Froth Slosh B'Gosh

Oh my!

Well, its nowhere near as bad as wearing a tan suit.

Democrats Sue Treasury

They're seeking Trump's tax returns.

Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, filed the lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department after months of feuding with the Trump administration over the returns.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, who have denied Democrats’ demands for the returns, are named as defendants.
“Defendants have mounted an extraordinary attack on the authority of Congress to obtain information needed to conduct oversight of Treasury, the IRS, and the tax laws on behalf of the American people who participate in the Nation’s voluntary tax system,” the 49-page lawsuit states.

This should be a no-brainer, but with the Republicans' efforts to to make the courts more partisan and favorable to their ideology, I no longer trust Federal judges to act constitutionally. 

Ruminating....

Pam Iovino defeats D. Raja in a special election for a South Hills State Senate seat. The district was gerrymandered by Republicans in 2010 to maximize a Republican's chances to win, and has historically been an "R" seat. And while I commend Allegheny County Republicans for nominating an immigrant and a person of color for seat, I have to wonder if the national Republican Party's racism and xenophobia cost Raja the election? Did many Republican or Republican leaning voters not turn out because they weren't willing to vote for an immigrant, or an Indian?

Horrific

Right-wing fascist nut job admirer of Trump kills 49 people in New Zealand because of religion.  Thanks Fox News!

Can The GOP Be Saved?

I remember reading way back when that the Republican party can survive a Trump loss, but they'll never survive a Trump win.  Its looking increasingly likely to me that the GOP is determined to go down with the Trump ship. If these week's revelations about Trump sharing highly secretive intel with the Russians, to the detriment of our intelligence gathering abilities doesn't move Congress to act,  then nothing can save the party.  The investigations will continue, the revelations will only get worse.  At this point in time, the only thing I can think is that the party itself colluded with the Russians.  What else can explain the inability of Republican leaders in Washington to act in light the what's happened in the last 48 hours?

They can save themselves, by acting to remove Trump from office, as it is abundantly clear that he is unfit.  If they do not, then they are as guilty as he is.

Buyer's Remorse

You thought that Trump and the Republicans actually cared about you. You were wrong. I'm very, very sorry and saddened that you're getting shafted by the politicians you trusted, but we tried to warn you, and you didn't listen.

 

Another Day, Another Scandal

Jeff Sessions is a liar.

At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.

“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” he responded. He added: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”

Of course, we now know that he did, in fact, have at least two encounters, one of which was a private meeting, with the Russian ambassador.  Now, amid calls for his resignation, Sessions announced he was recusing himself from the probe into Russian efforts to influence the election.  As well he should, since he's now a potential target.

Not even two months in, and this is shaping up as the most corrupt administration ever.

As Always, IOKIYAR

I'm old enough to remember when this was grounds for automatic rejection.

Treasury secretary nominee Steven T. Mnuchin defended his ties to offshore business entities and his management of a controversial California bank during a testy confirmation hearing on Thursday.

Speaking before the Senate Finance committee, Mnuchin said businesses in the Cayman Islands and Anguilla revealed in his financial disclosures were not used for his personal benefit but served nonprofits and pensions. A memo compiled by Democratic committee staffers obtained by The Washington Post showed Mnuchin initially omitted some of those entities -- as well as more than $100 million in personal assets -- from his nomination paperwork.

IIRC, presidential appointments were routinely rejected for things as mundane as employing an undocumented immigrant.  Forgetting to declare hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, ties to overseas tax havens, and shady banking practices?  Eh, what can you do?

 

Article VI, Clause 3

I can think of many reasons why an elector would not cast a vote for Trump, but this person's reasoning, while heartfelt, is also plainly unconstitutional.

"I do not see how Donald Trump is biblically qualified to serve in the office of the presidency," he said in his Saturday post. "Of the hundreds of angry messages that I have received, not one has made a convincing case from Scripture otherwise. If Trump is not qualified and my role, both morally and historically, as an elected official is to vote my conscience, then I cannot and will not vote for Donald Trump for president."

Article VI, clause 3 of the Constitution plainly states "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

By bringing biblical qualifications into his reasoning, Art Sisneros is clearly applying a religious test.  While he states he will resign rather than cast a vote for Trump, I wonder how long has he been an elector, and how many times he's applied a religious test for office in violation of the Constitution?

Associate Groper Of The Supreme Court?

Well, this is interesting.

An Alaska lawyer said Justice Clarence Thomas groped her at a dinner party in 1999, a claim that Thomas said is “preposterous,” the National Law Journal reported Thursday.

The publication said Moira Smith posted on Facebook about the alleged incident Oct. 7, the night of the disclosure of Republican presidential nominee’ Donald Trump’s taped boasts about grabbing women.

The NLJ report said Smith, at the time a 23-year-old Truman Foundation scholar, said that the incident occurred at the Falls Church, Va., home of her boss. She said Thomas grabbed and squeezed her buttocks several times.

“He groped me while I was setting the table, suggesting I should sit ‘right next to him,’ ” Smith wrote, according to the NLJ report...

Thomas, in a statement through the Supreme Court’s press office, denied Smith’s allegations.

“This claim is preposterous and it never happened,” Thomas said.

Now, IIRC, Congress spent quite a bit of time and money investigating a certain president accused of having a consensual relationship with a woman.   It seems to me that if a sitting Supreme Court Justice, a person who can only be removed from office via impeachment, is accused of sexual assault, shouldn't the Congress put together an investigative committee to determine if the accusation is credible or not?  Think that will happen?  Because IOKIYAR, I seriously doubt that will happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 "She had HUGE....tracts of land!"