Category: PRI

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* Erik’s Editorial: The Guilty Parties Who Put American Democracy At Risk In The Name Of Donald Trump

US White House upside down (public domain).

I do not fault stupid people for making the stupid decision to elect Donald Trump in 2016.

I do fault smart people for making stupid decisions. These include:

1. Senators who voted to acquit Donald Trump in his no-witnesses-allowed impeachment trial, including primarily Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell:

* Impeachment of Donald Trump (2020-02-05)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Donald_Trump#Acquittal

* Mitch McConnell (2020-02-05)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell#Impeachment_trial

2. Members of the GOP who voted to disenfranchise voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – before, during, and AFTER the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol – including Paul Gosar (AZ-04), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jody Hice (R–GA-10), Mo Brooks (R–AL-05), Scott Perry (R–PA-10), Josh Hawley (R–MO), and Louie Gohmert (R–TX-01).

* 2021 Storming Of The United States Capitol (2021-01-06)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol

* 2020 United States Presidential Election Electoral College Count (2021-01-06 – 2021-01-07)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election_Electoral_College_count

3. Donald Trump’s cabinet, who could have invoked the 25th Amendment to remove POTUS at any time:

* Cabinet Of Donald Trump (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Donald_Trump

4. Social media, including especially Facebook and Twitter, for allowing their social networks to be used as platforms for hate speech.

* Donald Trump On Social Media (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_on_social_media#2021

5. Mainstream media, including especially CNN (on the left) and Fox News (on the right) for not doing their jobs – asking questions until they get answers – and allowing POTUS to lie unchecked.

* Veracity Of Statements By Donald Trump (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump

6. Lawmakers at all levels, for failing to fix bad laws and for failing to enact good laws. Changes that must be made going forward include:

Limiting POTUS power:

  • Executive order power must be limited.
  • All cabinet members (acting/interim/actual) must be confirmed by Senate.
  • Treaties and tariffs must be the role of Congress so that POTUS cannot engage in trade wars.
  • War Powers Act must be updated to limit POTUS power to deploy the military.
  • Special Counsel Act must be updated to make clear that POTUS cannot fire special counsel.

Writing better and new laws:

  • Impeachment Act of 2021, to define how impeachment is conducted, including the requirement to have witnesses.
  • Follow the lead of The Restatements Of The Law project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restatements_of_the_Law) and codify major SCOTUS cases, including especially Roe v. Wade.
  • Fix the Census.
  • Fix immigration.
  • Fix SCOTUS processes, such as limiting appointments to 2 per POTUS with the number of SCOTUS justices fixed at the number of Federal Circuits (currently 13).
  • Election reform, including who is qualified to run for POTUS and that tax forms must be disclosed to do so.

Just to name a few.

Stupid people, bad laws, and lies got us into this mess.

Smart people, good laws, and the truth can get us out of this mess.

LAW >> MAN.

#FailedPols
https://www.failblog.com/

Posted on

Trump’s Veto: A National Emergency?

On Friday, Donald Trump vetoed Congress’ vote to reverse his declaration of a national state of emergency. After the House refused to authorize Trump’s full request for $5.7 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump declared a national emergency in order to take funds from sources such as military construction monies to build the wall. Now, though Trump has been denied twice via the voting process, he will use his veto power to get what he wants.

“Today I am vetoing this resolution,” Trump said. “Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution and I have the duty to veto it.”

Almost immediately after the Senate, including 12 GOP senators, voted 59-41 against Trump’s emergency declaration, Trump proclaimed that he would proceed anyway.

“I look forward to VETOING the just passed Democrat inspired Resolution which would OPEN BORDERS while increasing Crime, Drugs, and Trafficking in our Country,” Tweeted Trump.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn), though he supports increased border security, remarked, “We had a war against a king in the American revolution…This would be the first time that a president has ever asked for a certain amount of money from Congress, Congress has refused to provide it, and then the president has declared a national emergency under the 1976 act and said, ‘I’m going to spend the money anyway.'”

Trump’s insistence that a border wall would be instrumental in keeping criminals from coming into the U.S. is unsupported by statistics. According to PRI, of the 362,000 who were apprehended by Border Patrol officers in FY18, less than 1 percent had convictions for violence, firearms, or sexual offenses. On the other hand, one in 12 American adults has been convicted of a felony.

As for preventing drug trafficking, though most of the heroin in the U.S. does come from Mexico, according to a 2018 report from the Drug Enforcement Agency, it does not just come into the U.S. via illegal border crossings. Much of it comes by way of legal crossings – not only by vehicle at legal points of entry, but through airports and even on ships.

And, says Elaine Carey, dean of the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences at Purdue University, “A wall’s not going to do anything unless you deal with the demand.”

Congress is not expected to have enough votes to override Trump’s veto. Still, the number of votes against Trump’s emergency declaration in both the House and Senate could carry some weight when the issue goes to court, which it almost certainly will. Trump, however, insists that his veto will hold up under legal challenges.

Trump signs first veto of his presidency | Full Remarks | Fox News [2019-03-15]

Trump uses veto power to kill bill that would block his border wall emergency | CBS This Morning [2019-03-16]

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