Category Archives: Congress
Uncle Sam Blew $3 Trillion on the Virus in Six Weeks
Uncle Sam blew $3 trillion on the coronavirus in six weeks. But the bug is still laying waste to the economy. And the Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit of $3.7 trillion this year. What to do? Hit it with more money.
Senate Stock Market Tycoons
White House and Senate agreed to a $2 trillion stimulus deal for the economy. And the economy likes it. The Dow shot up 11% for its best day since 1933.
Speaking of stocks and Senators, some senators dumped stocks just before Corona virus market meltdown.
Senate Stock Market Tycoons
Here’s Professor Jonathan Turley writing in The Hill:
Senators Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler, James Inhofe, and Dianne Feinstein together are responsible for as much as $11 million in recent stock sales. It turns out that many lawmakers become market investment geniuses after they enter Congress. A University of Memphis study found that 75 percent of randomly selected members had made “stock transactions that directly coincided with legislative activity.” A Georgia State University study noted that, from 1993 to 1998, senators beat the stock market by 12 points with their portfolios and outperformed “corporate insiders” by 8 points.
Senator Threatens Supreme Court Justices
Senator Chuck Schumer was feeling it at an abortion rights rally outside the Supreme Court. So he threatened two justices by name. Here’s what he said:
“I want to tell you, Gorsuch! I want to tell you, Kavanaugh! You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
Chief Justice Roberts was having none of it, and he rebuked Schumer:
“Threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous.”
So Senator Schumer apologized. Kind of:
I shouldn’t have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I never — never — would do such a thing.
Folly of Adam Schiff’s Trump Impeachment Effort
Alaska became a U.S. possession thanks to Seward’s folly. Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia for seven million dollars in 1867. And outraged House Republicans trashed the transaction, calling it “Seward’s folly.”
Then they impeached Seward’s boss, President Andrew Johnson. But the Senate acquitted Johnson by one vote.
Now Adam Schiff worries that President Trump will sell Alaska back to Putin. Not to mention turning the White House over to Jared Kushner and bugging out to Mar-a-Lago.
Caucus Clown Car at Senate Impeachment Trial
Senate impeachment trial hostages Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar face a dilemma. Closing arguments are tomorrow, but so are the Iowa Caucuses. And the final vote on whether to toss Trump is Wednesday.
More Caucus Chaos
And the Des Moines Register further complicated things by canceling the release of its “gold standard” poll Saturday night. Somebody left Pete Buttigieg out as a possible preferred candidate.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, the president delivers his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
And, since the Senate voted 51-49 to block more impeachment trial witness testimony on Friday, Republicans now say they have the votes to acquit on Wednesday.
