purloined the "Background Investigation" files from the FBI [we're not sure how she managed that], and which the Secret Service found in her bedroom.

But, all that is such "Old School" technology.  Today, Obama has the NSA and an obsequious Director of National Intelligence to pander to the every need of Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod to tap into every bit of communication of every politician and staffer on Capitol Hill, but that of their family members as well.  Essentially, no one on Capitol Hill is clean, except for the few who made their fortunes before being elected and have been smart enough to avoid NSA eavesdropping and DHS surveillance.

As you may have noticed, key bureaucrats and occasionally politicians who speak out against the crooks on Capitol Hill, or God forbid, against Obama, and find Men in Black at their doors at 3:00 am with "urgent safety updates" to discuss about very private family issues; in some cases with bureaucrats, arrests are made regarding specious allegations such as discovering child pornography on their home computers -- followed by quick trials in tiny courtrooms, and sentences of unique qualities.

So, the concept of truth and justice will win out is a stretch these days.
It is workable, however, if the incoming Trump Administration can rid the government of the Obama actives [and sleepers -- as we found following the Carter Administration] including a majority of the political appointees and replace them with professionals in the Department of Justice [we recall such days in the Reagan Administration].

An honest and professional DOJ would be capable of targeting the worst on Capitol Hill and certain agencies, and we firmly believe, with that lead, many on Capitol Hill would be more than willing to take plea bargains rather than have them and their families endure potential charges of corruption or treason to testify against the most corrupt on the Hill; the ultimate weapon is the potential loss of their lucrative federal pensions.

The end-product will be a strengthened Constitution, the same as we knew and understood throughout our history, through good times and bad.  It's really all up to Mainstream America in this Presidential Election.  We trust the American people can pull this off.

We do hope Mr Trump survives the campaign without being assassinated by Obama, the DNC, or the GOP [or all of the above] since it is certain that he will bring a new level of integrity to Washington.  We strongly suggest he surround himself with the very best and most trustworthy security personnel - and keep the Secret Service as his second tier [they weren't so effective with JFK and Ronald Reagan].

Trump will fix VA

The only candidate with a legitimate and workable VA reform        [Reuters photo]

In our continuing series of guest posts from reputable reporters and analysts, 

we highlight  Betsy McCaughey's Opinion Piece in the New York Post [3 Nov 2015] 

to provide a wider dissemination [i.e., global] to her comments.

Click here for original article [Trump shows real policy chops with great fix for ailing VA]

20% of voters are Military Vets

A whopping 20 percent of Republican primary voters are military Veterans. No wonder GOP presidential candidates are making the scandal-plagued Veterans Affairs Department a campaign issue.

And the man frequently tagged as lacking substance — Donald Trump — just came out with the best reform plan so far.

Under Trump’s plan, vets of all ages who are eligible for VA care could get treated at any civilian doctor’s office or hospital that takes Medicare. No bureaucratic hoops, pre-approvals or wait lists.

Trump’s proposal leverages the close connection between Medicare and Veterans Affairs — 45% of VA users are already on Medicare. Opponents are carping that Trump’s plan lacks details, but we don’t need a 1,000-page bill. Trump’s proposal works. It also does an end-run around the VA bureaucracy that has sabotaged every effort so far to allow Vets to go outside for care.

VA excludes Disabled Vets           [MrConservative]

For 20 years, Veterans Affairs has failed to provide timely care to sick vets. Congress has been alerted again and again that VA schedulers falsified wait lists and even lied to vets, telling them they were in line to be seen when they weren’t. After several vets died needlessly at the Phoenix VA facility, Congress finally enacted reform last year. It promised vets the option of civilian care.

Every vet gets a “choice card,” but it’s a cruel joke. The law erects so many hurdles that few vets can actually use it.

Vets have to live more than 40 miles from a VA facility or have waited more than 30 days to be eligible. Then they have to get a letter confirming eligibility from Veterans Affairs — good luck with that. Then their civilian doctor has to call for pre-approval before treatment — fat chance getting that call answered. After all that, treatment is limited to 60 days. Like you can cure cancer in 60 days!

More than half of vets haven’t even heard about the choice program, which is just what the VA bureaucracy wants. But count on Trump — the master marketer — to get the word out about his plan if he’s elected president. And to fire VA Secretary Robert McDonald, who is a mere apologist for the system.

Competitors criticize Trump for not estimating the cost. But the facts suggest his plan will be low-cost, because nearly half of VA users are already on Medicare. Astoundingly, over 1 million of them have Medicare Advantage, which means taxpayers are paying insurance companies to care for them and then paying Veterans Affairs to care for them. This nonsensical double payment sends 10 percent of the VA health budget down the drain every year.

Overall, encouraging older vets to use Medicare instead by picking up their out-of-pocket costs when they go to a civilian doctor is a no-brainer, and it would cut VA wait lists in half. That would allow younger vets to see a VA doctor faster. But Trump also gives them access to civilian doctors, if they prefer.

Vets needing procedures such as bypass surgery and angioplasty do better at civilian hospitals that perform them in high volume. Medical studies support Trump’s idea. (No kidding!)

Concerned Veterans for America lashed out at Trump’s plan for lacking details. It proposes moving vets into private health plans with subsidies to help pay the premiums. But the plans resemble ObamaCare, meaning most vets could face large out-of-pocket costs.

That’s a nonstarter. 

Vets already earned their care. At the VA, they can see a doctor for $15. Maybe Concerned Veterans was fast to criticize Trump because one of their plan’s authors is an adviser to another presidential campaign.

So we lost a few at Benghazi!

Hillary Rodham Clinton says she’ll unveil a VA reform plan next month. 

She’s already brushed aside evidence of VA corruption, denying it’s widespread. Trump is the candidate best equipped so far with a real alternative when she launches into a defense of the VA’s rotten status quo.