Discussion for article #224654
Maybe negative publicity (i.e. shame) worked . . . .
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This is why the “Fourth Estate” is so vital for our democracy. Occasionally, it keeps these clowns in line!
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Or should I say, crooks.
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We made the decision and are now, due to a backlash, going to promptly, reverse course. It is not our regular order of business reversing courses in shutting government down, corporations in and people out. KMA since it is so close to the election.
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Rarely, but every once in a great while, it does its job.
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That doesn’t mean that they won’t lie about it or try some other dirty tricks, it just means that they were to upfront with this effort.
The House will now return to it’s regular programming, Benghazi revisited XXXVLLM and the evils of Gay, abortion and healthcare.
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Epic Boehner photo. Well-done, TPM.
And good for National Journal for reporting that ridiculous change.
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Here are the real possibilities these House Rethugs are considering…since you can never really take a Rethug at his word…
(Still, not meant to be a factual statement comes to mind whenever I hear these assholes walk back some of their bullshit ideas that have gotten some real scrutiny.)
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They aren’t going to do this reversal, as has been stated to the public, but is really a means to divert attention from the outrage this has provoked, at least for now.
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If they do rescind or reverse this change back to any real transparency, they don’t do it in time for the midterms and it remains on their promise list of To-Do’s.
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If they do rescind this, they don’t make it retroactive in time to account for junkets they took in the last year prior to the midterms, so that they can be held to account by the voters, thus continuing to hide a lot of corrupt practices and consequential fallout from direct scrutiny?
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If they do rescind this, they leave themselves some kind of huge tucked-away loophole regarding lobby shops and 501c(4)s still being able to foot the bill, or some such tactic to avoid accountability?
Just so we’re clear…these junkets include trips like vacations (though billed as exploratory and education-building trips) for spouses and children on someone else’s dime instead of their own of course…golf trips, sporting events, meals and luxury digs at some of the world’s finest hotels and establishments avoiding per diem allowances in their official capacity, which I presume are written somewhere in law.
That’s always been what’s come out of these filings for some of these assholes. All the while these fuckers are trying to starve what they call “the beast” of government spending for hard-working Americans…which is a way of saying don’t use taxpayer money to help out taxpayer’s in need.
BTW, hasn’t the IRS already received their filings from these politicians toward expenses for last year’s figures…When did this secret change originally occur???
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Well, the House should have the same privileges as the Supreme Court. Crooks visiting other crooks should be exempt from scrutiny. How else do you think they advance monied interest?
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Ooh, that bad Mrs. Pelosi and that guy (who’s an R), they just don’t understand. Plus he’s kind of illiterate: ". . . my colleagues throwing Linda and I under the bus."
He specifically named “Mrs. Pelosi and a guy named [Rep.] Mike Fitzpatrick, who set their hair on fire—their righteous indignation would be a lot more believable if they’d have said something in May when they didn’t file—when they filed their return without that disclosure.”
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House opens secret investigation as to why their secret actions don’t stay secret. House cancels investigation after it realizes that the investigation won’t stay secret.
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It sounds like CREW, as usual, was the motivating force behind this reversal. They do their work effectively with no hoopla.
“Removing the travel disclosure requirement from the annual disclosure form is a blatant attempt to avoid accountability. The only Americans who would possibly be in favor of this change are members of Congress. It seems some lawmakers are eager to enjoy privately funded lavish trips without facing pesky questions from watchdog groups and constituents. The idea that this is a change for efficiency’s sake is ludicrous.”
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Oops, caught with their hands in the cookies yet again. Can anyone take these clowns seriously? All they care about is their own piece of the pie and the hell with the ill informed masses who voted for them. We are witness to some very strange times.
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I believe this was uncovered by a good government watchdog group that does oversight of politicians, not the Fourth Estate that first uncovered this. You have to click back in National Journal’s articles on this to find the real source for this reporting. Subsequent articles conveniently leave this out, which is wrong imo. They just reported on the good work of “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics” in Washington. They’re the ones that deserve the real credit here.
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“Slut-shaming” works! At least on the tone-deaf baggernuts.
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I agree with all of your possibilities. I was too quick to take their intentions at face value (I guess one always hopes that public pressure can produce some positive results)
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Responsibility is a “B*tch”.
-John " sounds like trainer " Boehner
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…guess the Tea$$$ guys have had time to cover their tracks…
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Oh Shit!, Oh Shit!, Oh Shit! We are Fucked MAN!! Your MOM is HOME!, QUICK HIDE THE STUFF.
I mean “REPEAL THE BILL!!!”
Same reaction to getting caught.
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