No sooner had the 115th Congress convened than they pushed through a couple of bills to Make America Great Again.
The first proposed bill was to gut the House Ethics. Yes, nothing makes our country great again like eliminating ethics oversight. Unfortunately, the people got wind of that and made some noise. So much noise, in fact, that the Trump tweeted his displeasure. Once they heard the shrill calling of their feathered friend, congress backed away from the bill putting it in the nest for a rainy day. They also learned a lesson about open democracy.
They learned that if you want to get anything nefarious done without the people squawking the best thing to do is work in the dark. So, the Senate voted on the repeal of the ACA in the dead of night. To their credit, voting in the dead of night is best when ripping insurance out from under 20 million people. The house voted to begin de-funding on late Friday afternoon. The representatives can relax over the weekend after a tough decision on whether or not to allow potentially thousands of people to die simply because they cannot afford treatment. It must be difficult to be a representative in the 115th Congress, so much to attack, so little time.
In the rush to Make America Great Again, the first bills attacked our own people, our health, our ethics oversight and our right to transparency. These were the most important bills congress chose to vote on. Nothing else in the world is as important in our country than repealing the ACA and undermining ethics.
Clearly, we are going to need to get used to being attacked from above as Trump tweets down on us.. The repeal of the ACA and the attempt to gut oversight are just the beginning.
Congressman Chaffetz (R-Utah), chair of the House Oversight committee, chose this week not to call in Trump’s attorney and financial team to ask them directly just how their non-compliance with divestiture eliminates Trump of any conflict of interest problems or ethics issues or provides any assurance to the American Public that the Trump is not beholding, financially in any way to foreign powers or entities. Nope, while those all seem like valid questions that an oversight committee would want to ask but no.
Instead, after the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Director, Walter Shaub pointed out that the President has several potential ongoing conflicts, Rep. Chaffetz demanded that the director of the OGE , Walter Shaub, testify to the committee to justify funding his office and his position in closed session. Chaffetz threatened to subpoena Shaub if he did not meet his demand.
Chaffetz,, on Fox News, claims Shaub has not looked at anything and is nothing but a partisan tool unethical because he informed the American Public that the Trump’s “trust” does nothing to eliminate potential conflicts of interest.
Rather than calling on the OGE to assist the oversight committee in understanding any potential issues, Chaffetz, who once said he could not vote for Trump and look his daughter in the eye, goes on Fox news to smear Shaub and the OGE. Is he on Fox smearing Shaub because Shaub did his or because Chaffetz did not do his?
If that were not enough, at an event billed as a press conference but more akin to a street corner shell game, Trump pecked the eyes out of a CNN reporter because CNN reported that Trump was briefed on some information that claim’s Trump may be compromised by a foreign power.
Watching the President-Elect throw a hissy fit at a member of the White House Correspondents Pool should make everyone shudder. Why? Trump works for us. The press corps is our eyes and ears. The press is exactly how we keep tabs on those people who work for us. Having Trump spit at them and threaten to throw them out for asking a question, or printing something he did like or want people to see or ask questions about, is worth a spine tingle.
So, welcome to our new government—against ethics, against saving citizens lives, against healthcare, against those who challenge the narrative and inform the public. And, if we ask questions about any of it, then be prepared to get bullied, subpoenaed, fired or thrown out of the room.
Well, this should be fun.
Our Civic Duty