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When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; When the government fears the people, there is liberty.  ~ Thomas Jefferson

 

Entries Tagged as 'House'

U.S. Rep. Ribble moves out of District – A Democrat Move. Not illegal but defiantly WRONG

September 17th, 2011 · Corruption, Ethics, House, Republicans, Wisconsin

At least Kagen stood by his District.  You lost my Vote for re-election!

SHERWOOD — U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble confirmed reports Tuesday that he recently moved out of the 8th Congressional District and returned to his family’s three-bedroom home on Lake Winnebago in Sherwood, a house he left more than a year ago to challenge incumbent Democrat Steve Kagen in last fall’s midterm election.

Consequently, Ribble is no longer a voter in the district he represents in Congress. Ribble’s Sherwood home is in the 6th Congressional District, where Republican Tom Petri is the incumbent.

Ribble defended the move by asserting, “Northeast Wisconsin is my home and always will be.”

“I have a long and personal tie to the 8th District and assertions to challenge this are just ridiculous,” the Republican congressman wrote in a statement. “I grew up in Appleton, went to Appleton East High School and coached volleyball at Appleton East High School for over 20 years. My roofing business was located in Kaukauna and my wife’s longtime bookstore was also in Appleton.”

Amid reports he recently moved out of an apartment he had been renting in Lawrence in the 8th District, Ribble confirmed he intends to take his Sherwood residence off the sluggish housing market, where it had been on sale for nearly $600,000 as recently as last week, according to online real estate postings.

“My wife and I initially put our Sherwood house up for sale last year,” Ribble wrote. “With the listing contract coming to an end soon, the house is coming off the market until the housing market turns around. We are not immune to the negative effects of the unsteady housing market and just like many Americans across the country, we have had to change our plans.”

Ribble said he had planned to move to a smaller home in the 8th District that “requires less maintenance” given his frequent travel between Washington, D.C., and the Fox River Valley.

“We wish the home would have sold, but unfortunately the tough housing market prevented this from happening,” Ribble wrote.

Ribble’s spokeswoman did not clarify when the move back to Sherwood occurred or whether Ribble intends to transfer his voter registration.

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House Democrats seek to delay Tax Cut until next year in fight for more spending money.

December 11th, 2010 · Corruption, Deception, Democrats, Economy, Ethics, Federal Spending, Greed, House, Taxes, Terrorism from Within

House Democrats seek changes to Obama’s tax-cut deal

By Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 10, 2010; 12:58 AM

The House Democratic Caucus voted Thursday to try to block the tax-cut deal that President Obama struck with Republicans, a move that does not kill the legislation but shows that its opponents are digging in.

Rank-and-file Democrats passed a nonbinding resolution, introduced by Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), by voice vote that said the tax package should not come to the House floor for consideration.

And in her first explicit declaration of dissatisfaction since the tax deal was cut, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested that she would not bring the package to the floor in its current form.

“House Democrats share the president’s commitment to providing the middle class with a tax cut to grow the economy and create jobs” but “reject the Senate Republican tax provisions as currently written,” Pelosi said. “We will continue discussions with the president and our Democratic and Republican colleagues in the days ahead to improve the proposal before it comes to the House floor for a vote.”

After the caucus vote, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) said: “People would like to see every opportunity to make revisions, and I’m one of them.” Asked whether he still expected the tax deal to come to the House floor for a vote, Clyburn said, “I don’t make those decisions.”

Said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.): “If it’s take it or leave it, we’ll leave it.”

At one point during the meeting on the vote, House Democrats erupted in a chant of “Just say no!”

The White House played down the drama.

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Salary freeze for federal workers approved by House

December 9th, 2010 · Economy, Government, House

Wednesday, December 8, 2010; 8:41 PM

The House approved legislation Wednesday that freezes base pay for federal employees at current levels for two years.

President Obama called for the freeze last week as part of an effort to control the national deficit, angering federal employee organizations and upsetting local members of Congress.

“The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require broad sacrifice,” he said. “And that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government.”

The pay freeze is projected to save a total of $28 billion over five years, a fraction of a $1.3 trillion budget shortfall. The legislation now goes to the Senate.

- Joe Davidson

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Charlie Rangel found guilty of 11 ethics violations

November 16th, 2010 · Accountability, Congress, Corruption, Democrats, Ethics, House

By Paul Kane Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2010; 2:15 PM

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) was found guilty Tuesday of breaking 11 separate congressional rules related to his personal finances and fundraising efforts for a New York college.

The eight-lawmaker subcommittee that handled the trial – which reached a unanimous verdict on 10 of the counts – now sends the case to the full ethics committee for the equivalent of sentencing. Potential punishments include a formal reprimand or censure, with each of those punishments needing to be ratified by a vote on the House floor. Expulsion is also a possible remedy but considered highly unlikely.

Rangel was not present for the ruling, following his walk-out from the trial Monday when the panel rejected his request to delay the proceedings because his campaign account was empty and he had no political money left to cover the cost of a legal team.

He released a statement Tuesday calling the decision unfair. “How can anyone have confidence in the decision of the Ethics Subcommittee when I was deprived of due process rights, right to counsel and was not even in the room?” the statement said. “I can only hope that the full Committee will treat me more fairly, and take into account my entire 40 years of service to the Congress before making any decisions on sanctions. ”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who chaired the trial, praised her colleagues for their handling of the case, which landed uncomfortably in their laps in July after talks broke down with Rangel over reaching a plea deal.

“This has been a difficult assignment, time consuming, and we have approached our duties diligently,” Lofgren said.

Lofgren said her panel, divided evenly between Democrats and Republicans, would meet again Tuesday to draft the final report to be sent to the full Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which is the formal name for the ethics committee.

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House panel rejects Rangel’s request to delay corruption trial.

November 15th, 2010 · Accountability, Corruption, Democrats, Ethics, House

By Paul Kane Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 15, 2010; 10:35 AM

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) pleaded with a House panel Monday to delay his long-awaited public trial on corruption charges, saying he needed time to find a new lawyer, but his request was rejected and the session went ahead without him.

The trial, conducted by an eight-member panel of Rangel’s congressional peers, is the first of its kind since 2002. Rangel faces allegations that he broke congressional rules in his personal finances and his fundraising efforts for a New York college. He and his previous legal team parted ways in September.

“I object to the proceeding,” Rangel told the House panel. “With all due respect, since I don’t have counsel to advise me, I’m going to have to excuse myself from these proceedings.”

He said he cannot afford a lawyer at present because his campaign account has been depleted.

The panel then went into closed session to consider the requested delay. The lawmakers later emerged and said the trial would go ahead.

Rangel asked that he be allowed to accept either pro bono legal work or reduced-fee support, but such actions might violate congressional rules forbidding gifts. Abbe Lowell, one of Washington’s premier white-collar defense lawyers, attended the hearing and said during the break that he would join Rangel’s defense if the panel postponed the hearing to allow Rangel time to raise money to pay Lowell’s fees.

Rangel has already burned through $2 million in legal fees, draining funds from his now wiped-out campaign account. When he told his former legal team that he would not be able to pay the estimated $1 million to finish the case, they withdrew from the case, he said Monday. He now wants to set up a separate legal defense fund that could provide legal support, but it may take weeks or months to finance the operation.

“I am being denied the right to have a lawyer,” he complained. He argued that “50 years of public service is on the line.”

The 40-year House veteran arrived in the hearing room inside the Longworth House Office Building precisely at 9 a.m., the scheduled start time, with his wife and other family members trailing behind.

He sat at a desk in front of the dais, in a room that is usually reserved for the House Administration Committee, which oversees mostly mundane matters of internal congressional management. Winking at photographers, Rangel brought with him some yellow legal pads, pens and a massive binder containing the case against him.

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House approves $37 billion war-funding bill

July 28th, 2010 · Defense, Federal Spending, Foreign Policy, House, National Security, Non-Transparency, Tax Dollars, Taxes, War on Terrorism

By Perry Bacon Jr. and Ben Pershing – Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The House on Tuesday approved spending an additional $37 billion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, overcoming the opposition of some Democrats who have concluded that the Afghan conflict is unwinnable.

The funding bill, which passed 308 to 114, had stalled for two months as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers objected to the continuation of the war in Afghanistan and insisted that spending on the conflicts be accompanied by funding for domestic initiatives, to help Americans suffering from the recession. The domestic funding was stripped from the final bill.

The legislation was passed by the Senate last week in a voice vote, and it now goes to President Obama for his signature.

The disclosure Sunday of more than 91,000 secret documents about the war had little impact on the debate; most of the 102 Democrats who voted against the funding had already expressed doubts about the war in Afghanistan and Obama’s decision last December to add 30,000 troops there. They were joined by 12 Republicans.

The number of Democrats who opposed the funding was more than double the number who voted down a similar measure last year, illustrating the growing divide between Obama and members of his party about Afghanistan.

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FAILED RECOVERY POLICIES MAKE NEARLY 15 MILLION UNEMPLOYED

July 28th, 2010 · House

As written int the Congressional Record for July 27th, 2011 page H6050

(Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, 18 months into this administration, one thing is clear: the economic policies of this administration and this liberal Democratic Congress have failed. Nearly 15 million Americans are unemployed. Unemployment hovers near a heart-breaking 10 percent; and after months of runaway spending, bailouts and takeovers, Washington Democrats are now poised to add tax increases to their agenda. The American people are starting to realize that unless this Congress acts, every single income tax bracket will increase on January 1, 2011, every single one. This weekend Treasury Secretary Geithner actually said “The country can withstand that. I think it’s good policy.”

Really? Fifteen million Americans unemployed and this administration defines good policy as what the country can withstand? The country cannot withstand more spending, more borrowing, more bailouts, or more taxes; and House Republicans will fight this tax increase with everything we have got.

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Democrats easily passes new financial regulations in House

June 30th, 2010 · Banking Industry, Congress, Corruption, Deception, Democrats, Ethics, Federal Spending, Finance, Fraud Alert, Government, Government Control, Greed, House, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Tax Dollars, Taxes, Terrorism from Within, Terrorist Attack, Treason, Treasury

By Brady Dennis and Jia Lynn Yang Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 30, 2010; 7:08 PM

The House on Wednesday easily approved far-reaching new financial regulations, but Senate leaders postponed a similar vote on the bill, preventing the landmark legislation from reaching President Obama’s desk until at least mid-July.

House members voted 237-192 just before 7 p.m. to approve the sweeping 2,300-page bill, which among other things would create an independent consumer bureau within the Federal Reserve to protect borrowers from lending abuses, establish oversight of the vast derivatives market and enable the government to wind down large, failing firms.

Republicans continued to insist that the new rules would perpetuates the potential for federal bailouts and hinder access to credit.

“The bad and the ugly far outweigh” the good elements of the bill, said Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala). “In total, this bill is a massive intrusion of the federal government into the lives of every American.”

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8 House members investigated over fundraisers held near financial reform vote

June 17th, 2010 · Accountability, Banking Industry, Corruption, Deception, Economy, Ethics, Finance, Greed, House, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Politics, Selling Out the US, Terrorism from Within

By Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating eight lawmakers who held fundraisers within 48 hours of a major House vote on a Wall Street reform bill or received substantial donations from business people with a financial stake in the bill, according to congressional sources and letters.

The probe is focused on whether the timing of accepting the campaign checks created an unacceptable appearance of a conflict, according to sources familiar with the investigation and letters sent by the OCE to lobbyists requesting information. The OCE’s spokesman declined to comment for this article, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

The office is scrutinizing five Republicans and three Democrats, a diverse group that includes a conservative, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), and a liberal member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.).

Seven of the eight members held fundraisers for their reelection campaigns on Dec. 9 or Dec. 10 — just before the House voted Dec. 11 in favor of a bill to make broad changes in how Wall Street and financial firms are regulated, according to a Washington Post analysis. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) held a “Finance Services luncheon” at the Capitol Hill Club on Dec. 10. On the same day, a lobby firm with financial clients, Davis & Harman, hosted a fundraising breakfast for Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) at its Pennsylvania Avenue offices.

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House Democrats pursues F-35 engine that Pentagon doesn’t want before Midterm Elections

May 29th, 2010 · Congress, Corruption, Deception, Defense, Democrats, Ethics, Federal Spending, Government Control, Greed, House, Non-Transparency, Tax Dollars, Taxes

By Craig Whitlock and Dana Hedgpeth Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 28, 2010

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates‘s campaign to rein in defense spending was rebuked Thursday by the House, which approved an aircraft engine the Pentagon does not want despite the threat of a presidential veto.

As the House voted on a $568 billion defense bill, lawmakers tangled over a comparatively minor item: $485 million to pay for a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a plane projected to be the centerpiece of U.S. airpower in the coming decades.

Gates has opposed the extra engine for years, saying it is unnecessary and a waste of money. But Congress has argued that funding a second engine model for the F-35 would keep defense contractors on their toes by forcing them to compete.

Gates has repeatedly threatened to advise President Obama to veto the entire defense bill if Congress pursues the second engine. The House approved the project anyway, overcoming an attempt by opponents to strip it from the bill. That attempt failed by a vote of 231 to 193, with both parties divided on the issue.

“We don’t want nor need the extra engine, but this is just one step in a long journey and Secretary Gates is committed to staying engaged in this process the whole way,” Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said after the vote, adding that Gates will still recommend a presidential veto “if necessary.”

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