Republicans Are Not Interested in Democracy

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

I'm not surprised. Republicans have trouble winning elections when people vote. Their system is coming undone as anti-Trump sentiment has helped Democrats get above thresholds they need to elect people and overturn the restrictions.

We haven't seen Mueller's report yet, but Morning Joe help tally up nine impeachable offenses committed by this President that we do know about. So I'm in favor of going ahead and either getting yellow hair out of there, or making some Republican senators up for re-election commit to support him so the voters can sweep them out in 2020.

[William Thornton]

Well, there you have it. Repubs aren't interested in democracy. What's to discuss after that pronunciamento?

[Sandy]

[William Thornton]

That clarifies things...and Nancy sez no impeachment. You democracy lovers might have win an election.

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

[Haruo]

[Rvaughn]

[Haruo]

On that last one, it's my understanding (based on sporadic broadcast journalists' reports on cases, that the Congress has actually had a formal system in place for exactly that purpose. It sounds like it should be illegal, but apparently it hasn't been. But I'm not really up on the details.

[Sandy]

Sometimes it gets difficult to distinguish between house rules and practices for Congress and what the law actually states. There are plenty of regulations on what Congress can use public funds to do. The question is how do those regulations get enforced? The President committed a specific illegal act for which there is evidence in using campaign funds to pay hush money to a couple of porn stars he slept with. But the Republicans ignored it. Laws and policies are meaningless if they are not enforced.

I'm all for seeing the tax returns of anyone running for public office. It is absolutely clear that neither Trump nor the Republicans want anyone to see his tax returns which will reinforce the populist belief that the rich in this country can take advantage of loopholes and wind up getting more money back than was withheld and that they really contribute almost nothing to the treasury, and that it is all working class people who pay the taxes. How many voters, if they had seen the fraud Trump committed with his foundation, taxes, and all of that display would have seen that he was so much worse than Hillary ever thought of being and would have avoided voting for him? If these people are willing to betray the public trust with their money, for their own profit and personal advantage, I don't want them running the government.

[Haruo]

I don't think the item Robert raised about Congress using tax money for hush money has anything directly to do with Trump and/or campaign funds. It's a response to criticism of the system members of Congress have used to keep their own indiscretions and (especially) hostile-workplace-type behaviors from coming to public scrutiny just in time for another election. Of course, the topics are related. But they are not the same.

[Sandy]

[Rvaughn]