Tag Archives: GOP

Bad behavior claims another one

November 30, 2017 kanelis2012

Now it’s Joe Barton who’s bailing out of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Barton is a Republican from Ennis who reportedly sent some nasty pictures of himself over Twitter while he was engaged in a relationship with a “mature, adult woman.” The scorn poured over him. Barton, the senior member of the Texas congressional delegation, hung tough for a little while.

Then he announced his retirement, effective at the end of his current term in 2018.

Barton had to go. His departure should not be a surprise to anyone. The mood across the country has revealed a diminishing tolerance for public officeholders’ lewd behavior. Barton, of course, was careful to explain that the recipient of the hideous pictures was engaged in a consensual relationship with him.

Fine, congressman. Hit the road, will ya?

Barton is just the latest in a long list of Texas lawmakers who are calling it quits. His announcement, to no one’s surprise, contains no mention of the trouble he brought onto himself.

Read more about Barton’s announcement here.

***

With the departure of the Texas congressional delegation’s dean, the longest-serving member from Texas is Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, who took office in January 1993.

And, hey, that means the Panhandle’s GOP House member, Mac Thornberry of Clarendon, who was sworn in just two years later, in January 1995, becomes the No. 2-ranked tenured member of the delegation.

I mention that only because Thornberry was elected in that 1994 Republican wave that ran on the Contract With America, a lengthy platform of government reforms that included term limits for members of the U.S. House and Senate. Thornberry has voted for term-limit amendments to the U.S. Constitution whenever they were presented to House members; they just haven’t gotten the votes needed to be referred to state legislatures for ratification.

And, no … he never made a personal pledge to bow out after three terms in the House.

I just thought I would bring it up because it seems oddly relevant.

national news

Chuck and Nancy no longer pals with Donald

November 28, 2017 kanelis2012

Hey, I thought Donald Trump had made new friends in Congress.

Didn’t he once say he and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi were partners in an effort to actually get some legislation approved?

He called ’em Chuck and Nancy. He supposedly worked out an agreement with them to keep the government functioning until early December.

Now, though, the friendship is on the rocks. Surprised? Neither am I.

He said today that he didn’t see a deal in the making that would prevent a government shutdown. Chuck and Nancy were supposed to go to the White House to meet with Republican congressional leaders … and the president.

Then they backed out. They left their chairs empty at the White House conference room table.

Who’s to blame for the scuttling of this friendship? Who among them is the most stubborn? POTUS or Chuck and Nancy?

Here’s what needs to happen, though. The government funding measure is set to expire a week from this coming Friday. If the two sides don’t rekindle their friendship, then the feds are going to shut down the government.

This kind of brinkmanship is not why voters elect these people. It’s damn sure not why they sign on to “serve the public.”

Can’t they all be friends … again?

national news, political news

Alabama vote may tell us plenty about GOP

November 25, 2017 kanelis2012

It’s difficult to overstate the national impact of a single state’s upcoming election to fill a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Two men, Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones, are vying for the chance to succeed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who once represented Alabama in this Senate seat.

But, oh, that’s where the routineness of this election ends. It’s nothing of the sort. This election might tell the nation plenty about one of the nation’s two major parties.

Moore has been accused by several women of making improper sexual advances on them when they were underage girls. Yes, they are allegations. Nothing’s been proven. Moore denies doing what the women say he did.

But Moore’s denials aren’t going over well with Republican leaders in both chambers of Congress. GOP senators are turning their backs on Moore. They want nothing to do with him. They say they believe the women’s account of what Moore allegedly did.

Here, though, is the rub: The race is neck-and-neck in Alabama. Jones, a former federal prosecutor, has been unable — to date — to put any distance between himself and Moore.

I’ve chatted briefly via social media with a couple of journalism friends in Alabama. One of them, a university journalism professor in the northern part of the state, has indicated that Moore is ripe for defeat; the other, an opinion journalist in the southern part of Alabama, believes Moore’s evangelical Christian base is going to rally behind him and might be able to neutralize any bleeding of support from moderate GOP voters.

That is the biggest puzzle to me. The evangelical vote is standing by their guy, who’s been accused of sexually abusing children. Moore talks the talk of a religious zealot, and he well might be the real thing.

The message that comes from the election on Dec. 12 could tell the rest of the country one of two things. If Moore wins, the message might be that GOP voters devalue the moral content of their candidate as long as he is able to provide them political advantage in the halls of power. If Jones wins, the message might be that Republicans — in Alabama, at least — have had their bellyful candidates who talk the talk but who behave badly in the extreme.

Regular readers of this blog know how I hope this election turns out. Moore scared the crap out of me before the allegations came to light. He doesn’t respect the Constitution’s establishment of a secular government.

I also am willing to join congressional Republicans who say they believe the women’s accusations of sexual abuse.

If only Alabama voters are able to make the correct choice.

national news

Trump endorses an accused pedophile

November 21, 2017 kanelis2012

Roy Moore is in league with Vladimir Putin.

That means they’re in league with Donald John Trump.

Follow this logic for just a moment:

* Several women have accused Moore, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Alabama of making improper sexual advances on them; the accusations have resonated with many political leaders, who say they believe the women and have abandoned Moore. Meanwhile, Moore denies doing what they allege he did.

* Intelligence experts in this country have concluded that Putin ordered the Russian government to hack into our electoral process during the 2016 presidential election, aiming to swing the election in Trump’s favor. Putin has denied doing it.

So, Moore’s denial and Putin’s denial have cinched it for the president.

Trump has said he believes Putin’s denial that Russia didn’t interfere with our election. Now he implies belief in Moore’s denial that he preyed on women when they were underage girls.

“He denies it. He totally denies it,” Trump said, noting the alleged incidents took place around 40 years ago. “Roy Moore denies it — that’s all I can say.”

‘We don’t need a Democrat’

The president said that Democratic candidate for the Senate seat, Doug Jones, is wrong on national security, on taxes, on immigration and on crime. Moore’s the man, according to Trump.

But … what if the allegations are proven to be true? Senate Republicans don’t need an y more persuading. They are running away from Moore as quickly as they can. Some GOP senators say they are throwing their support behind Jones, who hasn’t been accused of the kind of disgraceful behavior that Moore allegedly has done.

None other than the attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, whose seat Moore and Jones are seeking to fill, has said he also believes the women!

This is sickening in the extreme.

national news, State news

Republicans are ‘eating their young’

November 20, 2017 kanelis2012

The late Texas state Sen. Teel Bivins, in an entirely different context, once told me how Republicans occasionally were prone to “eat their young.”

So this form of political cannibalism appears to be occurring in the current election cycle. We’re seeing Republican officeholders making GOP primary endorsements, picking fellow Republicans over other fellow Republicans.

Donald John Trump endorsed U.S. Sen. Luther Strange in his primary contest against Roy Moore in Alabama. Moore ended up winning that primary and … um … it hasn’t worked out too well for the GOP. Moore has been accused of making improper sexual advances on underage girls. It’s getting ugly down yonder, man.

Closer to home, we have Texas Gov. Greg Abbott endorsing a Republican challenger to a GOP state representative. State Rep. Sarah Davis’s primary foe, Susanna Dokupil, has earned the governor’s endorsement.

As Ross Ramsey writes in the Texas Tribune, it is rare for Texas governors to endorse against incumbents; it’s even more rare for them to get involved in primaries of their own political party. Abbott has scored a two-fer with his endorsement in that particular legislative contest.

Abbott weighs in

And so it goes with the Republican Party’s war with itself.

U.S. senators are lining up against the president, who’s firing back at them. GOP Sens. Jeff Flake and Bob Corker are retiring from the Senate in 2019. They both have been highly critical of the president of their own party. Donald Trump has returned the fire with angry statements and a bit of petulant name-calling to boot.

Republicans in both congressional chambers have fought among themselves over how to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. They’re now arguing over “tax reform” proposals that look good to one legislative chamber, but not nearly so good in the other one.

And, let’s not forget that the D.C. Republican establishment is gnashing its teeth over what to do if Roy Moore wins that U.S. Senate election in Alabama.

It’s no fun to be a Republican these days.

Especially if they’re about to be eaten.

business news, national news

They call it ‘tax reform,’ but is it … really?

November 19, 2017 kanelis2012

Here comes the legislative bum’s rush once again.

Just as congressional Republicans sought to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act all by themselves, they’re trying the same thing with what they’re calling “tax reform.”

Except that it doesn’t “reform” anything. It cuts taxes for the wealthiest Americans and, according to at least one prominent study, will increase taxes for middle-income Americans.

The House of Representatives zoomed this tax cut through that chamber with a narrow vote. Now it goes to the Senate. And you know what? It’s running into trouble.

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin opposes it because it does too little for small business. GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine opposes it as well because it cuts out the individual mandate required by the ACA. That’s two “no” votes. The tax plan is officially on the bubble.

I believe I’ll now mention what it does to the deficit. It explodes the deficit and for those of us deficit hawks, it piles on more money to the national debt, which Republicans are fond of saying increased during President Barack Obama’s two terms in office.

Senate puts up roadblocks

I keep circling back to this notion that no single party can do anything constructive without the other party. Republicans haven’t yet learned that lesson now that they control the White House in addition to both congressional chambers.

This star-chamber style of legislating — with major bills being discussed in private by members of one party — is harmful to legislative process and to the principle of effective governance.

As GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona has implored his colleagues, “Let’s return to ‘regular order.'” That means, among other things, bringing the other party into the discussion.

political news

Beware of polls in Alabama

November 18, 2017 kanelis2012

A word of caution may be in order.

Public opinion polling indicates that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore is falling farther behind his Democratic opponent, former federal prosecutor Doug Jones, in the race to join the World Greatest Deliberative Body.

A special election will occur in ‘Bama on Dec. 12. Moore has been swallowed up by a controversy involving whether he made improper sexual advances on young girls in the 1970s when he was a state prosecutor.

It’s been in all the papers, you know?

Be careful — very careful — about interpreting too much in these polls. You see, they at times can produce what political scientists call “phantom support” that manifests itself in voters being untruthful to pollsters.

Voters might be unwilling to say out loud to a pollster that they’re going to still vote for a guy who’s accused of pedophilia. Then they vote for the guy anyway. Indeed, this is why we call it a “secret ballot.” The fear is profoundly ridiculous, given that reputable polling firms do not reveal the identities of those they question about their voting preferences.

It’s all water over the proverbial dam anyway. Even if Moore manages to win the special election, I find if impossible for him to serve in the Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — against whom Moore has declared political war — likely will not allow him to take the oath and then tar the Republican Party with his very presence on Capitol Hill.

I’m just saying that as the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States has shown us, the new normal in American politics has proven to be anything but normal.

local news, political news

Judicial turnover: part of the political process

November 15, 2017 kanelis2012

Republicans in Congress aren’t the only politicians fleeing the unflinching glare of public service.

About a half-dozen Texas Republicans have announced they won’t seek re-election. I think the total of GOP lawmakers who won’t seek re-election numbers more than 20. There’s a smattering of national Democrats, too, who are bailing out of Congress.

Much closer to home, we’re seeing a similar exodus from the judicial bench. It’s producing the likelihood of a lively election season right here in Amarillo, Texas — in both Randall and Potter counties.

The outbound lane extends as well to Amarillo’s municipal court, where Judge Sonya Letson — a former Potter County attorney — has announced her intention to enter “quasi-retirement.” There will be no election there, since the City Council appoints the municipal judge.

But look at what’s occurring.

* Randall County Court at Law No.2 Judge Ronnie Walker is bowing out. He attracted three GOP challengers before he announced he wouldn’t seek another term, which makes me wonder: What did the judge do — or not do — to attract such a crowded field of challengers?

* Potter County Court at Law No. 1 Judge Corky Roberts is retiring, too. A Republican primary field of replacement candidates is lining up to succeed him.

* Potter County Court at Law No. 2 Judge Pam Sirmon is bailing out as well. Her office is likely to attract plenty of ballot action when the GOP primary occurs next spring.

Even though I am not a big fan of electing judges — especially on partisan ballots — I am going to be fascinated to see how this field of contenders will seek to say they are the best choices for voters.

The rule of thumb in Texas has been — as I’ve witnessed it for more than 30 years covering these offices — that incumbents rarely draw opposition. When a vacancy occurs, then all bets are off.

Many lawyers I’ve known over the years have aspired to be judges. One of the more interesting answers I ever got from a judicial candidate came from lawyer Ana Estevez, who was running for a district court judgeship in Amarillo. Estevez was born in South America. I mention that because I asked her about her political aspirations. “I can’t become the president of the United States,” she said, ” so I want to be named as a justice on the Supreme Court.”

She is not bashful.

Let the 2018 campaigning begin. I do love Election Season … even when it includes judge races.

medical news

Senate GOP makes yet another run at the ACA

November 15, 2017 kanelis2012

Here we go … again!

U.S. Senate Republicans have come up with a scheme to pay for the big tax cut they’re trying to enact that involves the Affordable Care Act. They want to repeal the individual mandate portion of the ACA, which they say will save more than $300 billion over the next decade.

The savings would be used to pay for the tax cuts being pitched for many wealthy Americans.

This is so very maddening, in my ever-so-humble view.

Congress trying again to repeal ACA

Congress has been unable to repeal the ACA and replace it. The president has been unable push his Republican pals across the finish line. They have tried and failed since long before Donald Trump took office as president of the United States.

Now comes this bit of Senate trickery: attach the individual mandate repeal to a tax cut they say would jumpstart the economy. Moreover, is anyone on Capitol Hill or the White House worried any longer about the national debt and our annual budget deficit, which economists say are going to explode under the GOP tax cut?

I want to make a couple of points.

One is that the economy is rocking along just fine. The U.S. Labor Department announced earlier this month that non-farm payrolls jumped by 260,000 jobs in October; the unemployment rate is at its lowest rate in 17 years. Not bad, man!

Two, enrollment for the ACA is moving along at a brisk pace. Hundreds of thousands more Americans signed up for insurance when open enrollment began at the beginning of the month, despite the president’s efforts to undermine the ACA.

I remain totally opposed to any wholesale repeal of the ACA. I continue to insist that it can be improved. It can be made more affordable.

Removing the individual mandate — which requires Americans to purchase health insurance or face a penalty — is certain to do one thing: It will toss millions of Americans off the rolls of the insured.

How is that supposed to help?

High Plains Blogger