[The Hill] Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said Thursday that President Trump could not have engaged in a quid pro quo with Ukraine if the European nation ultimately received the military aid that he withheld before asking for an investigation into a potential 2020 election rival.
Banks told Hill.TV that he would be more open to discussing the impeachment proceedings against Trump if that hadn't been the case.
"If this is about quid pro quo, there’s no quid in the quid pro quo if Ukraine ultimately received the aid, which they did," he said.
The Indiana Republican said because there is "no quid in the quid pro quo," he couldn’t identify "the high crime or misdemeanor or what the impeachable offense is at this point."
Banks added that the allegations outlined in former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation were "a lot more serious" than those against him for the dealings with Ukraine. He also advocated for letting the American people decide if they want their president removed from the White House next year in the election.
"I know I’m oversimplifying it, but what we have to get back to is where is the high crime and misdemeanor that justifies impeaching a president and undoing the will of the American people through the election process?" the lawmaker asked.
#1
When Congressmen pinch pallid squid,
They're advised to look under the lid,
Lest moonlighting pros
(By day, politicos)
Be fouled with their own putrid quid
[NYPOST] Admitted Russian agent Maria Butina learned one major lesson during her years in the United States: when in trouble, play the race card.
In her first post-prison American interview, the 30-year-old gun enthusiast and suspected spy blamed "racism against the Russians" for her legal woes.
"Let me take you back to 2016 ... around the election time," she told Lesley Stahl of CBS’s "60 Minutes." "Do you remember at that time how American media treated Russia? Everything was toxic. Tell me that there is no racism here against the Russians."
#3
Another measure of how unbelievably lost we are as a nation is this mindless, reflexive, universal resort to Russian-bashing (see the NYPost's stupid slur, "play the race card," against Butina).
What a wasted opportunity. Two whole decades slipped by, and now China has grown into a monster-- entirely of our own making, and we could have neutraluzed and confined the ChiComs had we just found a way to work together with Russia.
As opposed to childishly trashing Russia and Russians at every opportunity, real or imagined....
#5
This is why such idiots can't win. Any politician who makes statements like ; 'People who will lose jobs in my Presidency...' , is not even a vote bringer of credit, let alone a leader.
#7
One problem these folks have is that they really need a recession in the next 12 months to beat Trump. But if there really were a recession (and we are kind of overdue for one) they themselves would lose money and maybe even their phony-baloney jobs. So the current strategy is basically to talk up a recession while piling into the market. The evergreen headline is "Stock Market Hits New High As Recession Looms."
Posted by: Matt ||
11/03/2019 12:48 Comments ||
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#8
The recession won't hit until Democrats win back the WH. That's a given.
#14
#12 - Cred? Lost. Stck to what you are familiar with. There's a REALLY GOOD reason I rarely comment on German politics? I'm ignorant
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/03/2019 17:54 Comments ||
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#15
Well I'm not ignorant. I follow US politics very closely.
U.S. healthcare system is broken. A simple x ray costs three times more than in Germany (I know this from own experience). People go broke over a short stay in a hospital. But Warren's plan is not the way to fix it, and it's not something you can debate easily. Also has no chance in Congress. Even moderate Democrats are aware of that fact.
Biden is mediocre, for sure, but not a socialist scare. His numbers have suffered in the last months but there are still polls that have him at 30%. And EVERY poll gives him a healthy lead over Trump.
This might all change but currently I (still) put my money on Biden.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/03/2019 18:52 Comments ||
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#16
This might all change but currently I (still) put my money on Biden.
An interesting question! Biden is probably the closet thing the Dems have to an actual candidate. However, in addition to the baggage of being Biden, he is an old white guy - everything the current Democratic Party is demonizing.
Warren is a Vagino-American and self-proclaimed minority which gives her a pass on pretty much everything. Plus, she is not a white guy which gets her extra points. Probably scares the money people though.
Not sure who I would bet on at this point for the Dem candidate.
#17
I think the radicals in the Democratic Party are actually a minority, a loud one, of course.
And Biden still has the support of Afro Americans. Not Warren, not Harris, not Sanders. He'll sweep the South.
My take is that Iowa (and New Hampshire) won't decide this. Biden could need an excellent moderate female VP. He also knows that the Rust Belt will decide the elections. So Klobuchar would fit the picture.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/03/2019 19:20 Comments ||
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#18
The federal government runs two healthcare systems, the Veterans Administration and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They just can't abide by the notion that since they can't make those work, they shouldn't be in charge of everyone's.
#19
It seems like France, The Netherlands, Switzerland or Germany do quite well. France is supposed to have the best working system worldwide.
The healthcare debate in the U.S. is really puzzling for most Europeans, even the most conservative, free market ones.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/03/2019 19:33 Comments ||
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#20
^ While I can't speak to any of the others, my personal experience with the Swiss medical system was unimpressive when compared to ours. And not particularly affordable, either.
#21
No system is perfect. But the European ones won't ruin you.
I pay around 550 Euros per month. This covers my wife and our youngest daughter who is studying (used to cover all children).
Some little extra costs but nothing to write home about. If I had to spend a month or two in a hospital, no extra costs. Free choice of doctors.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/03/2019 20:14 Comments ||
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#22
^ 20% VAT pays for it.
Which means much less spending money for the average Hans, as a 20% VAT is about the most regressive tax structure imaginable.
If Warren, Sanders et al. were honest, they would tell Americans that we can absolutely have the European healthcare system provided that Americans are willing to have less stuff, less disposable income, and less equality in our tax system.
Nothing wrong with the above but it would be a MASSIVE change that would at best cut both ways for many low income people and would make millions of others significantly worse off.
Again, if you're going to be honest about how to fund it -- there simply is no way to do so without a nationwide double-digit VAT - then come forth and describe your proposal honestly.
#23
EC, the American health care system is not broken. That's just the media telling everyone it is. Most people have employer paid health insurance (or mostly paid). Deductibles are low, service is good, out of pocket is reasonable.
There is a group of people who don't have insurance for one reason or another, thrifty, lazy, broke, who are at risk for financial calamity. But, they will receive health care. It's against the law for public hospitals to refuse service to needy patients. Higher insurance rates subsidize the few who don't have insurance. State and county governments have excellent programs for the needy. I know for a fact that the government insurance in many cases is more generous than private.
Obama care was billed as the plan that would cover everyone, it has not. There is still 10% or so of the population that does not have health insurance, but it is their choice. They still will receive very good care.
#24
This is a complicated issue. That's why it's not something to debate in an election campaign.
I'm pretty sure that many Americans have good health insurance. I definitely prefer mine. It's private btw.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/03/2019 21:56 Comments ||
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#25
^ exactly. The German-Swiss model is a fine one: public backstop / catastrophic insurance for all, supplemented by optional private insurance that is both high quality, well regulated and non-profit.
But large sectors of American society no longer have the North European Protestant ethos -- personal responsibility, frugality, common provision, willingness to save and forgo current pleasures for larger, deferred benefits etc.
[NYPOST] President Trump on Friday said he loves everything about New York ‐ except the people running the city and state.
In a series of tweets, the commander in chief ripped into the governor, mayor and prosecutors investigating him as he explained his decision to resettle at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
"I love New York, but New York can never be great again under the current leadership of Governor Andrew Sonny Cuomo (the brother of Fredo), or Mayor Bill DeBlasio [sic]. Cuomo has weaponized the prosecutors to do his dirty work (and to keep him out of jams), a reason some don’t want to be in New York, and another reason they are leaving," he wrote in the first of a series of Twitter posts.
The "Fredo" comment was a shot at the governor’s brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo, who freaked out when a heckler called him "Fredo" several weeks ago, referring to the simpleton Corleone brother from "The Godfather" movies.
"Taxes and energy costs are way too high, Upstate is being allowed to die as other nearby states frack & drill for Gold (oil) while reducing taxes & creating jobs by the thousands. NYC is getting dirty & unsafe again, as our great police are being disrespected, even with water dumped on them, because a Mayor and Governor just don’t ’have their backs,’" Trump continued, referring to incidents in which goons dumped water on NYPD cops.
"New York’s Finest must be cherished, respected and loved. Too many people are leaving our special New York. Great leaders would work with a President and Federal Government that wants our wonerful [sic] City and State to flourish and thrive. I Love New York!" he concluded.
[NYPOST] Kámala Harris Former Oakland mayor Willie Brown's former mistress, now a senatrix from California and 2020 Dem presidential hopeful, indistinguishable from the others... has reportedly axed her entire campaign field team in New Hampshire ‐ the same day fellow struggling Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke; ...Kennedyeque businessman, musician, skateboard artiste, and politician who represented Texas' 16th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019. Beto is a Latino nickname for people whose names end in "erto," like "Roberto" or "Alberto." He is seeking the Dem nomination for President in 2020 because he has nice hair and lots of teeth. He was born into a local political family in El Paso, Texas and is a graduate of a prep school and Columbia University, which is not in Texas. In 2005, he was elected to the El Paso City Council. He was elected to Congress in 2012 after defeating eight-term incumbent Silvestre Reyes in the Democratic primary. He declined to seek re-election in 2018, instead running for the Senate against Republican Ted Cruz, running a campaign that drew national attention because of his skateboarding skills. A few months after he lost, he announced his campaign for President... announced he would end his bid for the nomination.
The Harris campaign closed all three of her field offices in the state and laid off more than 10 workers, CBS News reported.
"A handful of staffers will run a scaled-down campaign out of the Manchester headquarters," a campaign spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
Harris no longer plans to head to the Granite State to file for the primary in person, and instead will mail in her declaration of candidacy, according to the report.
"Senator Harris and this team set out with one goal ‐ to win the nomination and defeat Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... in 2020," Harris’ communication director told CBS.
"To do so, the campaign has made a strategic decision to realign resources and go all-in on Iowa," the spokesperson added.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Kennedyeque businessman, musician, skateboard artiste, and politician who represented Texas' 16th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019. 
