God Bless America ...Democrats issue first batch of Subpoenas!

[Billo_Really]

It's about god-damn time!

Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a changing

Truth, justice and the American way has begun.

Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pens
And keep your eyes open, the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon, the wheel's still in spin
And there's no telling who that it's naming
Oh the loser will be later to win
For the times, they are a changing

For the constructors of the last 5 years, it is time to pay the fiddler.

Come senators, congressmen, please head the call
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be her that has stalled
The battle outside ragging will soon shake your windows
And rattle your hall
For the times, they are a changing

Investigations and hearings will now begin on corruption charges against the Republican party.

Democrats send out first round of subpoenas
By Susan Crabtree

A House Judiciary subcommittee approved today the first in what is expected to be an avalanche of subpoenas to Bush administration officials. They will likely explore corruption and mismanagement allegations on everything from pre-war Iraq intelligence to the mishandling of the response to Hurricane Katrina.

The first round of subpoenas concern the recent controversial firings by the Bush administration of seven U.S. attorneys, some of whom were pursuing public corruption cases against Republican members of Congress.

The House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, chaired by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), approved subpoenas requiring four former U.S. attorneys to appear at a subcommittee hearing next Tuesday. The former U.S. attorneys include Carol Lam of California, David Iglesias of New Mexico, H.E. Cummins III of Arkansas, and John McKay of Washington state. The subcommittee approved the subpoenas by voice vote; no Republican lawmakers were present.

Tuesday’s hearing will consider a bill by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) that would reverse a new Patriot Act provision allowing the attorney general to appoint federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation through the duration of the Bush administration.

Democrats have come to the defense of several dismissed prosecutors, in particular Lam and Cummins of Arkansas. They have noted that Lam was leading the probe of ex-Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), while Cummins was removed to make room for a former aide to White House senior adviser Karl Rove. Other U.S. attorneys, including those in Nevada and Arizona, were acting on corruption charges against GOP lawmakers before their resignations were requested.

I am now starting to become a "Proud American" once again.

Come mothers and fathers all over this land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughter are beyond your command
Your old role is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand
For the times they are a changing

My faith in the judicial system is being restored with every subpoena.

The line, it is drawn, the curse, it is cast
The slow one will later be fast
And the present now will soon be the past
The order is rapidly fading
The first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a changing

God Bless America!

 

[Doremus Jessup]

It's about god-damn time!

Pretty much.

 

[1069]

Is this for real??
If so, excellent! :mrgreen:

 

[Thelost1]

Hah-hah!

Can't believe they slipped by for 6 (5) years though.

 

[Billo_Really]

I certainly hope this means Congress has finally grown a pair.

 

[bigsmitty]

I certainly hope this means Congress has finally grown a pair.

Impossible, sir.

 

[Billo_Really]

Originally posted by bigsmitty
Impossible, sir.

"Impossible" is a big word. It is a very extreme word. It is a very absolute word. Unfortunately, it just may be a very appropriate word.

I'd like to think not, but you're probably more right than wrong.

 

[Maximus Zeebra]

God in his if and existance dont give a **** about america, nor about any country. God if existance are all humans "father", we are all his "children", this is what the world should focus around, not some selfish unrealistic "God bless my country" bullshit. The world is his childrens home and all the children therein are equal.

 

[BWG]

God in his if and existance dont give a **** about america, nor about any country. God if existance are all humans "father", we are all his "children", this is what the world should focus around, not some selfish unrealistic "God bless my country" bullshit. The world is his childrens home and all the children therein are equal.

If a football player prays to God for his team to win, is he asking God to be against the other team?

Sorry, just wondering out loud.

 

[niftydrifty]

Congress's approval rating is about to go up.

 

[aps]

Eugene Robinson's editorial today in the Washington Post talks about this administration's arrogance, and it is right on the money. It's exactly how I feel about it. Sorry, White House, your time of NO OVERSIGHT is over.

Arrogance has been the most consistent hallmark of George W. Bush's presidency. His administration's simple philosophy of government has been consistent: We can do any damn thing we want.

We can invade Iraq. We can blow off the Geneva Conventions. We can listen to your private phone calls, Mr. and Ms. America, and we can read your private e-mails, too. We can arrest anybody we want and hold them as long as we want, and we don't even have to tell them why, much less file formal charges or hold a trial. We can even defy the laws of science -- or at least ignore the ones that annoy us, such as that whole "greenhouse effect" thing. We can use the troops for photo ops when they come back from war grievously wounded and then basically forget about them.

And we don't have to explain ourselves, either. The nerve of anyone to even ask us. Don't you people understand that asking impertinent questions of the White House is exactly what Osama bin Laden wants you to do?

washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines

Alberto Gonzales transferred to Rice University (my alma mater) and got his undergraduate degree from there. If Rice dares to keep touting the fact that Gonzales went there, I will stop giving money every year. It prides itself on its "honor code." It has been shown that this former Justice on the Texas Supreme Court lied to Congress, and Rice should see him as an embarrassment.

 

[Gitdog]

God in his if and existance dont give a **** about america, nor about any country. God if existance are all humans "father", we are all his "children", this is what the world should focus around, not some selfish unrealistic "God bless my country" bullshit. The world is his childrens home and all the children therein are equal.

WTF does this have to do with the topic at hand?

I'll be a proud American when all the politicians actually do something for we the PEOPLE, not themselves. All they do is waste our time and money.


On the off topic comment MZ, if you choose to believe in God then you should know Deuteronomy 7:6 doesn't agree with you. He favors the Jews.:mrgreen:

 

[Maximus Zeebra]

WTF does this have to do with the topic at hand?

I'll be a proud American when all the politicians actually do something for we the PEOPLE, not themselves. All they do is waste our time and money.


On the off topic comment MZ, if you choose to believe in God then you should know Deuteronomy 7:6 doesn't agree with you. He favors the Jews.:mrgreen:

just a side comment on the topic. If a player prays for his team this is a selfish act, he should peay for his team and the players on the other team. Selfish acts is what made the world what it is today, a place of missery for most, a very good place for the few, and a decent place for the 1/10th of the world population that lives in the EU or US.. Not even all those live good lives. Selfisness is the first thing that need to go for humans to progress.

 

[Billo_Really]

Originally Posted by Maximus Zeebra
God in his if and existance dont give a **** about america, nor about any country. God if existance are all humans "father", we are all his "children", this is what the world should focus around, not some selfish unrealistic "God bless my country" bullshit. The world is his childrens home and all the children therein are equal.

You're right. HE views everyone the same. For now. The only reason I used that term is it was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the report about the Subpoenas.

 

[Stinger]

Eugene Robinson's editorial today in the Washington Post talks about this administration's arrogance, and it is right on the money. It's exactly how I feel about it. Sorry, White House, your time of NO OVERSIGHT is over.

The Congress does NOT oversee the Executive branch nor the other way around. The Congress has no more business demanding this than the Executive would have demanding that Schumer and his staff all go under oath and supply all there emails concerning a legislative issue.

Remember the howling from the Dems when Jeffersons office was searched? And THAT was associated with a felony investigation.

The hiring and firing of US Attorney's is the purvey of the executive and the congress has no business in it.

Now just slow down and imagine if we now give such oversight and precedent to congress and Hillary gets elected and the Reps take over the congress. Alls fair isn't it, and they will be just as anxious to put her staff under constant subpoena and investigation as the Dems are for Bush. Calling her CoS to the Hill under oath looking for a perjury trap. Time to cut the political war and attempts to bring down the administration and get on with running the government which includes replacing US Attorney's whenever the Executive branch so sees fit.

 

[Rhapsody1447]

just a side comment on the topic. If a player prays for his team this is a selfish act, he should peay for his team and the players on the other team. Selfish acts is what made the world what it is today, a place of missery for most, a very good place for the few, and a decent place for the 1/10th of the world population that lives in the EU or US.. Not even all those live good lives. Selfisness is the first thing that need to go for humans to progress.

Please learn to spell and punctuate. Are you sure that male sign in your profile accurate?

 

[OKgrannie]

The Congress does NOT oversee the Executive branch nor the other way around. The Congress has no more business demanding this than the Executive would have demanding that Schumer and his staff all go under oath and supply all there emails concerning a legislative issue.

This transcript of the Hearings of the Subcommittee on Rules & Organization of the House Committee on Rules from Thursday, July 15, 1999, suggests otherwise.



TRANSCRIPT -- Cooperation, Comity, and Confrontation: Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch

"Every Member of Congress should be interested in ensuring efficient and effective governmental operations. It is the responsibility of Congress to improve the efficiency of government operations, protect and prevent waste and abuse, and ensure that executive policies reflect the public interest, and prevent executive encroachment on legislative authority and prerogatives. These bipartisan goals may be accomplished through congressional oversight...
Oversight is one of the most important constitutional functions of Congress. The history of congressional oversight includes the failed St. Clair expedition in 1792 through Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran-Contra and Whitewater. In affirming the Congress' oversight powers, the Supreme Court in McGrain v. Daugherty stated that "the power of inquiry, with process to enforce it, is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function." The court also observed that "A legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change."

Congressional oversight is integral to the checks and balances inherent in our system of government in which one branch serves as a counterbalance to the excesses of the other. The duty of the legislature, John Stuart Mill wrote in Consideration of Representative Government, is "to watch and control the government; to throw the light of publicity on its acts; to compel a full exposition and justification of all of them which any one considers questionable; to censure them if found condemnable." Woodrow Wilson stated, "Quite as important as legislation is vigilant oversight of administration.""

 

[tryreading]

The Congress does NOT oversee the Executive branch nor the other way around. The Congress has no more business demanding this than the Executive would have demanding that Schumer and his staff all go under oath and supply all there emails concerning a legislative issue.

Remember the howling from the Democrats when Jeffersons office was searched? And THAT was associated with a felony investigation.

The hiring and firing of US Attorney's is the purvey of the executive and the congress has no business in it.

Now just slow down and imagine if we now give such oversight and precedent to congress and Hillary gets elected and the Republicans take over the congress. Alls fair isn't it, and they will be just as anxious to put her staff under constant subpoena and investigation as the Dems are for Bush. Calling her CoS to the Hill under oath looking for a perjury trap. Time to cut the political war and attempts to bring down the administration and get on with running the government which includes replacing US Attorney's whenever the Executive branch so sees fit.

If Hillary does get elected she should be able to handle the above situation pretty well since she's already been through it. Her husband, when President, was investigated by the Republicans for most of his term. They were the majority then and made investigation of the President their priority. The Republicans came out losers on the Whitewater thing, but they kept trying.


G.O.P. to Get Peek at Clinton Land Deal
By MICHAEL WINES,

The Republicans today renewed their calls for hearings into the links between President Clinton and a failed Arkansas savings and loan, and they won the Democrats' assent to take at least a brief look into the matter. How deep, for how long and when were matters that the Democrats studiously left unclear. For now, it appears that Republicans will at most be allowed to question officials at the Federal agency that in 1989 bailed out the bankrupt Arkansas institution, the Madison Guaranty Saving...

Whitewater Case - News - Times Topics - The New York Times

 

[Stinger]

If Hillary does get elected she should be able to handle the above situation pretty well since she's already been through it. Her husband, when President, was investigated by the Republicans for most of his term.

Oh do you realllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly want to go there? Comparing this to the criminal investigations into the Clintons?

They were the majority then and made investigation of the President their priority.

Ahhh Clinton called for and appointed the Whitewater OIC.

The Republicans came out losers on the Whitewater thing, but they kept trying.

20 people went to jail including the second in command at the Justice Department and a sitting Govenor. You would have preferred all those crimes not be investigated and justice be done? We as americans are losers when people who commit crimes go to jail?

And read the OIC report, far from exonerating the Clintons he is clear that he simply could not proceed with the investigations because of the obstructions the Clintons and other engaged in.


G.O.P. to Get Peek at Clinton Land Deal
By MICHAEL WINES,

The Republicans today renewed their calls for hearings into the links between President Clinton and a failed Arkansas savings and loan, and they won the Democrats' assent to take at least a brief look into the matter. How deep, for how long and when were matters that the Democrats studiously left unclear. For now, it appears that Republicans will at most be allowed to question officials at the Federal agency that in 1989 bailed out the bankrupt Arkansas institution, the Madison Guaranty Saving...

http://www.nytimes.com/top/referenc....html?offset=0&&&&&&&&&s=oldest&&&&&&&&&&&&&&So you would have preferred those crimes go unprosecuted?

And let's look at the bottom line here, those were CRIMES. And they had to do with FEDERAL ISSUES, and taxpayer money. Not policy matters that are the perview of the executive branch.

 

[Stinger]

This transcript of the Hearings of the Subcommittee on Rules & Organization of the House Committee on Rules from Thursday, July 15, 1999, suggests otherwise.



TRANSCRIPT -- Cooperation, Comity, and Confrontation: Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch

That Congressional committee can sound as high falutent as it wants. Just as Chuckie Schumer is trying to do now. The executive does not work for nor report to the Congress it's internal policy deliberations or decision making. It's the whole basis for executive privilege. And it works the other way around. Do you think the Schumers staff should be force to testify as to how they came about deciding to make an issue of this?

Remember the uproar by the Dems when Jeffersons office was searched. The screams separation of powers, and private deliberations being protected. And that was a CRIMINAL matter.

 

[Maximus Zeebra]

Please learn to spell and punctuate. Are you sure that male sign in your profile accurate?

I dont care about my spelling, its an internet forum not a spelling contest. IEnglish is my fourth languuuuiach btw.

 

[OKgrannie]

That Congressional committee can sound as high falutent as it wants. Just as Chuckie Schumer is trying to do now. The executive does not work for nor report to the Congress it's internal policy deliberations or decision making. It's the whole basis for executive privilege.

The SC has ruled that Congress DOES have oversight and its authority is ABSOLUTE.

C-SPAN's Capitol Questions

"A Supreme Court decision in 1927, Mcgrain v. Daugherty, settled the question of the right of Congress to conduct investigations when it stated: “the power of [congressional] inquiry - with the process to enforce it - is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function.” The Court ruled that Congress could issue subpoenas, compel witnesses to testify, and hold them in contempt of Congress if they declined.

As a function of its legislative role under the Constitution, Congress can compel appearances and information from private persons and organizations and executive branch officials and agencies. The authority is absolute and Congress does not need to explain nor to justify its choice of subjects for hearings and investigations. In Watkins v. United States (1957) the Supreme Court stated: “The power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process. The power is broad. It encompasses inquiries concerning the administration of existing law as well as proposed or possibly needed statutes. . . . It comprehends probes into departments of the Federal Government to expose corruption, inefficiency, or waste.”

While the Constitution does not expressly state an investigative power for Congress, all aspects of oversight over the executive branch and investigation flow from the legislative role granted Congress in Article I. Oversight and investigation are tools to help Congress analyze the need for new legislation, to improve existing law, and to monitor the implementation of law by the executive branch. The constitutional doctrine of separation of powers and the checks and balances system further underlie the arguments for Congress exercising oversight over the executive branch. "


Executive privilege is limited.

Executive Privilege

"EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE refers to the assertion made by the President or other executive branch officials when they refuse to give Congress, the courts, or private parties information or records which have been requested or subpoenaed, or when they order government witnesses not to testify before Congress.
The assertion is based on the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers, is always controversial, subject to interpretation, and often litigated."

 

[Skip]

I dont care about my spelling, its an internet forum not a spelling contest. IEnglish is my fourth languuuuiach btw.

Sorry, I quoted you to refer to your signature. America is of the past (it is 230 years old) but Europe (1000s of years old) is of the new millenium? Whatever you say.

 

[Maximus Zeebra]

Sorry, I quoted you to refer to your signature. America is of the past (it is 230 years old) but Europe (1000s of years old) is of the new millenium? Whatever you say.

Its my firm opinion that the power America gained because of the second world war will be short lived, the tide is already clearly turning, but Americans "patriots" dont want to realize this. IN the age of information, no one will accept ignorance and foolishness, this will be the reason of the rapid fall.

 

[tryreading]

Oh do you realllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly want to go there? Comparing this to the criminal investigations into the Clintons?



Ahhh Clinton called for and appointed the Whitewater OIC.



20 people went to jail including the second in command at the Justice Department and a sitting Govenor. You would have preferred all those crimes not be investigated and justice be done? We as americans are losers when people who commit crimes go to jail?

And read the OIC report, far from exonerating the Clintons he is clear that he simply could not proceed with the investigations because of the obstructions the Clintons and other engaged in.


G.O.P. to Get Peek at Clinton Land Deal
By MICHAEL WINES,

The Republicans today renewed their calls for hearings into the links between President Clinton and a failed Arkansas savings and loan, and they won the Democrats' assent to take at least a brief look into the matter. How deep, for how long and when were matters that the Democrats studiously left unclear. For now, it appears that Republicans will at most be allowed to question officials at the Federal agency that in 1989 bailed out the bankrupt Arkansas institution, the Madison Guaranty Saving...

http://www.nytimes.com/top/referenc....html?offset=0&&&&&&&&&s=oldest&&&&&&&&&&&&&&So you would have preferred those crimes go unprosecuted?

And let's look at the bottom line here, those were CRIMES. And they had to do with FEDERAL ISSUES, and taxpayer money. Not policy matters that are the perview of the executive branch.

I want certain things investigated that came out of the current White House. Like intelligence manipulation for war with Iraq and the refusal on the part of the Republicans to investigate it. Maybe that will happen now. If the White House did create false intelligence, then we can really talk about big time CRIMES, FEDERAL ISSUES, and TAXPAYER MONEY.