The Insane Rationalizations, Bigotry And Hypocrisy Of The Right

[mnm]

Who's more to blame? Them or the people who put them in power by continuing to vote for them?

I agree, but that applies to any place where some voting system rules, no?

[Panzermann]

Often enough there is only the choice between bad and worse at the ballot box.

[Mr King]

Aaron Schock resigns after new questions about mileage expenses

 

 

Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock resigned Tuesday, less than 12 hours after POLITICO raised questions about tens of thousands of dollars in mileage reimbursements he received for his personal vehicle.

Schock billed the federal government and his campaign for logging roughly 170,000 miles on his personal car from January 2010 through July 2014. But when he sold that Chevrolet Tahoe in July 2014, it had roughly 80,000 miles on the odometer, according to public records obtained by POLITICO under Illinois open records laws. The documents, in other words, indicate he was reimbursed for 90,000 miles more than his car was driven.

The discrepancy added to a growing wave of ethical and legal problems for the 33-year-old politician.

“[T]he constant questions over the last six weeks have proven a great distraction that has made it too difficult for me to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standards that they deserve and which I have set for myself,” Schock said in a surprise statement on Tuesday. “I have always sought to do what’s best for my constituents, and I thank them for the opportunity to serve.”

Later Tuesday, a spokesman for Schock added, “In an effort to remove any questions and out of an abundance of caution, Congressman Schock has reimbursed all monies received for official mileage since his election to Congress.”

Schock’s resignation marks a swift downfall of one of the GOP’s most promising young stars and prolific fundraisers. The former state legislator was elected to Congress in 2008 and shot through the ranks of the House GOP, at one point gracing the cover of Men’s Health magazine. He was a fresh face in a party eager to update its image.

But as his prominence grew, Schock adopted an expensive lifestyle — staying in luxury hotels, dining at pricey restaurants, flying on private jets. Mounting questions about how he paid for it eventually caught up with him.

The congressman’s vehicle history was pieced together from dozens of pages of Illinois vehicle records.

When Schock transferred the SUV to an Illinois dealership in 2014, it had 81,860 miles on the odometer, documents show. However, from January 2010 to the end of July 2014, he billed the federal government for 123,131 miles on his personal vehicle. During the same period, the Republican billed his “Schock for Congress” campaign account and GOP Generation Y Fund, his leadership political action committee, for an additional 49,388 miles.

Altogether, Schock sought reimbursement for 172,520 miles on his car, despite the fact that he signed documents that certified the vehicle traveled less than half that distance.

Schock had no other vehicles registered in his name at the time, according to state public records. Multiple sources familiar with his office operations say he only drove the Tahoe during this period.

In November 2009, less than a year after Schock took his seat in Congress, the lawmaker bought the 2010 Tahoe from Green Chevrolet in Peoria. The dealership is owned by Jeff Green, a contributor to Schock who has flown the congressman around his district in his airplane and helicopter.

When Schock purchased the new car, it had four miles on it, according to publicly available automobile transaction documents.

On July 19, 2014, Schock transferred the car back to Green Chevrolet with 81,860 miles on it, according to a transfer document Schock signed.

On that same day in 2014, Schock bought a black 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe with 10 miles on it. Schock’s campaign spent nearly $75,000 on the car, according to campaign filings, but the congressman registered the car in his own name. The SUV sports congressional license plates with the number “18” — the number of Schock’s congressional district.

Between 2010 and 2014, the government mileage reimbursement requests were filed by Schock on a near-monthly basis. Members of Congress and staffers are permitted to bill the government and campaign for use of a personal vehicle, and, generally speaking, do not have to keep logs to record the miles they drive.

When asked about the mileage several weeks ago, Schock’s office said the congressman spends a lot of time in automobiles and chartering private jets between events in his central Illinois district. His office also raised the possibility that staffers were driving his vehicle and weren’t sure if it was permissible under the rules.

During the past month, Schock repaid the government $40,000 after spending money from his official office budget to redecorate his office to resemble the set of PBS’s “Downton Abbey,” an English historical drama. He also reimbursed taxpayers more than $1,200 after using his office account to pay to fly on a private plane to a Chicago Bears football game.

Separately, on a campaign-finance document, Schock labeled the cost of a November flight on a private plane as a software purchase. He has failed to report trips abroad, as required. And he held a fundraiser at a golf course without reporting paying for its use.

In an interview with POLITICO last week in Peoria, Schock could not say with certainty that he had not broken the law.

“I certainly hope not,” Schock said. The Illinois Republican added that he was not an attorney, and therefore could not know whether he broke the law or ethics rules. Schock also declined to directly answer whether he had accepted improper gifts as a member of Congress.

News reports by POLITICO and the Chicago Sun-Times raised a series of questions about Schock’s spending and record-keeping. The Office of Congressional Ethics opened an investigation of the lawmaker on Feb. 28 and has begun contacting his associates about appearing before the independent panel behind closed doors.

The OCE probe —and any potential Ethics Committee investigation — will disappear with Schock’s resignation. However, federal law enforcement could still look into Schock’s actions. He has two attorneys, former Federal Election Commission Commissioner Don McGahn and criminal defense attorney William McGinley, both of Jones Day. Ron Bonjean and Brian Walsh, two longtime GOP communications aides, are handling his press strategy.

Schock will remain in Congress until March 31.

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/aaron-schock-resigns-116153.html?hp=t1_r

[rmgill]

Note how he's GONE and not defended behind a wall of peers who are asking why he's being picked on.

Rangel is still in office I'll note.

[Mr King]

Note how he's GONE and not defended behind a wall of peers who are asking why he's being picked on.

 

Rangel is still in office I'll note.

 

Yep

[Ivanhoe]

Here we go again;

 

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/19/james-baker-advising-jeb-bush-keynoting-j-street-conference/

 

this pretty much does it for Jeb. The last thing the world needs right now is a POTUS who will encourage the Iranians to wipe Israel off the map.

 

Baker is like herpes; he just will not go away.

[Skywalkre]

He already had plenty of folks writing him off after he named Wolfowitz one of his advisors.

[BP]

Here we go again;

 

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/19/james-baker-advising-jeb-bush-keynoting-j-street-conference/

 

this pretty much does it for Jeb. The last thing the world needs right now is a POTUS who will encourage the Iranians to wipe Israel off the map.

 

Baker is like herpes; he just will not go away.

 

With what?!? The atomic bomb they've been six months away from developing since the first Reagan admin? Or are they planning a lease with the option to buy of any number of Israel's several hundred nukular warheads?

 

Fuck me. No more Bushes as a matter of principle. Hell, no more Texas Preznits of any political flavor (cough, LBJ, cough).

 

Jeb Arbusto already made noises about, just maybe, the need to raise taxes. Just. Go. Away.

[Soren Ras]

The idea that in a republic of 320 million people, founded in a rebellion against a monarchy and conceived as a republic of free and equal citizens, the same family should supply three leaders within a span of 25 years, is so insanely offensive that if for no other reason, Jeb Bush should have the basic decency to stay out of it.

 

We can add the Clintons to the roster of unseemly aristocratic impulses that everyone, right or left, should instinctively recoil from.

 

Jeb's father and the brother strike me as fundamentally decent men, even if both were hardly the best of what America should be able to produce in terms of leaders. It is about time to see if Jeb has that same basic decency, or if his sense of ego and his own indispensability is grown too large. If you are are Bush or a Clinton, a decision to run for President in 2016 should be an automatic disqualification.

 

 

--

Soren

[BansheeOne]

Well, arguably any regulations limiting the choice of the people to vote and run for office - including term limits - are counter to democratic values. That said, with the established track record of the respective clans, if I was an American having a choice between another Clinton and another Bush in 2016, I'd consider myself so screwed ...

[Soren Ras]

That is not the sort of thing you combat with laws and regulations!

There are more than enough of those without adding to the problem.

 

I'd rather consider the matter a fundamental test of the civic virtues of the American electorate. The problem isn't that there are people who run who ought not to, the problem is if they are actually pushed forward to be the only candidates the people have available to vote for. By rights, both Jeb and Hillary should be laughed out of every room they enter the moment they announce their candidature. And no one with an ounce of respect for democracy ought to assist them in becoming the next inheritor of the throne.

 

And I fully agree, a choice between Hillary and Jeb would be enough to drive a man to drink. And worse.

 

--

Soren

[LT Ducky]

The idea that in a republic of 320 million people, founded in a rebellion against a monarchy and conceived as a republic of free and equal citizens, the same family should supply three leaders within a span of 25 years, is so insanely offensive that if for no other reason, Jeb Bush should have the basic decency to stay out of it.

 

We can add the Clintons to the roster of unseemly aristocratic impulses that everyone, right or left, should instinctively recoil from.

 

Jeb's father and the brother strike me as fundamentally decent men, even if both were hardly the best of what America should be able to produce in terms of leaders. It is about time to see if Jeb has that same basic decency, or if his sense of ego and his own indispensability is grown too large. If you are are Bush or a Clinton, a decision to run for President in 2016 should be an automatic disqualification.

 

 

--

Soren

 

It says a lot (and not anything good) when an unknown guy from Denmark posts a very true statement on an obscure internet military discussion forum that the 'smartest people' in United States political 'leadership' positions just do not understand.

 

Thanks, Soren

[Panzermann]

And DK is a Monarchy.

 

I think this is a sign that the politicians learned to game the system. They collect favours, compromitting stuff on enemies and make themselves indispensable for their party and build a powerbase with people dependant upon them. In the end the voter has not much say who is elected. The voter has only a small preselected choice. And the preselection is through politics within the political parties and has thus rarely anything to do with being the best for the office, but rather who is the best in gaming the party's power structure.

 

Seems pretty similar today in all the so called western democracies, that are well established.

 

As Chruchill is said to have said: The worst form of government except all the others invented so far.

[EchoFiveMike]

Like all things, needs to be cleaned out and baselined periodically. Imagine Windows running for 225+ yrs....

 

Same thing. Wipe it, fresh install of the OS. S/F.....Ken M

[Ivanhoe]

Only a fascist thug would want to return to a condition where the Constitution means what it says it means.

[EchoFiveMike]

Then I stand guilty as charged.

 

Let the manlings with the soft hands come and try their luck. S/F....Ken M

[BP]

 

The idea that in a republic of 320 million people, founded in a rebellion against a monarchy and conceived as a republic of free and equal citizens, the same family should supply three leaders within a span of 25 years, is so insanely offensive that if for no other reason, Jeb Bush should have the basic decency to stay out of it.

 

We can add the Clintons to the roster of unseemly aristocratic impulses that everyone, right or left, should instinctively recoil from.

 

Jeb's father and the brother strike me as fundamentally decent men, even if both were hardly the best of what America should be able to produce in terms of leaders. It is about time to see if Jeb has that same basic decency, or if his sense of ego and his own indispensability is grown too large. If you are are Bush or a Clinton, a decision to run for President in 2016 should be an automatic disqualification.

 

 

--

Soren

 

It says a lot (and not anything good) when an unknown guy from Denmark posts a very true statement on an obscure internet military discussion forum that the 'smartest people' in United States political 'leadership' positions just do not understand.

 

Thanks, Soren

 

 

No kidding. He's solid in damn near everything he posts, and has a better grasp than most Murricans.

 

I propose a trade for twelve liberals, a relief pitcher and a player to be named later.

[X-Files]

The idea that in a republic of 320 million people, founded in a rebellion against a monarchy and conceived as a republic of free and equal citizens, the same family should supply three leaders within a span of 25 years, is so insanely offensive that if for no other reason, Jeb Bush should have the basic decency to stay out of it.

 

We can add the Clintons to the roster of unseemly aristocratic impulses that everyone, right or left, should instinctively recoil from.

 

Jeb's father and the brother strike me as fundamentally decent men, even if both were hardly the best of what America should be able to produce in terms of leaders. It is about time to see if Jeb has that same basic decency, or if his sense of ego and his own indispensability is grown too large. If you are are Bush or a Clinton, a decision to run for President in 2016 should be an automatic disqualification.

 

 

--

Soren

 

This cuts both ways.

 

 

 

Service Equals Citizenship.

Would you like to know more?

 

Edited March 20, 2015 by X-Files

[X-Files]

 

 

The idea that in a republic of 320 million people, founded in a rebellion against a monarchy and conceived as a republic of free and equal citizens, the same family should supply three leaders within a span of 25 years, is so insanely offensive that if for no other reason, Jeb Bush should have the basic decency to stay out of it.

 

We can add the Clintons to the roster of unseemly aristocratic impulses that everyone, right or left, should instinctively recoil from.

 

Jeb's father and the brother strike me as fundamentally decent men, even if both were hardly the best of what America should be able to produce in terms of leaders. It is about time to see if Jeb has that same basic decency, or if his sense of ego and his own indispensability is grown too large. If you are are Bush or a Clinton, a decision to run for President in 2016 should be an automatic disqualification.

 

 

--

Soren

 

It says a lot (and not anything good) when an unknown guy from Denmark posts a very true statement on an obscure internet military discussion forum that the 'smartest people' in United States political 'leadership' positions just do not understand.

 

Thanks, Soren

 

 

No kidding. He's solid in damn near everything he posts, and has a better grasp than most Murricans.

 

I propose a trade for twelve liberals, a relief pitcher and a player to be named later.

 

 

+1

[mnm]

Only a fascist thug would want to return to a condition where the Constitution means what it says it means.

 

Before any Amendments.

[Jeff]

 

Only a fascist thug would want to return to a condition where the Constitution means what it says it means.

 

Before any Amendments.

 

 

Well, the first 10 were part of the original agreement so they would need to stay.

[Skywalkre]

 

Only a fascist thug would want to return to a condition where the Constitution means what it says it means.

 

Before any Amendments.

 

 

There's kind of... some important ones you'd suddenly be removing. Almost scared to ask which ones are so bad.

[mnm]

Oh, nothing against, I meant the original text before need for Amendments was felt. Jeff had already fired a shot across my bow

[Wobbly Head]

 

 

Only a fascist thug would want to return to a condition where the Constitution means what it says it means.

http://www.tank-net.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=38089&page=5

Before any Amendments.

 

 

There's kind of... some important ones you'd suddenly be removing. Almost scared to ask which ones are so bad.

 

The current incumbent would haply do away with the 22nd by executive action if he could get away with it.

[Mike Steele]

 

 

The idea that in a republic of 320 million people, founded in a rebellion against a monarchy and conceived as a republic of free and equal citizens, the same family should supply three leaders within a span of 25 years, is so insanely offensive that if for no other reason, Jeb Bush should have the basic decency to stay out of it.

 

We can add the Clintons to the roster of unseemly aristocratic impulses that everyone, right or left, should instinctively recoil from.

 

Jeb's father and the brother strike me as fundamentally decent men, even if both were hardly the best of what America should be able to produce in terms of leaders. It is about time to see if Jeb has that same basic decency, or if his sense of ego and his own indispensability is grown too large. If you are are Bush or a Clinton, a decision to run for President in 2016 should be an automatic disqualification.

 

 

--

Soren

 

It says a lot (and not anything good) when an unknown guy from Denmark posts a very true statement on an obscure internet military discussion forum that the 'smartest people' in United States political 'leadership' positions just do not understand.

 

Thanks, Soren

 

 

No kidding. He's solid in damn near everything he posts, and has a better grasp than most Murricans.

 

I propose a trade for twelve liberals, a relief pitcher and a player to be named later.

 

Well he does own a copy of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, And The Declaration of Independence.