Most members tell me blizzard of angry constituent calls were most impt factor in getting the House to sideline the amdt
— Robert Costa (@costareports) January 3, 2017
Trump didn't do this. You did this. Remember that. https://t.co/OlfRKNyHkw
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) January 3, 2017
Despite BettyC’s (quite sensible!) complaints, I choose to believe that scaring the Repubs into dropping their plans to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics is a victory for us decent Democrats. This is a good Washington Post summary — and if they’d left the last two words off their headline, it’d be even better — “House Republicans back off gutting ethics watchdog after backlash from Trump“:
… In a complete reversal, the House GOP moved to withdraw proposed changes they approved the day before to official rules that would rein in the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). Instead, the House will study changes to the office with an August deadline.
The about-face came hours after Trump took to Twitter to slam House Republicans for voting behind closed doors Monday night in favor of immediately weakening the independent ethics office. The vote defied House GOP leaders and complicated Trump’s “drain the swamp” campaign mantra…
Democrats and other watchdog groups were also critical of the Monday night vote. A coalition of more than a dozen organizations and activists expressed their frustration in a Tuesday morning letter to House Democratic and Republican leadership. Members also faced a barrage of angry phone calls from constituents.
“I can tell you the calls we’ve gotten in my district office and here in Washington surprised me, meaning the numbers of calls. People are just sick and tired,” Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) said of the simmering outrage over the proposed change. “People are just losing confidence in the lack of ethics and honesty in Washington.”
In a statement, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, “Republicans should remember the strength of public outrage they faced in the space of 12 hours as they scheme to do lasting damage to the health and economic security of millions and millions of hard-working families.”…
Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) pushed for the weakening of the OCE on Monday. His office said it would have provided “protections against any disclosures to the public or other government entities.”
A government official familiar with the internal operations of the OCE disputed Goodlatte’s assertion that the amendment would “strengthen” the office.
“Representative Goodlatte’s statement that this is an effort to strengthen ethics is a bald-faced lie,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “This will do nothing but weaken the office and weaken ethics in Congress.”…
Also, note that we can use public outrage to leverage the difference between President-Asterisk Trump’s goals, and those of Zombie-Eyed Granny-Starver Paul Ryan and his fellow Repub thieves, fanatics, and grifters…
I'd go with outrage –> forced Trump's hand –> House GOP reversal, but YMMV. https://t.co/dC1Agsf6ce
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 3, 2017
A timeline, of sorts:
.@Costareports on @MSNBC "rank and file GOP members don't like having the ethics committee around making them feel vulnerable all the time."
— Jodi Jacobson (@jljacobson) January 3, 2017
But they’re OK w people vulnerable from Muslim registries, or stop & frisk, or, like Philando Castille, getting 49 traffic stops in 13 years https://t.co/fid7Z7GNTq
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 3, 2017
well, what if you were going to do a whole lot of corrupt shit and you didn't want to be nagged all the damn time by ethicists https://t.co/ZJggB4mlKJ
— Jason Linkins (@dceiver) January 3, 2017
If you want to understand why the House GOP would want to get rid of the OCE, here are the recent investigations: https://t.co/oQomaeD9WE
— Christy Fletcher (@FletcherChristy) January 3, 2017
(A whole smorgasboard of mostly-petty illegality, ranging from the classics — travel freebies for Congresscritters’ families, Alan Grayspan’s insufficiently blind hedge funds, special amendments to protect some Texan Repub’s auto dealership — to a guy getting too close to endorsing the video game League of Legends.)
"All of them" is a fair answer
— Peter Bondi (@pbondi) January 3, 2017
.
Team Trump, lunging for credit:
Trump spox Sean Spicer clarifies Trump is annoyed by the timing of GOP gutting ethics watchdog, not the gutting itself. Via pool: pic.twitter.com/DjAsoW7jEv
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) January 3, 2017
Yet just an hour or so earlier, TT was all aboard gutting any oversight:
.@KellyannePolls: GOP has ‘mandate’ to gut congressional ethics office https://t.co/lxnUNgURJc pic.twitter.com/SEjv6bo0JE
— POLITICO (@politico) January 3, 2017
Kellyanne Conway on gutting ethics watchdog on @GMA: "There's been an overzealousness in some of the processes over the years."
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) January 3, 2017
The Ethics kerfuffle will be the first of many cases where Rs do something and Trump opposes it bc it looks bad on TV.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) January 3, 2017
1) He opposed only timing 2) Tweet was obvious ploy to gain favorable headlines. He tweets so no one asks him to elaborate on what he means. pic.twitter.com/AlqHeiYdtp
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) January 3, 2017
.
Here’s the proposed “Goodlatte Amendment”, for future reference:
Wow. New Congress (before it even convenes) moves to rein in independent office that fields ethics complaints pic.twitter.com/WUSRLMD7Dv
— Paul Singer (@singernews) January 3, 2017
but seriously what spineless corrupt bastards.
— laura olin (@lauraolin) January 3, 2017
Roger Moore
If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear!
Baud
But no emails. SAD!
Hunter Gathers
This is somehow Obama’s fault. Everything is.
dmsilev
Maybe we should empower the Capitol Police to employ stop-and-frisk tactics on the GOP.
Schlemazel
“People are just losing confidence in the lack of ethics and honesty in Washington.”
Odd that, I have not lost confidence in the lack of ethics and honesty in Washington. I have every confidence it will continue its malignant grow with the fertilization provided by the GOP.
Jeffro
@Hunter Gathers:
Have to agree. Just look at how exposed we are to lawnmower deaths under his iron fist!
(j/k folks…article details all the good-and-getting-even-better ways Obama is leaving office after eight years)
bago
Remember, After the revolution, Ethics are going to be the first against the wall!
O. Felix Culpa
This is a significant win. The Republicans overreached and were forced by an outraged public to retract within 12 hours. Public blowback does have an impact.
Of course they’ll try again, maybe a little more sneakily next time. But the overreach will continue. They, like scorpions, can’t help themselves. And we, the public, must continue to mount massive resistance. Gutting the ethics office was just the opening salvo in a protracted war, but I believe we can take heart from this outcome.
hovercraft
@Roger Moore:
This is what they keep telling young men of color, when they tell them that stop and frisk is no big deal. How did Peter King of NY vote? He is very gung ho when it comes to spying on muslims, and he is a big fan of profiling. Congresscritters have a high level of corruption, so why not keep them under the microscope?
Sauce for the……
GregB
Has anyone dusted off the old chestnut:
If they have nothing to hide?
O. Felix Culpa
Speaking of ethics and collective action, the League of Women Voters is supporting a “Call-In Day” to Congress tomorrow to challenge Trump’s conflicts of interest:
Steeplejack (tablet)
On the contrary, I have complete confidence in the lack of ethics and honesty in Washington.
ETA: @Schlemazel:
Bastard!
Jeffro
Btw I’m sure at least some folks saw that Trump said he’d have an “inside scoop” on what he calls “so-called Russian hacking” on Tuesday or Wednesday while he was at his New Year’s Eve bash?
Guess what?
An hour ago he just Tweeted that
(all quote marks his)
WOW
Here’s the kicker, according to CNN:
Caught lying, again, in denial and in the service of a hostile foreign power, again.
Mike in NC
Before the end of the month the federal government will be controlled by a bunch of villains from a shitty Batman movie.
Jeffro
@Jeffro: And besides all that…why would he need a briefing from “intelligence” anyway in order to enlighten all of us? After all, he already “knows things that others don’t”
JPL
@Jeffro: It was a misunderstanding.. easy peasy.. Trump will not be held accountable, and Hillary had emails.
Jeffro
@Schlemazel: @Steeplejack (tablet): LOL to you both…buuut…we need to note (and push back on media) that we actually do have confidence in Democrats’ ethics in government. The GOP? The party that not only created a need for the Ethics Office but pushed to do away with it? Yeah, them, not so much.
debbie
@O. Felix Culpa:
I agree, but even more, they overreached in the first minutes of the new session!
Schlemazel
@Steeplejack (tablet):
great minds think alike
Jeffro
@JPL: He’ll be held accountable by the intelligence services over the course of the next four years, I do believe that.
Not optimal, but certainly satisfactory.
Mary G
Trump is already breaking promises right and left. Remember his Dec. 15 press conference on his business conflicts? Oh, right he reneged on that.
Schlemazel
@Jeffro:
Yeah, I changed my comment to take that shot out & put it in the last line
joel hanes
It’s nice of Goodlatte and the other would-be crooks in the R House caucus to self-identify in this way.
Now we know whom to watch carefully, because they’ve declared their intention to commit shady acts.
Corner Stone
@Jeffro:
He repeatedly said he didn’t believe any of their conclusions anyway, and knew better than them.
So why would that stop him from doing a presser tomorrow?
The Pale Scot
Too early for sidebars, but I got sleep. Sorry
For reasons I was researching The Palladium back in NYC circa postwar.
And came across this
Back when theater was fucking serious yo
O. Felix Culpa
@debbie:
I know. Impressive, right? //
GregB
Perhaps someone can create a meme identifying the Republican Crooked Caucus then send it everywhere.
Jeffro
@Corner Stone: My point in #15. Show us your cards, Orange Jowlius!
Corner Stone
Media is so desperate to run with the “There’s a NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN! DRAINING THAT SWAMP!”
So fucking gross.
Corner Stone
@Jeffro: God. How many fucking comments of yours do you think I can be bothered to read in any thread? This is two and I am running outta Simon Cowell’s.
Jeffro
@Corner Stone: In all seriousness though, let’s walk through this…
1) Friday briefing happens
2) Trump comes out and says, eh, that’s not definitive and I’m not convinced (or better yet, “I know more than they do, I just don’t want to betray my sources”)
3) All eighty kazillion US intelligence agencies that KNOW Russia was behind the hacking are pissed, down to the receptionist level. New sense of purpose and mission!
4) All kinds of good Trump stuff starts turning up in reporters’ hands
5) Popcorn shortages across the US
Jeffro
@Corner Stone:
Well if you made it this far, four.
What’s a Simon Cowell? Is that like a writing award or something?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Mike in NC:
Dick Cheney makes a comeback as the Penguin!
The Pale Scot
@Jeffro:
He thinks he can direct reality thru his cell phone.
It’s like a student project at the Monty Python’s Very Very Film Academy
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Jeffro:
Well, we were referring to the majority.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Schlemazel:
Some just more glacially than others.
O. Felix Culpa
@Jeffro: Hah! I expected that. He hasn’t come through on any promised “reveal” events yet. At some point even the media and the public…as stupid as they are…will twig on to his bait-and-switch M.O.
Trigger warning: The emperor has no clothes and he won’t be able to hide his nekkidness indefinitely.
Jeffro
Probably late to the party as usual on this, but y’all need to follow @PaulRyanGosling on Twitter
Miss Bianca
@Mike in NC: OK, you’re right, the situation is horrible but *that* comment, my friend, made me LOL.
hovercraft
@Mary G:
Kellyanne said there may be one on the 11th, but don’t hold your breath.
tobie
@Jeffro:
From your lips to FSM’s ears.
Corner Stone
Oh, baby.
Corner Stone
Oh, Jen Psaki.
Emerald
We can force them to keep their ethics committee, but we can’t force them to use it!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@efgoldman: David Cay Johnston alluded to Ivana’s rape charge on the O’Donnell show (edited for clarity). Apparently it was first reported in the book by the guy Trump had thrown off his golf course. The Trump rage meter is going to be high tonight
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: And the guy from Newsweek.
Mnemosyne
Here’s the difference between us and Russia: for all our innumerable flaws, we’ve had a democratic form of government for over 200 years, and that tradition runs very deep. I know I’ve been guilty of spinning off into OMG Trump is going to make himself a dictator! paranoias, but we do still have some checks and balances, and one of them is public opinion. Namely, us. We need to scream our heads off at every goddamned thing they try. Every. Single. Thing.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I get your point, but, in a world where most journalists are useless, I want the people who actually do their jobs to get noticed.
Mnemosyne
Also, too, since I seem to be in the mood for exhortations right now:
Obama is not coming to save us.
Hillary is not coming to save us.
Bernie is not coming to save us.
We have to save ourselves.
Let’s get on with it.
Mnemosyne
@efgoldman:
Well, we can try screaming about every little thing and re-adjust if needed, or we can sit on our asses. I know which one I’m going to choose.
Jeffro
@efgoldman: @Omnes Omnibus:
The difference being that now, there’s no Hillz/emails to distract – it’ll take the media a while, but now when they ask the question, there is no “BUT HILLAREEZ EMAILZ!!!!?!” as a lame response/distraction.
Trust me. I was just having funsies with a Trump supporter (sister of a friend) on FB and when I asked her why the GOP’s first order of business this Congress was to gut the Ethics Oversight office, her two responses were (this is verbatim): “To piss you off”, followed by, “Now answer my question, why did your girl Hillary lose?” That is all they have in their quiver, their ammo box, their pile of snowballs.
So let’s have at it. For any given issue that comes up like gutting the Ethics office, or the rationale for eliminating Obamacare, or anything else: ANSWER THE QUESTION, GOOPERS! No dodging, no changing the question, no Hillary slams: just answer the question.
Jeffro
@Mnemosyne:
“Justice” and “just us” – homophonic coincidence, or evidence of a higher power that wants us to kick Trump’s and Ryan’s and McConnell’s asses?
Jeffro
Hey here’s a new one (for us, anyway – the Soviets have been airbrushing dissidents out of official photos for a century now): Steve King wants all SCOTUS citations of Obamacare outlawed in future decisions.
If I understand the honorable Rep from Hell correctly, he’s trying to get SCOTUS to not be able to cite its prior affirmations of Obamacare’s provisions in future SCOTUS decisions. Sure, that’ll work Steve…tell SCOTUS it can’t reference its own decisions in future decisions. I mean I see what he’s trying to do, but this is the real world, where you don’t get to click your ruby slippers and wish yourself back to a land where Obamacare never existed (or at least, couldn’t be defended/upheld).
Picture a 2-year old doing this to their parents: “I know you said I couldn’t have cookies for breakfast yesterday. But that was yesterday, and today you should be banned from noting you already told me ‘no’ when I ask you again (or otherwise steal cookies) today”
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: For some reason, that brought this to mind. Bonus: Peter Garrett’s dance moves.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jeffro: Your summary makes no sense, but I have complete faith that it is accurate.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I know. You seem particularly full of piss and vinegar tonight.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I do love me some Midnight Oil.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman:
You had me at “Hello.”
@Mnemosyne: As you should.
Raoul
The view — once again! — into the abject shittiness of many in our media notwithstanding (I don’t watch, but it seems from twit-land that the major networks bought the Rump did it line), this was an important win for progressives and really anyone who wants the GOP not to be utterly craven fuckups.
Sure the grassroots won’t really get credit, but those rank and file members whose phones went berzerk will actually remember today. Their staffs certainly will.
Now we just have to have the endurance to pull this off many, many more times. Success on a first try will help. And when some GOPer does have an ethical lapse in office, we can trot out this moment for a bit of wound-salting. I look forward to it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Raoul: RalfW, that was, yes? Just checking.
TriassicSands
Headline from the WaPo:
There is nothing this monstrous POS won’t lie about.
I wonder how foreign leaders will react when Trump comes out of a meeting and lies his ass off to the media about what transpired?
As for the GOP’s change of heart concerning the ethics disaster. Does anyone really think that if the Democrats and media hadn’t loudly condemned this appalling move that Trump would have bothered to tweet about it?
Trump, already on a collision course for violating the Constitution the second he takes the oath of office, thinks there are more important things for the House Republicans to do. I agree. They should be preparing Articles of Impeachment for delivery on January 20, 2017.
pattonbt
Wait a minute, wasn’t the OCE put in during Obama’s reign of terror? Shouldn’t gutting it be a priority for the R’s on principle? Otherwise, something Obama did was…..good?
pattonbt
Also too, all that will happen is in a couple of days the same changes will be made, ignored by all and the OCE forgotten to history. All that will remain is that “Trump tweeted and Congress backed down!”.
Yes, I am a cynic.
Mnemosyne
@TriassicSands:
Nope. That’s why we need to make as much noise as possible when they try to pull this shit. If nothing else, Trump wants to protect his image.
TriassicSands
@efgoldman:
There is nothing in what I wrote that should give any reasonable person the impression that I think the Republicans “will” be filing articles of impeachment. I wrote they “should.” And they should.
On the other hand, I would not say that the Republicans will never impeach Trump. After all, I’ll bet the vast majority would prefer to have Pence as president. Since Trump is given to causing trouble and being really disrespectful, I could imagine circumstances in which getting rid of Trump might be good for the Republicans. If Pence were president, I would agree, there is no way, no matter what he did (short of a video taped murder), that the GOP would impeach him. But Trump is not Pence. He could conceivably become a huge liability for the Republican Party. Never say never. That said, I’m not holding my breath — the Republicans are very stupid.
terraformer
This is great and all, but I’m more than a bit concerned that the apparent media gist of this is that the Rs walked this back only after Trump weighed in, and not because of the people blazing up the phone lines. Clearly this was due to the phone calls – not der Fuhrer.
Concerted effort to de-legitimize the power of the people in terms of what they can do? Sure reads like it.