My reaction to New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez’s conviction on a variety of charges was pretty simple. Luc Cohen reports at Reuters:
NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was convicted on Tuesday on all 16 criminal counts he faced including bribery at his corruption trial in Manhattan federal court, completing the once-powerful New Jersey Democrat’s dramatic downfall.
Senior Democrats including U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow New Jersey Senator Cory Booker quickly called on Menendez, who has served in the Senate since 2006 and avoided conviction in a prior 2017 corruption trial due to a deadlocked jury, to resign from the chamber.
My reaction was one down, 99 more to go. Furthermore, I think that Majority Leader Schumer’s and others’ quick reaction was to avoid the scrutiny from spreading any farther. They’ve known that Sen. Menendez was corrupt for decades. Knowing about it and doing nothing about it is itself corrupt.
The Senate does not have the power to eject Sen. Menendez from the body cf. Powell v. McCormack, but it does have the power to exclude him from committees and generally ostracize him. Sen. Menendez holds powerful positions on multiple Senate committees. Why?
The Senate always has the power to expel Sen Menendez with a 2/3 majority. Powell v. McCormack was on Congress’s power to judge the qualifications to be a member.
It only requires the Senate (and really the Democratic Senate caucus) to muster the necessary votes for expulsion. It won’t be quick through, previous Senate precedent is the ethics committee investigate and report recommendations first, then there is a Senate vote.
In this case, I doubt there is much to protect Menendez from expulsion if he resists resignation; New Jersey has a Democratic governor and Democratic voters have selected a nominee already for Menendez’s seat in November’s election.
“They’ve known that Sen. Menendez was corrupt for decades. Knowing about it and doing nothing about it is itself corrupt.”
Heh. They are all as corrupt and hesitant to out their own as doctors.
Now, explain to me again why anyone looks to government to solve the problems they claim they will……….for the last 70 years. (Hey Jets fans: Wait until next year). If I was a cynic, I’d say government is about wealth transfer, Average Joe to politician, with not Average Joe benefitting….and not about solving real problems. If I was a cynic.
Someone needs to throw sand in the gears of the government grift machine. But be prepared to be compared to Hitler, the threat to democracy, called a dictator. And as crazy as it sounds, have been identified as someone who needs to be beheaded or shot. I know. Sounds crazy….
I both agree and disagree with your comment, Drew. I agree with this:
and I agree with this:
We have several problems. First, as to this:
We do it because we have no choice. For example, we need a graduated income tax system (redistribution) because we can’t operate a modern military without one. There are many things for which we need government and the Founders’ head tax isn’t adequate. Once you start interfering in the operations of markets only government can restore the balance. And so on.
Second, Trump isn’t the guy to “throw sand”. He can produce chaos but he doesn’t know where to throw the sand. He proved that when he first came into office—he didn’t discharge the political appointees. It was an error of ignorance.
He doesn’t understand the law, the Congress, or the executive branch agencies. Maybe he doesn’t care. You can’t tinker with an engine you don’t understand.
As I have been saying for years, we need civil service reform. The spoils system had its problems but the problems produced by the permanent bureaucracy are worse. We need something in between, something suited for the modern day rather than the 1930s.
Somewhat OT:
Former Illinois State Senator and “Conservative” gubernatorial candidate, Sam McCann was sentenced to 42 months for misuse of campaign funds. He used over $600,000 on “personal vehicles, a mobile home, a trailer, personal debts associated with his former construction businesses, family vacations and other personal expenses.” The interesting part to me is that he’s been ordered to give restitution to his main campaign backers: Operating Engineers Local 150 in suburban Chicago and the Illinois Education Association.
https://www.illinoistimes.com/news-opinion/mccann-sentenced-to-42-months-18765350
So the rumors are true that the “Conservative” candidate was a union-backed spoiler intended to make sure Republican Governor Bruce Rauner didn’t win a second term. Rauner was a finance guy, who was conspicuously socially-liberal and he had to fend off a tough primary challenge from a genuine social conservative. The government unions must have reached out to McCann to see if he would run an independent campaign under the “Conservative” name and they would help him get enough signatures to get on the ballot.
There was no Conservative Party before. I don’t think McCann was particularly conservative, he was a traditional downstate Republican in a district with a lot of government employees (Springfield) and who didn’t vote with Rauner on his anti-government-union proposals. He ended up getting 4.23% of the vote, not enough to decide the election. Pritzker won with 54.53% of the vote. But I think a lot of people thought Rauner lost when someone with a “Conservative” label was able to get on the ballot.
Farmer next door is cutting hay Drew. Want me to send some so you can build another straw man?
Dave- He didnt discharge the political appointees because he didnt have anyone lined up to do so. He had lots of people available to help him. It was only 8 years since Bush was in office but he had trouble attracting and keeping competent people and his leadership skills are lacking, which is at least partially attributable to his lack of experience and knowledge about what he was running.
Steve
Trump won’t be fooled again.
Biden ( if he runs), is the same, just very, very, old.
This should be fun.
And straw comes from wheat fields.
Hay no bueno.