By, Jays Jewels
U.S. Federal legislators have stricken constitutionality, ethics & morals from their lexicon. No reasonable argument states that Democratic Party officials are without fault. For such is clearly foolishness. However, Republicans, in both chambers, dominate the new Congress. Therefore, let us look at documentation – Facts focusing on three high profile members of the majority party, the GOP.
In addition to the House and Senate majority leaders, respectively, Speaker John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul, also of Ky., is arguably the other highest profile (R) in Congress and has earned the distinction of being a proverbial, ‘Teabag Darling.’
• Sept. 23, 2009, D.C. fundraiser theme - a fight between,
‘Paul & We the People vs. D.C. Insiders.’
He pledged not to take money from lobbyists & Senators who had voted for what he termed, ‘the POTUS, Barak Obama banking bailout.’ Instead, [contradicting his declaration] he subsequently held a DC fundraiser with these same Senators. The end game, contributions totaling some $3 million. Hmm?
• Paul more than raised eyebrows when he stated, that, he favored 9 of 10 titles of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but, had he been a senator during the 1960s,
‘He would have raised some questions on the constitutionality of Title II of the Act.’ - Ugh, ugly!
• The Kentucky Senator characterized statements made by Obama Administration officials regarding the BP oil spill cleanup as sounding,
‘Un-American.’ WTF!
• Jan. 1, 2013: Speaker of the House, (R) John Boehner, after passing the Fiscal Cliff deal, Boehner adjourned the house without passing the $60 million Hurricane Sandy relief bill!
• Oct. 1–17, 2013: The federal government - shut down. Congress failed to enact legislation appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014. Constitutional authority for budget appropriations is the responsibility of the House of Representatives.
Chorus of Americans representative of all persuasions shout, ‘Thank you for your leadership Speaker Boehner.’
• Sept. 2010, N.Y.T’s, ‘Boehner Tightly Bound to Lobbyists’
He maintains especially tight ties to lobbyists and former aides, representing some of the nation’s largest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R.J. Reynolds, Miller-Coors and UPS.
He did not deny the allegation(s).
‘Mr. Speaker, since you enjoy close relationships with US corporate behemoths, where are the jobs your party leadership created?’ . . . ‘YIKES, NONE!’
• June 1995, Boehner distributed campaign contributions from tobacco industry lobbyists - ON THE HOUSE FLOOR - as Republican members were weighing how to vote on tobacco subsidies!
In 1996 on PBS, Boehner said, ‘They asked me to give out a half dozen checks, [quickly] before we got to the end of the month and I complied.’
• Mitch McConnell, then (R) Sen. Minority leader from Ky., spent, [winning the 2014 (R) primary] over $11 million of the nearly $22 million he had stockpiled.
‘Where do such OUTRAGEOUSLY HUGE sums of money come from?’
• McConnell Declared He Stood Up for Women in a Senate Sexual-Harassment Scandal; claiming he led a 1995 investigation against a GOP senator accused of sexual misconduct.
McConnell ‘loudly boasted’ that he led the Senate in ousting a GOP colleague accused of sexual harassment.
NOT TRUE, A BIG LIE!
Reports from that time show McConnell tried to stall the probe against his fellow (R), Sen. Bob Packwood. He derided efforts by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to hold public hearings.
• The fairest examination of McConnell is his performance as his party’s leader in the US Senate. While the American public suffered through the worst economic disaster since the ‘Great Depression’ – he vowed [unsuccessfully],
‘To make Pres. Obama a one-term POTUS; that this was his number one priority!’
Has the Senate leader ever placed character & integrity before political party? Unfortunately, no, not if determined by his actions rather than his words.
Suggested reading pursuant to, [all of] the above, includes official records, available on Wikipedia, and the Congressional Archives, Vis’ the Freedom of Information Act.
In this observers opinion, leading (R) shills may be little more than self-deluded proponents of ‘financial magic.’ Rabbits and hats delineation of finagling not seen since the days of Reagan trickling _ _ _ _ down upon the American public. It did not work then, (Regan raised taxes), & ‘austerity’ will not work now.
Iconic (R) President Theodore Roosevelt, understood that investment, incentives to innovate, and,
. . . ‘Progressive,’ forward thinking solutions have always been the hallmark of America’s success.
Inexplicably, insofar as reason of intellect demanded by the responsibility of holding high elected office - in direct disagreement are todays (R) DC contaminants, aka,
Conservative (Leaders?) of congress. As a result, the nation has devolved into a circus of lunacy. Blame sits squarely where deserved, in Wash. D.C. – aka ‘The District of Corruption.’
Watch for a forthcoming article on the publicly financed healthcare system in Florida. Found in this publication and authored by Jays Jewels.
Your comments, questions and concerns are always welcome. Please visit http://www.dailykos.com/...
Resources:
• The Associated Press
• Bloomberg
• The NY Times
• The Wall St. Journal
• The Washington Post
• The Lexington-Herald Examiner
• PBS
• Fox News
• Wikipedia
- Disabled activist Jay H. Berman is the author of JaysJewels. Due to illness, he appears infrequently on these pages, the dailykos.com Community - buzzfeed.com, and Thepoliticus.com
His short stories appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul. Contact him directly via email: jaysjewels2015@gmail.com and follow Jay on twitter @BermanJ1