Can anyone defend using our tax dollars to pay off people to cover the actions of our employees, AKA, our Congressmen and perhaps Congresswomen?
I wrote and called both Senators and my Rep. One is suppose to call me back Monday. Likely just a spokesman.
I am truly PO about this, MAJORLY POed!
I can see it now, Trucidos licking Hillary's pussy. LMAO
And Hillary giving Trucidos a BJ. :)
Jimmy,
You state, "That said, this is no different than any public company." How do you figure that? We don't HAVE to invest in any public company, but try to not pay your taxes. You'll find there IS a difference, unless of course, your name is sharpton.
You get the government you deserve you keep voting for these same assclowns even after they have been outed as such so of course they are going to be abusive.
Tip of the iceberg.
Something tells me we are in for a whole lot more of things of this nature coming out now that it’s begun.
Clubber, you tell me the name of any company you’ve ever invested in or whose product you’ve bought, and I’ll tell you the name of a company that’s settled a lawsuit. My point was simply that every company has settled a lawsuit. Oftentimes it’s just good business.
Look, I think it’s awful that people in positions of power use that power to humiliate, violate or harass people in weaker positions who need their jobs to live. But the question was whether anyone could make the case that it’s not different for elected officials. I was just answering the question and making the argument that it’s very similar to settling claims at a public company.
There are currently 25 congressmen being investigated for sexual harassment. That number would be much higher if all cases were investigated. Leadership on both sides of the aisle will do everything they can to keep this hidden. If they don’t, half of Congress, including all in leadership positions, will be forced out.
If there is a lawsuit and a judgement, then there is no longer any choice. The remedy for the future is to make sure people conduct themselves responsibly.
Recently I have seen a whole bunch of settlements paid over the conduct of police. Presumably if these went to court, it would have been even worse. Need to review policies and procedures.
Think about the over $2 Billion in collection plate money, past, present, and future, paid by member of the Roman Catholic Church in the US, because of their blindness over the conduct of some of their leaders and because of the organizational policies. That Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles was really something else. LAPD detectives pleading with complainants not to tell church leadership, because otherwise the perpetrator will be driven to the airport and on a flight within 30min.
SJG
I am convinced that Marx is highly influenced, like no other, by Plato. youtube.com
Jimmy,
Think man, THINK! There are thousands of private places to invest in this country, and we are free to do as we wish with our investments. However, there is but one federal government and we are forced to invest in it. I don't mind having to invest in the US government, but for this part of the CAA, I call BS!
Mark,
A congressional "investigation" is akin to sitting in the corner for 5 minutes!
The explosion of sexual assault and sexual harassment claims strains credibility. In my mind, there is a big difference between sexual assault, sexual harassment, and behaviors which are crude but neither assault nor harassment. I would also like to know when America stopped believing "innocent until proven guilty"? Despite all the claims against Roy Moore, no one has been able to provide any evidence even when they say they have it. Ditto for John Conyers. And yet they are both being told to step down or step aside. Meanwhile, there are photographs of Al Franken, but no democrats have made a full-throated push for him to step down. Even McConnell, Senate majority leader, has said nothing of punishment for Franken even while he threatens to expel Moore. The stupidity and hypocrisy in Washington defies comprehension (another reason why a non-politician outsider like Trump was elected). This is why we need a constitutional amendment creating term limits for all federal positions.
gam,
Excellent points, but a couple of others and a correction. I do believe that conyers HAS (rather WE have) paid off women. The exact reason may be in debate, I assume.
I find it interesting in the case of Moore, this HS yearbook pops up. Media goes nuts, PROOF!!! So forensic experts say, easily checked for authenticity. So why has it not been brought forward to really establish the "proof"?
Also, he is one of the only ones that flat out says it's all BS. Myself, when any allegations come out after some time and just happen to be "timed" with another event, especially one so divided, I tend to suspect the allegations.
Based on thousands of years, we have the right to meet our accusers in a court of law, so why shouldn't one be suspect of anyone that charges something but is not willing to come forward? Just things to think about.
I watched the full video of Franken being interviewed by a Minneapolis reporter. Her first question was, did you grab their butts ? His answer had something to do with acknowledging women’s experience. She responded by asking again, did you grab their butts ? This went on for awhile. Clearly, he thought he could get by with the same BS that all politicians use. He discovered the rules have changed.
Congress passes laws, but always exempts itself. That’s why every company has an HR department that will pounce like a tiger on any sexual harassment claim or rumor. Congress doesn’t have an HR department or anything like it.
It makes me angry to know our tax dollars are being used to pay off victims of harassment (by congressmen). This should never occur. It’s a huge sum of money that has already been disclosed - and I’m sure the amount will rise.
Sadly, I think they will probably put training programs in place for the congressional staff members - to make it appear that they are working to improve things. The leadership in both houses is incredibly old - and they most likely have antiquated beliefs - and they also believe that the laws and rules apply to those beneath them.
I'll admit it, I'm totally biased about this. I don't like Franken or Conyers or Roy Moore, so I hope they get kicked out of congress for their alleged improprieties (in the case of Moore, he would have to get elected first, of course). But if the allegations were made against Mike Lee, or Rand Paul, or Ben Sasse, or Tom McClintock, or one of the dozen or so other guys in Washington who I actually support, then I would say that they are innocent until proven guilty. Naturally. Take Dana Rohrabacher for example. I happen to like him. He's been basically accused of spying for Russia. But I don't care, I hope he gets re-elected next year. On the other hand, if it were Bernie Sanders who was accused of secretly aiding the Kremlin instead... man, I would be hoping that he would be jailed as a spy like the Rosenbergs. So I'm a hypocrite. I admit it. Politics makes hypocrites of us all, I guess. I wouldn't even mind the taxpayers paying out a small settlement for an official who has the "right" ideology.
Anyway, I've said it before, something about this whole rash of sexual misconduct allegations just sits uneasily with me. I actually do believe most of the accusers. But I just don't like the game of "gotcha" that the accusers seem to be playing by waiting years or decades after the act. Plus I'm getting kind of numb to the endless daily accusations. It doesn't feel like justice, it just feels like piling on at this point. And with so many accusations flying around, you could easily make a false accusation and people would probably believe you. Feels like the Salem Witch Trials. Plus I'm still convinced that this hysteria will seep into the sex industry eventually. It's just a matter of time.
Also, just briefly about term limits... I do support them, but do you really think it would matter in these particular cases? Minnesota and Michigan would just elect someone exactly like Franken and Conyers if they were removed from office tomorrow.
Actually, the Rosenbergs were not jailed for spying. They were executed for treason. A fully justified punishment by the way. That would never happen to a sitting congressman. These bastards protect their own. As far as term limits, I understand that new people with similar mindsets would take their place, but it would help to bust up the insider networks that are the cause of so many problems inside the beltway. I would install term limits, do away with all these lifetime benefits, limit travels and staff budgets. Think about how much we could shrink the deficit, federal budgets, and taxes by forcing some common sense restraint on our congressional "delegates".
@gammanu95,
^^^"Think about how much we could shrink the deficit, federal budgets, and taxes by forcing some common sense restraint on our congressional "delegates"."
Uh, that would be... virtually nothing. Let's be realistic here. I don't like politicians either, but it's their legislation that costs serious money, not the congressmen themselves. You can't do much for the deficit just by cutting office budgets. Or, for that matter, by cutting funding for planned parenthood, NPR, foreign aid, or "waste, fraud, and abuse." I'm in favor of cutting all of that, but it would barely make a dent in the budget. And every serious person knows that. I'm sure I'm not telling you something you don't already know.
"They were executed for treason."
Yes, I am aware of that. I'm not thrilled with the death penalty but I don't think I would shed a tear for Bernie Sanders in my absurd hypothetical example.
"That would never happen to a sitting congressman. These bastards protect their own."
I don't know, they sure turned on Joe McCarthy pretty fast. And Ted Cruz doesn't have a lot of friends on the Hill either. Same for Newt Gingrich back in the 90s. People are people regardless of how high or low they are: there are popular ones and unpopular ones. It's just the way it is.
I was completely opposed to time limits and still am to a certain degree. It is possible to elect a great Congressman and I would hate to try and find another to replace them. How can the two coexist? Say the Senator has completed his two terms, then perhaps he can continue serving IF he gets say 67% of the vote. Not likely, but not impassible. Something along those lines. If that couldn't be worked out, then I would just go with term limits.
Congress was established as a part time job. Go to Washington for a month or whatever then head back home to your farm of whatever. Somehow it has morphed into the monolith it is now!
Slightly off topic but Garrison Keilor and Matt Lauer went down for the count this week. It feels so random. Would anyone care to take a bet on who will be accused next week? I'll say... um... how about Vern Troyer, Mark Cuban, and George Clooney.
I agree BurlingtonHF - we should start a discussion to post the names of the next celeb/politician to get accused.
I’m putting my money on Pat Sajack - as he definitely has the look of a guy who likes to sniff a musky crotch - or a sweaty ass...
^^^^ LOL, Sajak is a horndog. I wonder how many times he's had Vanna White in the sack.
Definitely Sajak. And you can just tell that Alex Trebek likes to grab 'em by the pussy. I bet they let him do it, too.
I remember when I was a kid and I first heard about some of the Clinton sex scandals. My initial thought was "ok, this year we're hearing about the president getting a blowjob, next year we'll probably be hearing about the Pope's dominatrix." But nowadays, honestly, if we found out that the Pope liked to pay teenage boys to piss on him, we probably wouldn't even bat an eye. Nothing is shocking anymore.
For some reason I can see Sajak humping contestants legs as they come back from a commercial.
Vanna looks pretty good! That job can’t be too stressful.
Alex Trebek seems like a guy who would piss on the contestants signaling devices - or rub them on his sack - before the show - to exert his control over the lowly geniuses!
Politically, I think we’re just getting started. Men have been harassing women forever. Now we’ll hear about men harassing men. Women harassing men and everything else. We’ll even get a few fabricated claims. It will be a mess. I hope that people in power are held accountable and their replacements do better.
That said, this is no different than any public company. The company pays to settle the liability of its employees. It sounds worse because they are supposed to be public servants but the only difference is that we can fire them at the voting booth.