Rep. Andy Biggs: Democrats rigged the House rules to undermine GOP victories

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the Democrats have proposed rules of the House of Representatives that will emasculate the Republican wins over the past two years. The agenda of the new Democrat committee leaders will result in further divisiveness in Congress and the nation. Consequently, political discourse will continue to devolve and individual freedom will be attacked. Democratic leaders are using the rules package to lay the ground work for higher taxes, frivolous investigations, and prevention of advancing funds for a border wall and defense spending. They have prepared to defend any changes in Obamacare. Democrats will foist crazy climate change policies on the public — just as we are seeing rejection of those ideas by people around the globe. They will also automatically increase our national debt without the transparency of debate and voting by Congress. They propose a prohibition against advance appropriations that will prevent funding being allocated for future border wall costs. This will also be a problem as our military budgets have to plan their spending for several years ahead. This is irresponsible and dangerous, in both instances, to our national security.

Democrats specifically include in the rules a provision that expands authority to investigate the office of the president of the United States. At some point they might want to consider the separation of powers doctrine. Measures that have been designed to prevent Congress from raising taxes are being tossed aside. Pelosi makes sure she has standing to intervene in litigation concerning Obamacare — specifically listing the recent Texas case that found Obamacare unconstitutional.

Throw in the creation of a “climate crisis” committee that gives Democrats a new vehicle to promote the types of radical policies that will cripple our economy without improvement of the environment. For many years, Congress has been required to debate and vote on a separate bill if it wants to increase our national debt. While this has not been an effective check on government spending, it at least provided notice to the public and required some measure of accountability on the part of Congress. The Democrats will change this practice to one that automatically “deems” approval of our national debt simply by approving a spending bill. Whoops. That is designed to keep the public in the dark on our out-of-control budget deficits and national debt.

Not only will Democrats use the rules of the body to advance a radically left-wing agenda, they have plans to abuse the committee system as they gain the leadership of all of the House’s committees. That means Pelosi's return as House speaker will bring about committee heads Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.; Elijah Cummings, D-Md.; and others. Committee leaders control, with help from the speaker, the bills and agenda for the House. They will provide direction for the country. For instance, Cummings is the incoming chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The week before Christmas he sent more than 50 letters to the president’s associates as part of his soon-to-commence investigation of the administration.

Other House Democrat leaders have also said that they want to impeach the president, investigate his family and everyone closely associated with him, and bring down this administration. Look for vitriol in committee hearings like we saw in December — when Democrats personally attacked Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen in a Judiciary Committee hearing. They were led by soon-to-be Judiciary Chairman Nadler. It was a foretaste of what is to come. Elections have consequences — and in this instance, the negative effects could impact the country for generations.

Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican, represents Arizona's 5th District in Congress. You can follow him on Twitter: @RepAndyBiggsAZ.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/rep-andy-biggs-democrats-rigged-the-house-rules-to-undermine-gop-victories

>>4694806

Indeed. I thought this was an interesting perspective from someone on the "inside". Trying to save his base perhaps?

Trump on Jeff Bezos divorce: 'It's going to be a beauty'

Twice-divorced President Trump predicted Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's divorce with wife MacKenzie is "going to be a beauty."

He was asked to comment on the split by a reporter on the South Lawn of the White House. on Thursday as he was departing for a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. "Well, I wish him luck," he said. Pressed to comment further, he added: "I wish him luck. It's going to be a beauty."

Bezos revealed the divorce after 25 years of marriage in a tweeted statement Wednesday. The Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner is currently the wealthiest man in the world, worth approximately $137 billion, meaning a divorce settlement could be the costliest in history. It is unclear if the pair had a prenuptial agreement.

Trump and Bezos have criticized each other in the past, particularly in relation to the president's attacks on the "fake news" Washington Post. Trump has gone through two divorces, with Ivana Trump and Marla Maples in the 1990s. He has been with his current wife, first lady Melania Trump, since 2005.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-on-jeff-bezos-divorce-its-going-to-be-a-beauty

Pompeo rebukes Obama in Egypt: 'The age of self-inflicted American shame is over'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared an end to “the age of self-inflicted American shame” in Cairo on Thursday, in a speech intended to repudiate then-President Barack Obama’s 2009 address to the region. “America is a force for good in the Middle East,” Pompeo told an assembly at the American University. “We need to acknowledge that truth, because if we don’t, we make bad choices.

Pompeo cited Obama’s Cairo address, in which he said the September 11 terrorist attacks “led us to act contrary to our traditions and our ideals” through the use of torture in counterterrorism, as an example of U.S. self-doubt that caused American power to acquiesce to the Islamic State and other horrors in the region. He repudiated those misgivings to defend the U.S. role in the region, even as allies worry about an American withdrawal under President Trump. “When America retreats, chaos follows,” Pompeo said. “The age of self-inflicted American shame is over, and so are the policies that produced so much needless suffering.”

Pompeo delivered that message on a trip shadowed by questions about Trump’s unexpected decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. Those special operators have worked with local partners to dismantle the Islamic State’s physical caliphate and prevent Syrian dictator Bashar Assad from reclaiming strategically-significant territory with the help of Iranian ground forces. “President Trump has made the decision to bring our troops home from Syria,” he said. “We always do and now is the time. But this isn’t a change of mission. We remain committed to the complete dismantling of the ISIS threat and the ongoing fight against radical Islamism in all its forms.”

With that, Pompeo recast the withdrawal from Syria as evidence that the United States doesn’t seek to dominate the Middle East, and sought to discourage regional powers from looking to American rivals for support. “Would the Russians or the Chinese come to your rescue in the same way, the way that we have?” he asked.

Pompeo’s remarks downplayed a controversial flurry of diplomacy around the withdrawal from Syria. John Bolton, the White House national security adviser, appeared to set new conditions on the U.S. exit by stipulating that American partners on the ground must remain safe. That angered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regards the Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists despite their key role in helping the U.S.-led coalition upend ISIS. “Erdogan has made commitments … he talks about he has no beef with the Kurds,” Pompeo told reporters Wednesday. “We want to make sure that that’s the case, and I’m confident that as Ambassador [James] Jeffrey and others travel through the region in the days ahead, we’ll make real progress on that.”

The Syria conflict has been a theater for much broader regional and strategic rivalries, especially due to Russian and Iranian military support for the Assad regime. Pompeo maintained that the Trump administration could achieve key goals in those competitions, even without a U.S. military presence. “In Syria, the United States will use diplomacy and work with our partners to expel every last Iranian boot, and work through the U.N.-led process to bring peace and stability to the long-suffering Syrian people,” he said. “There will be no U.S. reconstruction assistance for areas of Syria held by Assad until Iran and its proxy forces withdraw, and until we see irreversible progress toward a political solution.

State Department officials have touted those plans, including the refusal to pay for the rebuilding of Syria under Assad, since 2017, though now it won’t be supported by U.S. special forces on the ground. “America has been criticized for doing too much in the Middle East and we’ve been criticized for doing too little. But one thing we’ve never been is an empire-builder or oppressor,” Pompeo said. “It’s not a coincidence that many other American universities like this one thrive across the Middle East, from Beirut to Sulaymaniyah. They are symbols of America’s innate goodness, of our hopes for you, and of the better future we desire for all the nations of the Middle East.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/pompeo-rebukes-obama-in-egypt-the-age-of-self-inflicted-american-shame-is-over

>>4695019

>>4695024

>>4695087

My theory is that since, the wealth was generated from clown money…it will indeed be a beauty!

>>4695140

Indeed…

>>4695177

INDEED Kek!!

>>4695211

25 seems to be a magical number for (((them)))

>>4695275

I don't think that will be the track for it, but I do see smaller bits happening..

>>4694996

Ahh, but they were! Very Secure! Wait Watch and Listen for updates.