Wednesday, January 11, 2023

HOUSE OF BRIBES SUCKERS .................. NO, NOT JUST THE WHITE HOUSE! - Americans Rank Congressmen Lower Than Journalists and Car Salesmen for Honesty and Ethical Standards

 SOCIOPATH GAMER LAWYER WHO BARELY GOT THROUGH LAW SCHOOL


I’d be inclined to disagree with Don except for one thing: Biden has proven to be a very adept criminal mastermind. For decades, he has funneled millions of dollars to his children and siblings and, especially, to his debauched, deviant son, Hunter. ANDREA WIDBURG


There it is.  That's the issue.  To begin, you have the corrupt family Biden.  They've been scamming us and our system well for almost fifty years.  The man is supposedly worth over 250 million dollars.  How is this possible on his salary?  It's not.  So where did his wealth come from?  Not from being a brilliant businessman. DAVID PRENTICE


"And it's curious that Joe Biden, you know, is the one that everybody jumped out of the race -- you know, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar all, like, tearfully backed out of the presidential race, all to back Joe Biden because they have this false narrative that Joe Biden was a regular guy that rode Amtrak, living in $10 million homes, having the lifestyle -- not just Joe, but his family. 

                                                                       SUSAN JONES


Rep. Tenney: 'We Know There's More Coming Out on Joe Biden'

SUSAN JONES | JANUARY 12, 2023 | 8:16AM EST
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President Joe Biden speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on January 11, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on January 11, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

(CNSNews.com) - This week's announcement that classified documents were discovered on Nov. 2 in at least one of Joe Biden's offices, including a Washington office that was funded by the University of Pennsylvania, is "just the beginning of what we need to investigate," Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) told "Mornings With Maria" on Thursday.

"But look, we know there's more coming out on Joe Biden," Tenney said:

"The laptop revealed so much that that's just the beginning, that's just the -- as I say, the tip of the iceberg, it's the bread crumb trail to what we could see. Where are the documents we don't know about around the world -- with China, with Ukraine and Burisma, and all these others? This is just the beginning of what we need to investigate.

"And it's curious that Joe Biden, you know, is the one that everybody jumped out of the race -- you know, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar all, like, tearfully backed out of the presidential race, all to back Joe Biden because they have this false narrative that Joe Biden was a regular guy that rode Amtrak, living in $10 million homes, having the lifestyle -- not just Joe, but his family. 

"So I think if there's a lot the Democrats had to cover up...I have to wonder if the Democrats are like, let him go now. Now we've got to find somebody else because we know this is going to be too much and an impossible mountain to climb for the Democrats coming into 2024, you know, as we look at a whole new crop of Republicans that are going to be coming forward. 

"So I think there's a lot to be seen here and the Democrats are scrambling. I think they're about ready to throw Joe Biden over, and you can see, even his press secretary can't defend him."

Tenney did defend Biden's Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, albeit with faint praise: "Well, look, I give her credit, because to be the press secretary and have to lie for the biggest liar in modern politics is quite an extraordinary obligation and job. I mean, what's she going to say? He (Biden) may not even know where they (classified documents) are."

Asked if House Republicans will investigate Chinese ties to the University of Pennsylvania, which provided Biden with an office in Washington, Tenney said yes: "I think that should be right where we start," Tenney said:

"And look at the universities across the nation who are involved with these Confucius Institutes. Some of them have backed away from them, but the Chinese influence across this country in so many ways, whether it's corporate interest and especially intervening in these universities, you know, disinformation campaigns, foreign influence, money is the big thing, and the Bidens are at the center of it. 

"And just think, why aren't we seeing all those documents that are under seal at the university of Delaware for Joe Biden? I'd love to go and get an expert on analysis to go through and just -- what's in there? I'm not sure he even knows. 

"This is information about a real scandal with a really corrupt president who is a true pathological liar, always has been, and now the Democrats have to own him. And I think the Republicans have to be strong in this. We have to fight just like the Democrats did. And we have the truth behind us, and we know there's more there. 

"It's just a matter of getting to that, and a rigorous investigation -- good people on our committees is going to make that happen -- and I think one thing that we can all agree on --as you've seen, there's a little bit of disagreement among the Republicans -- we all agree that this is a problem. 

“And I think, even among Independents and some Democrats, they think it's a problem, too, which is is why I think this is going to be an interesting year and to see how much Merrick Garland tries to scramble as we try to get the information that we need."

Americans Rank Congressmen Lower Than Journalists and Car Salesmen for Honesty and Ethical Standards

TERENCE P. JEFFREY | JANUARY 11, 2023 | 4:12AM EST
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President Joe Biden speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on January 4, 2023. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on January 4, 2023. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Americans do not have tremendous respect for the honesty and ethical standards of car salesmen or journalists, but they still give people in these professions a higher rating for these characteristics than they give to members of Congress.

This week, as first reported Tuesday by the New York Post, Gallup released the results of a survey it conducted on how Americans perceive the honesty and ethical standards of people in different professions. (Gallup first did this survey in 1976 and has done it annually since 1990.)

From Nov. 9 to Dec. 2, 2022, according to a release put out by the polling company, Gallup asked 1,020 American adults this question: "Please tell me how you would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in these different fields — very high, high, average, low or very low?"

The survey then listed 18 different professions — ranging from bankers to lawyers to members of Congress.

Only 2% of the respondents gave members of Congress a "very high" rating for honesty and ethical standards, while another 7% gave them a "high" rating. With a combined 9% of the Americans surveyed giving them either a "high" or a "very high" rating, members of Congress ranked 17th out of the 18 professions included in the survey for their honesty and ethical standards.

Telemarketers came in last. Like members of Congress, 2% of those surveyed gave them a "very high" rating for their honesty and ethical standards, but only 4% gave them a "high" rating. That combined 6% left telemarketers 3 points behind the combined 9% scored by members of Congress.

Still, while members of Congress managed to outrank telemarketers for their perceived honesty and ethical standards, they still trailed "car salespeople." That profession got 2% of respondents to rank them "very high" and 8% to rank them "high." This combined 10% put car salesmen one point ahead of members of Congress for their honesty and ethical standards.

Journalists managed to beat members of Congress by only one point (3 to 2) among those who ranked them "very high" for their honesty and ethical standards, but outscored them by 13 points (20 to 7) among those who ranked them "high" for their honesty and ethical standards. The combined 23% who rated journalists as either "high" or "very high" for honesty and ethical standards beat by more than two to one the combined 9% who gave members of Congress "high" or "very high" ratings.

Members of Congress also lost the honesty-and-ethical-standards competition to lawyers, who were ranked "very high" by 3% of respondents and "high" by 18% — for a combined 21%.

In the years since 1976, when Gallup first conducted its survey on how Americans perceive the honesty and ethics of various professions, members of Congress attained their highest rating in a survey conducted in late November 2001 — about two and a half months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In that survey, 4% of respondents gave members of Congress a "very high" rating and 21% gave them a "high" rating — for a combined 25%.

Ten years later — in a survey conducted from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, 2011 — the percentage of respondents ranking the honesty and ethics of members of Congress as "very high" or "high" dropped to an all-time low of 7%. It then hit that low again in December 2014.

At the other end of the spectrum from members of Congress are medical professionals, who get high rankings from Americans for their honesty and ethical standards.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents to the latest Gallup survey gave nurses a "very high" rating for their honesty and ethical standards, while another 50% gave them a "high" rating. That combined 79% made nurses the nation's highest-rated profession for honesty and ethical standards.

Medical doctors came in second with a combined rating of 62% (17% "very high" and 45% "high").

Pharmacists came in third with a combined rating of 58% (14% "very high" and 44% "high").

How survey respondents judged the honesty and ethical standards of members of Congress differed only slightly depending on the respondent's political philosophy: Neither conservatives, moderates nor liberals gave members of Congress high ratings.

In fact, not one conservative respondent gave members of Congress a "very high" rating for honesty and ethical standards, while only 2% of moderates and 2% of liberals did. Only 5% of conservatives gave members of Congress a "high" rating for honesty and ethical standards while 7% of moderates and 9% of liberals did.

What can members of Congress do to win the respect of the American people for conducting themselves with honesty and ethical standards?

Their job is not to impose an increasingly intrusive government on this nation but to protect our freedom from such a government.

If members of Congress fight to make government smaller, there is a very good chance their ratings will go higher.

(Terence P. Jeffrey is the editor-in-chief of CNSNews.com.)

Liz Cheney Exits Congress 6 Years Later and Millions of Dollars Richer

FILE - Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, June 29, 2022, in Simi Valley, Calif. Cheney's unrelenting criticism of former President Donald Trump from a Capitol Hill committee …
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
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Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) will vacate her congressional seat on Tuesday after becoming a wealthy woman during her six years of serving Wyoming.

Cheney, who lost her Republican primary by nearly 40 points in August, will depart Congress on January 3 and return home as a defeated 56-year-old never Trumper.

Cheney will not depart Congress empty-handed. During her six years in Congress, she has become very wealthy. Breitbart News reported in August that Cheney’s net worth ballooned from an estimated $7 million when she first took office in 2017 to possibly more than $44 million in 2020. Depending on the specifics of her latest financial disclosure form, Cheney’s net worth could have skyrocketed up to 600 percent in Congress.

According to her 2020 Personal Financial Disclosure form, Cheney declared a net worth between $10,422,023 and $44,140,000, stemming from assets valued between $10,432,024 and $44,155,000. She reported no earned income, gifts, or transactions. She did, however, declare she held three posts, including a trustee position at the University of Wyoming, membership of a holding company, and what appears to be a position in her family’s trust.

Cheney’s wealth and social status are enhanced by her husband, Philip Perry, who is a partner at Latham & Watkins law firm in Washington, DC, which has advised Chinese companies. Since 2017, the year Cheney joined Congress, Perry has maintained “equity ownership” in the firm worth between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000. Breitbart News reported:

Perry’s firm has advised a Chinese Communist Party-linked technology company named TME and Exelon Corporation. The State Department in 2019 dubbed TME a tool of the Chinese government. According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2011, Exelon Corporation agreed to provide consulting and training services to an arm of the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). The state-owned CNNC’s president and vice president are appointed by the highest administrative position in the Government of China, the Premier of the People’s Republic of China. The CNNC supervises all facets of China’s nuclear programs.

While Perry’s law firm has serviced Chinese clients, Cheney sat on the Armed Services Committee with many powerful subcommittees dedicated to national security. Cheney worked with House Republicans’ on producing a 2020 report on Communist China entitled the “China Task Force Report.” The report states, “[T]he greatest generational challenge we face today is the threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

Cheney’s forced exit from Congress does not mean she or her family will depart Washington, DC, and return home to Wyoming. Technically, She represented her home state of Wyoming for six years. But her lack of appearance in the state during the GOP primary become a point of contention for many Cowboy State voters. Instead of campaigning in Wyoming, Cheney appeared to prefer dwelling in the D.C. area, soaking up the spotlight on the January 6 Committee.

Born in Wisconsin, Cheney moved to Wyoming with her family as a young woman. They divided their time between Wyoming and Washington, DC, to suit former Vice President Dick Cheney’s political aspirations. In 1996, Liz Cheney graduated from the University of Chicago’s law school. She then worked in the Bush administration while her father was vice president. In 2014, she ran for the Wyoming State Senate and lost. A few years later, she won Wyoming’s U.S. House of Representatives seat.

Former US Vice President Dick Cheney (C) sits with his daughter US Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R), R-Wyoming, during the opening of the 115th US Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 3, 2017 (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images).

Cheney’s congressional career entailed some successes. In 2019, she was elected the third most powerful House Republican as GOP House Conference chair. She was later displaced by Trump-endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) by a vote of no confidence in 2021, the same year she accepted a position on the January 6 Committee.

Cheney’s participation on the committee appeared to seal her political fate in Wyoming. Viewed as a partisan witch hunt, the committee failed to sway 89 percent of the public. Moreover, the committee’s final report did not produce any legally binding results. Adding insult to injury, the committee officially withdrew its subpoena on Wednesday for former President Donald Trump to testify before Congress.

As a new political cycle begins Tuesday, Cheney has not definitively stated what her future plans entail. She has said her forward focus is blocking Trump from winning reelection in 2024. But it is unclear how she will do so without the vice chair pulpit or the January 6 Committee. She has floated the idea of potentially running for president in 2024, but critics doubt she will gain enough Democrat votes or Republican support in either primary.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.


McCarthy Proposes Gutting Office of Congressional Ethics in Bid for Speaker

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  • Kevin McCarthy
    Kevin McCarthy
    U.S. House Majority Leader (born 1965)
Pelosi Portrait Ceremony
Pelosi Portrait Ceremony

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. attends a portrait unveiling ceremony for Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the U.S. Capitol on December 14, 2022. Credit - Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spent the first two days of the new year trying to shore up GOP support for his bid to be Speaker by releasing a series of proposals aimed at winning over hard-right detractors who stand to torpedo his ascension.

The part of his proposed changes to House rules that drew the most attention was allowing just five House members to call for a vote at any time on ousting the Speaker; that would render McCarthy beholden to the most extreme members of his caucus, should he get on their wrong side. But buried in the text was another provision that could be highly consequential for the new Congress being sworn in on Tuesday: language that would effectively gut the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), as the independent panel faces pressure to investigate lawmakers who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Most significantly, McCarthy’s proposal would require OCE to hire its staff for the 118th Congress within 30 days of the resolution’s adoption, a requirement that sources familiar with the process tell TIME would make it exceedingly difficult for the office to have the resources it needs to conduct its investigations, given how long it takes to hire candidates for roles in the federal government. The proposal would also block OCE from hiring new employees over the next two years if someone leaves their position, sources say.

“Republicans get to take control of the House, and on their first day in Congress, they are not trying to take a hammer to the OCE—they’re being a little smarter about it—but they’re taking a scalpel to it,” a Hill source familiar with the ethics process tells TIME.

The resolution would also impose eight-year term limits for members of OCE’s eight-member board, which is composed of four Democrats and four Republicans. The move would result in three of the four Democrats being forced to vacate their seats effective immediately. While the new Democratic leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, would be able to appoint replacements, the changes could still significantly slow down the panel’s work and zap it of valuable institutional knowledge.

“This could easily kill the only body that’s investigating ethical issues in Congress,” says Kedric Payne with the Campaign Legal Center. “There’s no investigations in the Senate. And the only investigations that happen in the House of any significance are done by the OCE.”

“This is a very smart way to do it,” adds Payne, a former OCE deputy chief counsel. “Because it looks as though the office still lives, but, in fact, it doesn’t.”

This isn’t the first time Republicans have tried to dismantle the Congress’s independent ethics panel. In 2017, the House Republican Conference took steps to curtail the power of the OCE, but the proposal was opposed by then-Speaker Paul Ryan and even McCarthy.

This time around, circumstances have changed. A handful of ultra-conservative lawmakers, including Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, have vowed to vote against McCarthy for speaker. With the Republicans’ slim majority, the California legislator can only afford four defections.

Some of the defectors also happen to be among the lawmakers who stand to benefit the most from a castrated OCE. Last month, more than 30 former members of Congress of both parties requested the ethics panel to investigate the lawmakers who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, a move that increases the spotlight on OCE and which investigations it chooses to pursue in the new Congress.

The OCE was also expected to investigate George Santos, the Republican Congressman-elect from New York who appears to have fabricated large swaths of his biography, including his employment history, his educational credentials, and even the circumstances of his mother’s death.

On Monday, as details of McCarthy’s proposal drew more attention, the good-government watchdog group Public Citizen called on him and the next Congress to get rid of the provisions that would weaken the OCE, saying in a statement Monday that the panel “has a proven track record of enhancing transparency and enforcement of ethics rules and has gained widespread support among the American public.”

McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment.

The Office of Congressional Ethics was established in 2008 by then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi after a wave of Democratic victories in the 2006 midterms and after corruption scandals that sent multiple members of Congress to jail. The panel was intended to be an independent body separate from the House Ethics Committee, which advocates have long criticized as ineffectual and lacking in transparency.

But the two work hand-in-hand. When the OCE finds evidence of misconduct, it sends a report of its findings to the House Ethics Committee, which then chooses whether to censure a member for a violation.

While the OCE lacks the subpoena power of full House committees, it has been effective at probing wrongdoing by lawmakers of both parties. Shortly after its inception, it found that then-Rep. Charlie Rangel, a New York Democrat, improperly accepted trips to Caribbean islands as gifts from a nonprofit group. The entire House later sanctioned Rangel for violating 11 House ethics rules. In 2017, it was the first entity to investigate then-Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican, of insider trading. He later pleaded guilty to insider trading and lying to federal investigators. (Trump pardoned Collins in 2020.)

The OCE was poised to have a full plate over the next two years, with a heavy emphasis on the members who participated in the Jan. 6 attack. It’s a scenario that leads Congressional watchdogs to suspect that McCarthy is offering to debilitate the agency of resources and institutional knowledge to shield his members from scrutiny in order to hold onto power.

“Today’s Republican Party is rife with ethical transgressions,” says Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen. “And it is now trying to make it much harder to hold members of Congress accountable to the standards of decency we expect.”

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