Two Twitter threads. We’ll start with Kim Strassel and the spending bill:
1. This "omnibus" is one of the ugliest, least transparent bits of lawmaking I've ever seen--and that's saying something. It isn't just the spending, though the new domestic numbers are gross, given the trillions spent in the past few years.
2. It's also that Congress, in a new trick, is attaching dozens of pieces of stand-alone legislation to this--retirement changes; public lands management; healthcare policy; cosmetics regulation; electoral count act changes; horseracing rules.
3. Every one deserves a full debate and a roll call vote, so that Americans can see where their representatives stand. Instead, this monstrosity is cooked in a back room, and members can claim they had no choice but to vote against a shutdown--ducking accountability.
4. Not that any members will have time to read this 4,155 pages of bad policy, obscene spending, and self-serving pork and earmarks. They'll just vote and go home for Christmas. Your government at work. GOP and Ds are just as bad as each other.
When Kim Strassel tells you that GOPers and Dems are “just as bad as each other” you know we’ve reached some sort of inflection point.
Now a lengthy thread by Michael Tracy calling out the clown show of the J6 theater:
What's being called a "criminal referral" by the Jan 6 committee carries just as much legal weight as a letter written in magic marker by Bozo the Clown. Has no basis at all in any statute or House rule, they just put out a Word document and made up a serious-sounding name for it
They didn't even attempt to invoke the one statutory authority they do potentially have at their disposal, the criminal contempt statute (2 USC § 194). So they just wrote their equivalent of a long Substack screed, and hoped the phrase "criminal referral" would get people excited.
Media trumpeting how this was the first "criminal referral" of a president in US history neglects to emphasize that the very manner of the "referral" is a whole-cloth invention of the Cheney/Schiff gang. So yeah it's technically true that nobody invented this fake action before.
If you write a letter asking for the prosecution of Kermit the Frog, attach it to a rubber chicken, and mail to:
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20530
It's possible that you also carried out the first such "criminal referral" in US history. Congrats.Example of the stupidity, courtesy of NBC. Yes, Trump does have the historic distinction of being the first president to be impeached twice. That's correct. But there's no such thing in this context as a "formal referral" by Congress for "potential prosecution." It doesn't exist.
This item and countless others give the impression that Congress has had a formal "criminal referral" power at its disposal since 1789, but was just never moved to use it till now. In reality, no such power exists, which is why the committee invented this "informal" (fake) power
Also contrary to the suggestions of NBC and others, it wasn't "Congress" that took this action, it was nine individual members of the House acting in their individual capacity to send a letter. That's it. Members of Congress send approximately 17,000 joint letters every month
"But weren't they acting in their capacity as members of the Select Committee on Jan 6?"
Good question. Answer: "No." Because the resolution passed by a majority in the House to establish the Committee never even purported to vest them with any sort of "criminal referral" power.The resolution vested them with the power to issue a final report containing their "findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures." Here was the definition of "corrective measures." You'll notice: nothing about any heretofore unknown "criminal referral" power
Even if the resolution authorizing the Select Committee *did* purport to grant them with something called "criminal referral" powers, it's highly unclear the power could ever be wielded. But that's moot anyway, because the resolution didn't even purport to grant such power.
So all the Committee members ultimately was add an exciting little "Criminal Referral" section to their report, and tell everyone this was a really big deal. Good news, High School kids: you have just as much legal authority to do the same thing in your next Book Report.
But of course the Committee's most valuable asset of all is their partners, allies, and friends in the media class -- whom they knew would reliably perform their usual PR function in the same lazy and unscrupulous manner as always.
All good stuff. The one thing Tracy forgot to include is the totally unauthorized release of Trump’s tax records.
Pelosi is 82.
Biden is 80.
McConnell is 80.
Trump is 76.
Killary is 75.
Schumer is 72.
Thankfully a gerontocratic regime is, by definition, not sustainable. Just sayin.
Re the Omnibus bill...It seems increasingly the case in so many arenas that our federal government is a grotesque monstrosity. Sooner or later, I hope, the States will take back responsibility for spending in the numerous areas reserved to the States (police powers such as health, education and welfare) and take away this responsibility from the federal government. Let the States compete to see who can provide efficient and cost-effective government and value for tax dollars. And then expose the federal grotesquerie for what it is.
Re Jan 6 Committee...I'm guessing the Committee had a little help from their friends at Lawfare in concocting their criminal referral. These Lawfare guys are so clever, aren't they? I wonder what they'll think of next!