Do You Think It's Ok To Bribe Congressmembers To Get Their Votes?

[antagon]

I was waiting for the "but BOOOSSSSHHHHH" whining and right on cue here it is.
No, sorry. BUsh never did this. Yes, he lobbied for votes one way or another. That is politics. Every president does that.
But every president does not promise political appointments for retiring COngressmen in exchange for voting for his pet project.
That is bribery.
That is unacceptable.
Yes, if Bush had done that the Libs would be screaming. Hell, if the GOP had done half of what the Dums are doing now there would be serious moves at impeachment and ethics investigations.

because youre a partisan hackjob, rabbi, and you routinely massage bush's nuts, of course you are totally oblivious to the bipartisan trend toward corruptibility.

how do you reconcile your position that bush wont offer political appointments for influence with bob nardelli's wham-bam-thankyou-ma'am? he was a blatant supporter of the bush administration, was gifted an appointment to some cabinet council of bush's. jumped into the big chair at chrysler, and secured a $4,000,000,000 GRANT from the bush's government.

he's retired like bush, now. yachts and pina coladas.

Bob Nardelli was a Congressman?? News to me.
You are so tired with your moral equivalence it makes me want to puke. Here is Obama engaging in blatant bribery which is unpredecented, except by Warren Harding, and all you can do is point a crooked finger at something completely different and declare they are exactly the same.
EIther you have no power to detect differences whatsoever, so a radish is basically the same as a tractor, or else your willful hackery is making a liar out of you.

blatant would be offering a reward in explicit exchange for performance. how are you with nuance? i recall a $100k cash offer controversy over the republican's prescription bill, however, bush wasnt directly involved, if at all. indications are the man didnt give a shit about congress, exercising the veto a handful of times and accomplishing only inept tax policy and inane warmongering through the system.

bush was a specialist private-sector crony, and where $4billion giveaways are more valuable than some judgeship, i see more than parity. obama has got to do better than this to live up to your hero in the cronyism game.

balls on your chin as his are, you'll even make a fool of yourself to protect your bush.

 

[uscitizen]

America has the best government that money can buy.

 

[antagon]

We are not children, no one has my permission to 'act in my best interests', they are our REPRESENTATIVES, not our Parents.

notwithstanding how you feel, thats what your votes are. permission. long before your days we've built a great nation on that basis. isnt it childish, in fact, to be pedantic/semantic over the name of the job, rather than to accept the constitutional format the job applies to? they are also called congressmen, senators and legislators, crooks, critters and assholes. what's in a name?

Which is why I vote neither Dem or GOP. Neither have my permission to represent me.

hows that workin out?

 

[Care4all]

We were to live in a "constitutional republic".

Tell it to James Madison

The most common definition of a republic is a state without a monarch.[5] In republics such as the United States and France the executive is legitimated both by a constitution and by popular suffrage. In the United States, James Madison defined republic in terms of representative democracy as opposed to direct democracy[6],

John Adams defined a constitutional republic as "a government of laws, and not of men."[1] Constitutional republics are a deliberate attempt to diminish the perceived threat of majoritarianism, thereby protecting dissenting individuals and minority groups from the "tyranny of the majority" by placing checks on the power of the majority of the population.[2] The power of the majority of the people is checked by limiting that power to electing representatives who are required to legislate with limits of overarching constitutional law which a simple majority cannot modify.

But there is no filibuster powers in the constitution given to the senate to protect the minority?

the state senators and how the senate is set up with 2 senators for every state, small or large, is the only measure our founding father's put in to the constitution to represent minority state govts.

 

[The Rabbi]

I guess you repubs have very short memory spans?

Hellooooo? the medicare pill bill...where a 15 minute vote, that resulted in the NONPASSAGE of the bill was kept opened for 3 hours so that the republicans could BRIBE as you all call it, congressmen to change their vote...they even had president Bush call some of them to "encourage" the change of their vote....they even offered one of the congressman all of the money in the world for his son to run for a seat, they even had Pharma lobbyists come on to the floor of the house to reach these no voters and give them all the money it took to get them to change their vote....and when they were done, they took that 15 minute vote, 3 fricking hours later with the twisted arms and "negotiations with Pharma lobby" and passed the legislation because these congressmen CHANGED their vote.

talk about SCUMMY....

what is happening now is concerning to me, and I do not like it one bit....but it does not come close to the republicans and the medicare pill bill and what they did so please don't act like the repubs are above something like this...they are the MASTERS of it, imo..

You're talking about a bill that was 6 years in Congress.
In any legislation like that there is arm twisting there is give and take.
But the level of outright bribery--promising future political appointments in exchange for votes, is unprecedented here. That is what distinguishes this as bribery versus traditional give and take politics.
Of course having had this pointed out, you will withdraw from the discussion and go on to some other misinformed view. Like always.

 

[WillowTree]

I guess you repubs have very short memory spans?

Hellooooo? the medicare pill bill...where a 15 minute vote, that resulted in the NONPASSAGE of the bill was kept opened for 3 hours so that the republicans could BRIBE as you all call it, congressmen to change their vote...they even had president Bush call some of them to "encourage" the change of their vote....they even offered one of the congressman all of the money in the world for his son to run for a seat, they even had Pharma lobbyists come on to the floor of the house to reach these no voters and give them all the money it took to get them to change their vote....and when they were done, they took that 15 minute vote, 3 fricking hours later with the twisted arms and "negotiations with Pharma lobby" and passed the legislation because these congressmen CHANGED their vote.

talk about SCUMMY....





you dumbocwats btich and piss and moan about the Pharma lobby, and the midicare part D,, all of which would be and would have been unecessary if the dems had not subbornly refused to let us re import our own medicines back into the US at Canadian prices,, and don't forget the dems all the while they are bitchin about the "unfunded" medicare part D the Republicans passes are promising to cut the "donut hole" by half.. thereby increasing the unfunding some more but you don't bitch about that do you hypocrite????
what is happening now is concerning to me, and I do not like it one bit....but it does not come close to the republicans and the medicare pill bill and what they did so please don't act like the repubs are above something like this...they are the MASTERS of it, imo..

nnnn

 

[Care4all]

If George Bush was doing this would he get the same pass Obama is currently getting?

Bush did it all the time. All those closed door session where he or Cheney or Rove twisted arms to get votes.

I don't recall anyone calling for impeachment, especially you right wing loons.

boohoohoo

I was waiting for the "but BOOOSSSSHHHHH" whining and right on cue here it is.
No, sorry. BUsh never did this. Yes, he lobbied for votes one way or another. That is politics. Every president does that.
But every president does not promise political appointments for retiring COngressmen in exchange for voting for his pet project.
That is bribery.
That is unacceptable.
Yes, if Bush had done that the Libs would be screaming. Hell, if the GOP had done half of what the Dums are doing now there would be serious moves at impeachment and ethics investigations.

Once again, chosen selective memory on your part....can you ever be honest rabbi?

just do a google on the medicare pill bill, dear.....and the bush tax cuts bills, dear....and the no child left behind bill, dear

 

[naomibee]

We keep hearing about all of the promises that Obama is making to all of these Democrats to change their votes. Doesn't this look a bit unseemly? Who is really being served here anyway; The politicians or the people that put them in their jobs?

How many times in the last two weeks has Obama committed an impeachable offense? If George Bush was doing this would he get the same pass Obama is currently getting?

You can't bribe a judge, lawyer, or a jurist....so why is it OK to bribe a politician? Somebody answer this question for me because I'm not getting it.

In all respects the President is breaking the law because he's offering gifts for their votes, even if it's not a personal bribe...it does benefit the receiver directly in his or her own state. This should be against the law...and only illustrates the corruption in Washington....doesn't it?????

i said No. but my vote dont count becaues ass wipe congress and the ones that voted for them are going to do what they waNt no matter what the public thinks or wants.we are living in a HITLER AMERICA NOW. WE NEED A AMERICA WAR TO TAKE BACK AMERICA AND STOP BIG SHOT GOVERMENT TAKE OVER!!!

 

[Care4all]

We keep hearing about all of the promises that Obama is making to all of these Democrats to change their votes. Doesn't this look a bit unseemly? Who is really being served here anyway; The politicians or the people that put them in their jobs?

How many times in the last two weeks has Obama committed an impeachable offense? If George Bush was doing this would he get the same pass Obama is currently getting?

You can't bribe a judge, lawyer, or a jurist....so why is it OK to bribe a politician? Somebody answer this question for me because I'm not getting it.

In all respects the President is breaking the law because he's offering gifts for their votes, even if it's not a personal bribe...it does benefit the receiver directly in his or her own state. This should be against the law...and only illustrates the corruption in Washington....doesn't it?????

i said No. but my vote dont count becaues ass wipe congress and the ones that voted for them are going to do what they waNt no matter what the public thinks or wants.we are living in a HITLER AMERICA NOW. WE NEED A AMERICA WAR TO TAKE BACK AMERICA AND STOP BIG SHOT GOVERMENT TAKE OVER!!!

Did you feel this way during the last administration as well??

 

[boedicca]

The only horse trading in which Reps and Senators should be able to engage is support of one anothers' legislation (of course this assumes we get rid of earmarks). The executive branch should not be able to buy support with promises of a political appointment post elected term.

I harbor no illusions that we'll ever see these changes.

 

[Claudette]

There's nothing complicated about any of this. A proposed bill is either a good idea and can stand on its own... or not. It's that simple.

When a vote is "bought", what's essentially happening is that a legislator is voting for a bill that s/he wouldn't have voted on otherwise, a bill that couldn't stand on its own merit. If it takes a "bribe" to get the vote, it's not a good bill.

This is a betrayal of the trust bestowed upon our representatives. We elect them and trust them to only vote in the affirmative for the best ideas. When they make these deals, they're selling out for something less.

Your so right Murph.

If this bill were so great than it would have been voted in, hands down, last year when the Dems had a supermajority.

The fact we are even discussing this is because so many of the buyoffs have been made public.

Sure, we all had an idea that this is the way DC operates but now we know for sure exactly what these Clowns are doing.

The citizens of Nebraska went after their elected official for this and he decided the bacon he brought home needed to be removed. Once his constituants caught wind of what he'd done. They were not happy and let him know.

Wonder if anyone will be going after the only bank that will be allowed to process the student loans?? You know those loans that the Fed Govt, i.e. the taxpayers of America will be giving out.

Oh Yeah. Folks are beginning to see the way DC works.

Seems I remember that OL'BO was going to clean up DC. Wonder when he will Start?

 

[Care4all]

I guess you repubs have very short memory spans?

Hellooooo? the medicare pill bill...where a 15 minute vote, that resulted in the NONPASSAGE of the bill was kept opened for 3 hours so that the republicans could BRIBE as you all call it, congressmen to change their vote...they even had president Bush call some of them to "encourage" the change of their vote....they even offered one of the congressman all of the money in the world for his son to run for a seat, they even had Pharma lobbyists come on to the floor of the house to reach these no voters and give them all the money it took to get them to change their vote....and when they were done, they took that 15 minute vote, 3 fricking hours later with the twisted arms and "negotiations with Pharma lobby" and passed the legislation because these congressmen CHANGED their vote.

talk about SCUMMY....

what is happening now is concerning to me, and I do not like it one bit....but it does not come close to the republicans and the medicare pill bill and what they did so please don't act like the repubs are above something like this...they are the MASTERS of it, imo..

You're talking about a bill that was 6 years in Congress.
In any legislation like that there is arm twisting there is give and take.
But the level of outright bribery--promising future political appointments in exchange for votes, is unprecedented here. That is what distinguishes this as bribery versus traditional give and take politics.
Of course having had this pointed out, you will withdraw from the discussion and go on to some other misinformed view. Like always.

NO RABBI, it is NOT unprecedented......not in the least unprecedented. the level of what you call bribery, was well above what is happening now, to pass this bill....it was downright ILLEGAL to hold that vote opened for 3 plus hours when the rules say 15 minutes....and the vote after 15 minutes was a NO VOTE, they never closed the vote after it was counted and recorded....they kept it open for 3 straight hours of BRIBING....they offered to PAY for a congressman's son run for office, PHARMA was allowed on to the floor of congress to bribe the others...bush got on the phone at 3 am in the morning to bribe for votes...the house did this in the middle of the night, the wee hours of the morning hoping to HIDE their shenanigans.....

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I notice the cowardly Liberals have failed to participate in this poll.

 

[Care4all]

I suppose it is a natural phenomenon for people to only see what the other guy does, and not to be critical of their own party when the same thing is done....and our respective congressmen and senators COUNT on this....

 

[uscitizen]

I notice the cowardly Liberals have failed to participate in this poll.

Wrong again.

 

[Murf76]

If this bill were so great than it would have been voted in, hands down, last year when the Dems had a supermajority.

The fact we are even discussing this is because so many of the buyoffs have been made public.

Sure, we all had an idea that this is the way DC operates but now we know for sure exactly what these Clowns are doing.

The citizens of Nebraska went after their elected official for this and he decided the bacon he brought home needed to be removed. Once his constituants caught wind of what he'd done. They were not happy and let him know.

Wonder if anyone will be going after the only bank that will be allowed to process the student loans?? You know those loans that the Fed Govt, i.e. the taxpayers of America will be giving out.

Oh Yeah. Folks are beginning to see the way DC works.

Seems I remember that OL'BO was going to clean up DC. Wonder when he will Start?

Well, exactly. And in the end, this is what is going to cost Obama his presidency and cost the Democrats their majority. The American People are not as rotten in their souls as the most rabid of Obama supporters would have us believe. Nebraskans REJECTED this bribe, even though it was in their financial favor. It's because they're mostly good people who wouldn't ROB THEIR NEIGHBOR.

Obama and his trained pickpockets have missed their mandate. They've refused to see the forest for the trees. Obama promised an "end to the way Washington does business". He promised unity. He promised a post-partisan, post-racial, "transparent" administration. THESE were the promises that won him the White House. It wasn't Obamacare and class warfare. Only the 20% that will still self-identify as "liberals" would have gone for that. He got the middle by promising to clean this mess up and unite people. Instead, he's divided us worse than ever and the only thing "transparent" about his administration is its corruption.

They can go fuck themselves. They deserve their fate. The people will rise up and sweep them away in November and again in 2012. And they have no one to blame but themselves because they LIED about who they are and what they stand for.

 

[asaratis]

We keep hearing about all of the promises that Obama is making to all of these Democrats to change their votes. Doesn't this look a bit unseemly? Who is really being served here anyway; The politicians or the people that put them in their jobs?

How many times in the last two weeks has Obama committed an impeachable offense? If George Bush was doing this would he get the same pass Obama is currently getting?

You can't bribe a judge, lawyer, or a jurist....so why is it OK to bribe a politician? Somebody answer this question for me because I'm not getting it.

In all respects the President is breaking the law because he's offering gifts for their votes, even if it's not a personal bribe...it does benefit the receiver directly in his or her own state. This should be against the law...and only illustrates the corruption in Washington....doesn't it?????

Obama should be impeached for what he is doing to gain more control of our lives. But we forget, Obama is a Marxist. "Damn ethics! Damn the law! Damn the Constitution! I'm EL PRESIDENTE!!! What ever I want will be done!"

Obama is great at using our own money to gain more control over it.

He takes Dennis for a ride in AF1, gives his wife a job with Michelle's Diet Club (and she needs it!) and Dennis says he'll change his mind and vote for the tripe bill that will grow the size of the voting group and include me (Dennis and family) amongst the ruling few forever.

Obama is a SNAKE!

 

[The Rabbi]

Bush did it all the time. All those closed door session where he or Cheney or Rove twisted arms to get votes.

I don't recall anyone calling for impeachment, especially you right wing loons.

boohoohoo

I was waiting for the "but BOOOSSSSHHHHH" whining and right on cue here it is.
No, sorry. BUsh never did this. Yes, he lobbied for votes one way or another. That is politics. Every president does that.
But every president does not promise political appointments for retiring COngressmen in exchange for voting for his pet project.
That is bribery.
That is unacceptable.
Yes, if Bush had done that the Libs would be screaming. Hell, if the GOP had done half of what the Dums are doing now there would be serious moves at impeachment and ethics investigations.

Once again, chosen selective memory on your part....can you ever be honest rabbi?

just do a google on the medicare pill bill, dear.....and the bush tax cuts bills, dear....and the no child left behind bill, dear

You would be speaking about the No Child Left Behind bill that Ted Kennedy wrote? Dear.
You are an ill-informed hack, dear.
You are an ignoramus, dear.
You need to go back to posting about diapers and potty training on some other board, dear.

 

[NYcarbineer]

We keep hearing about all of the promises that Obama is making to all of these Democrats to change their votes. Doesn't this look a bit unseemly? Who is really being served here anyway; The politicians or the people that put them in their jobs?

How many times in the last two weeks has Obama committed an impeachable offense? If George Bush was doing this would he get the same pass Obama is currently getting?

You can't bribe a judge, lawyer, or a jurist....so why is it OK to bribe a politician? Somebody answer this question for me because I'm not getting it.

In all respects the President is breaking the law because he's offering gifts for their votes, even if it's not a personal bribe...it does benefit the receiver directly in his or her own state. This should be against the law...and only illustrates the corruption in Washington....doesn't it?????

Could you list all the promises the president himself has specifically made, and to whom specifically,

then we can evaluate them on a case by case basis.

A very sad dodge.

Of course Obama will never allow that to come out. He'll pass the blame onto everyone else. He did admit to one deal Special Deal for Labor Unions in Health Care Bill - Blogrunner

Also shortly after Obama talked a couple of CA congressmen into changing their vote from no to yes all of the sudden they got extra water rights for their state. I think this is why Obama signed that executive order controlling inter-coastal waterways.

Special Deals Sprinkled Throughout Final Health Care Bill - Yahoo! News

$100 million in exemptions to Nebraska
$300 million to any state that has had a natural disaster in the last seven years. Louisiana is the only state that qualifies for this.

Special deals, carve-outs keep health care afloat - CNN.com

Deals are the lifeblood of legislation.

-- Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., got $100 million more for her state's Medicaid program before announcing her support.

-- Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders didn't get Medicare-for-all, but he successfully pushed a $10-billion increase for community health centers.

-- Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman stopped a proposed government insurance plan.

-- Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., the crucial 60th vote for the bill, won a slew of concessions for his state.

A longtime abortion opponent, Nelson was also pivotal in that compromise.

Democrat's special deals life blood of health care bill -- GOPUSA

I don't see the president having made any of those deals, for starters.

But it was fascinating to see that you consider dropping the public option as a bribe paid to Joe Lieberman.

lol

 

[The Rabbi]

I guess you repubs have very short memory spans?

Hellooooo? the medicare pill bill...where a 15 minute vote, that resulted in the NONPASSAGE of the bill was kept opened for 3 hours so that the republicans could BRIBE as you all call it, congressmen to change their vote...they even had president Bush call some of them to "encourage" the change of their vote....they even offered one of the congressman all of the money in the world for his son to run for a seat, they even had Pharma lobbyists come on to the floor of the house to reach these no voters and give them all the money it took to get them to change their vote....and when they were done, they took that 15 minute vote, 3 fricking hours later with the twisted arms and "negotiations with Pharma lobby" and passed the legislation because these congressmen CHANGED their vote.

talk about SCUMMY....

what is happening now is concerning to me, and I do not like it one bit....but it does not come close to the republicans and the medicare pill bill and what they did so please don't act like the repubs are above something like this...they are the MASTERS of it, imo..

You're talking about a bill that was 6 years in Congress.
In any legislation like that there is arm twisting there is give and take.
But the level of outright bribery--promising future political appointments in exchange for votes, is unprecedented here. That is what distinguishes this as bribery versus traditional give and take politics.
Of course having had this pointed out, you will withdraw from the discussion and go on to some other misinformed view. Like always.

NO RABBI, it is NOT unprecedented......not in the least unprecedented. the level of what you call bribery, was well above what is happening now, to pass this bill....it was downright ILLEGAL to hold that vote opened for 3 plus hours when the rules say 15 minutes....and the vote after 15 minutes was a NO VOTE, they never closed the vote after it was counted and recorded....they kept it open for 3 straight hours of BRIBING....they offered to PAY for a congressman's son run for office, PHARMA was allowed on to the floor of congress to bribe the others...bush got on the phone at 3 am in the morning to bribe for votes...the house did this in the middle of the night, the wee hours of the morning hoping to HIDE their shenanigans.....

Please post links that describe how congressmen were offered actual money for their personal benefit in exchange for their votes.
If you can't do that then shut the fuck up.