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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (77917)	2/26/2010 1:05:55 AM
From: Sully-	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

Ethics panel smacks Rangel Don Surber Good-time Charlie Rangel — the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee which writes the nation’s tax laws — broke the rules, the House ethics panel found. “Rangel knowingly accepted Caribbean trips in violation of House rules that forbid hidden financing by corporations, the AP has learned,” the Associated Press reported. Rangel succeeded the ethically challenged Democrat Adam Clayton Powell Jr. as Harlem’s congressman. Now, Powell’s son may succeed him if Rangel’s multiple ethics violations tick off the electorate. The Associated Press report: <<< The House ethics committee has concluded that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel knowingly accepted Caribbean trips in violation of House rules that forbid hidden financing by corporations, the AP has learned. A congressional source familiar with the findings but not authorized to be quoted by name said at least four of members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the trips in 2007 and 2008 have been exonerated. Last year the House ethics committee expanded its investigation of Rangel to include his revisions to financial statements that revealed assets and income not previously reported. Earlier the Harlem Democrat had withstood a GOP sponsored resolution that called for Rangel to to surrender his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. The ethics committee was also looking into Rangel’s use of multiple rent-stabilized apartments, his fundraising on behalf of the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College in New York, and his failure to pay taxes on a Dominican Republic vacation home. Rangel is also being investigated in a separate ethics committee probe of Caribbean trips in 2007-08 by five members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The committee has authorized nearly 150 subpoenas in the investigation of Rangel, has interviewed some 34 witnesses and reviewed more than 12,000 pages of documents. Rangel is one of the most influential members of Congress because the committee he chairs writes laws setting tax rates and oversees Medicare and Social Security benefits. The decision is certain to raise questions whether he can continue that role in an election year in which Congress must deal with several expiring tax laws. >>> blogs.dailymail.com

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (77917)	2/26/2010 2:48:40 AM
From: Sully-	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Let’s see a blog post condemning these backroom, disclosure-undermining tactics on the White House blog, shall we? GOP beats back sneak attack on CIA interrogators By Michelle Malkin February 25, 2010 10:07 PM Earlier today while the nation was focused on health care Oba-Kabuki, Andy McCarthy sounded the alarm on a Democrat sneak attack on CIA interrogators: <<< The Obama Democrats have outdone themselves. While the country and the Congress have their eyes on today’s dog-and-pony show on socialized medicine, House Democrats last night stashed a new provision in the intelligence bill which is to be voted on today. It is an attack on the CIA: the enactment of a criminal statute that would ban “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” The provision is impossibly vague — who knows what “degrading” means? Proponents will say that they have itemized conduct that would trigger the statute (I’ll get to that in a second), but it is not true. The proposal says the conduct reached by the statute “includes but is not limited to” the itemized conduct. (My italics.) That means any interrogation tactic that a prosecutor subjectively believes is “degrading” (e.g., subjecting a Muslim detainee to interrogation by a female CIA officer) could be the basis for indicting a CIA interrogator. The act goes on to make it a crime to use tactics that have been shown to be effective in obtaining life saving information and that are far removed from torture. >>> Well, House Republicans were on the ball and tonight, they forced the intel bill that contained the stealth measure to be pulled: <<< A controversial bill that would have levied criminal punishments on intelligence officers for harsh interrogations was pulled Thursday evening. House Republicans charged Democrats with trying to sneak a provision into the intelligence authorization bill that would establish criminal punishment for CIA agents and other intelligence officials who engage in “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” during interrogations. Democrats inserted an 11-page addition into the bill late Wednesday night as the House Rules Committee considered the legislation. The provision, previously not vetted in committee, applied to “any officer or employee of the intelligence community” who during interrogations engages in beatings, infliction of pain or forced sexual acts. The bill said the acts covered by the provision would include inducing hypothermia, conducting mock executions or “depriving the [detainee] of necessary food, water, sleep, or medical care.” The language gave Congress the discretion to determine what the terms mean, and it would have imposed punishments of up to 15 years in prison, and in some cases, life sentences if a detainee died as a result of the interrogation. Republicans criticized the language and the way it was introduced. “This will fundamentally change the nature of the intelligence community by creating a criminal statute governing interrogations,” said Rep. Pete Hoesktra (R-Mich.). He added that it had appeared “out of nowhere” in a manager’s amendment. >>> The Dems lied, transparency died. Shout about this one from the rooftops. And hey, you remember that White House Chief Technology Officer who dared Tea Party activists to challenge the Democrats on transparency? Let’s see a blog post condemning these backroom, disclosure-undermining tactics on the White House blog, shall we? michellemalkin.com