The 114th Congress (spanning 2015-2017)

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In summary, the next US Congress is expected to focus on repealing Obamacare, building the Keystone XL pipeline, and immigration.
  • #36
I see Schumer is up for election in 16, when the President will still be in office giving speeches, issuing orders, and by that time pardoning whomever.
 
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  • #38
Astronuc said:
I would like to see less of this - Senate Democrats muscle big Obama donors into ambassadorships
Given the popularity of the U.S. around the world, the possibilities for "poetic justice" are intriguing. Might not be as bad an idea as it first appears. Thin the herd, so to speak.
Astronuc said:
But then not so fast - Senators renew push on military sexual assault cases
"Tempest in a teapot?" DoD bashing/social overhead/engineering programs/legislation have been, with the exception of HST's integration order, disasters. Correcting (mis)management problems from the bottom up rather than top down just doesn't work. Breaks morale, aggravates target problems, in a vicious circle.
 
  • #40
Astronuc said:
I would like to see less of this - Senate Democrats muscle big Obama donors into ambassadorships

That's been done for a long, long time. Usually the appointments are to countries like France, Spain, Italy - places with whom we have very stable relations. And the weather's nice, the electricity is always on, and the food is good :oldeyes:.

Places that require diplomatic "heavy lifting" don't usually get this kind of appointee.

Btw this practice really irks career Foreign Service officers, as you might imagine (my step-father worked in the State Department).
 
  • #41
There is sort of a gentlemen's agreement that 70% of the Ambassadorial appointments are career foreign service, and 30% can be political. The political category includes, shall we say "friends of the party", but also people who have held senior positions in the US government in the past: John Huntsman was a governor, Carole Moseley Braun was a senator, Gary Locke was Secretary of Commerce for example.

What irks the career foreign service is that a) there are more political appointees than in the past, b) of those, more are fundraisers than public servants, and c) several of the fundraisers have embarrassed themselves in front of the Senate.
 
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  • #42
Astronuc said:
Hopefully, they'll start passing budgets rather than continuing resolutions.
On the ticker just now, "Two day extension to prevent government shutdown." Still 113th, but methinks it bodes ill for 114th.
 
  • #43
Apparently, U.S. Representative Michael Grimm of New York may be missing from next year's roster. Grimm is expected to plead guilty on Tuesday to resolve federal tax charges, and charges of fraud, perjury and conspiracy stemming from a Manhattan health food restaurant he formerly co-owned, Healthalicious.

http://news.yahoo.com/u-rep-grimm-plead-guilty-tax-fraud-case-203137180.html
 
  • #44
Five ways to know you’re speaking to white supremacists
And other useful tips for Steve Scalise and budding politicians everywhere (somewhat tongue in cheek)
http://news.yahoo.com/five-ways-to-know-you-re-speaking-to-white-supremacists-004845526.html

Apparently Steve Scalise, House majority whip, made a speech at a conference of a white supremacist group. He claims not to remember much about it. I would hope that someone in a such a high position would be better informed of groups to whom him or her is speaking.
 
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  • #45
Ted Cruz appointed to head of Space, Science, and Competitiveness subcommittee in congress:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/11/7528337/senator-ted-cruz-nasa-subcommittee

I don't even care about his stance on cutbacks, but it's very clear to me from this that whoever is in charge in the republican party has it out for science that they don't agree with (namely global warming). I see this appointment as a bad sign that we're probably in for rough 8-or-so years of republican control of science and technology in the US.
 
  • #46
I am an anti-progressive conservative ultimately skeptical of science by consensus. I am guided by a careful and thorough reading of Karl Popper's The Logic of Scientific Discovery, that advanced falsificationism, and his The Open Society and Its Enemies (your hero George Soros' principal handbook) that taught the fallacy of the dialectic and lead to The Poverty of Historicism.
 
  • #47
Doug Huffman said:
I am an anti-progressive conservative ultimately skeptical of science by consensus. I am guided by a careful and thorough reading of Karl Popper's The Logic of Scientific Discovery, that advanced falsificationism, and his The Open Society and Its Enemies (your hero George Soros' principal handbook) that taught the fallacy of the dialectic and lead to The Poverty of Historicism.
Well, that's nice for you but what does that have to do with this this post?
 
  • #48
Perhaps he'll learn something from NASA.
 
  • #49
Cake said:
Ted Cruz appointed to head of Space, Science, and Competitiveness subcommittee in congress:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/11/7528337/senator-ted-cruz-nasa-subcommittee

I don't even care about his stance on cutbacks, but it's very clear to me from this that whoever is in charge in the republican party has it out for science that they don't agree with (namely global warming). I see this appointment as a bad sign that we're probably in for rough 8-or-so years of republican control of science and technology in the US.

I agree.
 
  • #50
Cake said:
Ted Cruz appointed to head of Space, Science, and Competitiveness subcommittee in congress:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/11/7528337/senator-ted-cruz-nasa-subcommittee

I don't even care about his stance on cutbacks, but it's very clear to me from this that whoever is in charge in the republican party has it out for science that they don't agree with (namely global warming). I see this appointment as a bad sign that we're probably in for rough 8-or-so years of republican control of science and technology in the US.
I'm not sure why everybody is crying in their beer.

Science is not run from a congressional committee on Capitol Hill. Science is what it is regardless of whether Ted Cruz is a committee chairman, or he's sweeping up cigarette butts in a basement somewhere. If there's something to global warming, the causes and effects are going to be borne out by scientific experiment, not in some report issued by a congressional committee.

It's also not clear what you mean by "rough 8-or-so years of republican control of science and technology in the US." S & T are not controlled by Republicans or Democrats, otherwise scientific findings would be rather suspect. Also, US congressional elections are held every two years, with all of the lower chamber and one-third of the upper chamber standing for election, and each election brings the possibility, however remote, of a shift in control of one or both houses of congress.
 
  • #51
SteamKing said:
Also, US congressional elections are held every two years, with all of the lower chamber and one-third of the upper chamber standing for election, and each election brings the possibility, however remote, of a shift in control of one or both houses of congress.

Not going to respond to all of the post, but I was making the point that these congressmen/women probably be voted out for 8-or-so years imho.
 
  • #52
I have taken a trek or three up to the Hill, and talked to Congresspeople from both sides of the aisle. I would think it is a mistake to consider one party pro-science and one party anti-science. If pushed, I would say that Republicans are more pro-science (i.e. they see scientific investment as a national good) and Democrats are more pro-scientist (i.e. they see scientists and other academics as one of their core constituencies) but this is an oversimplification that is almost as bad.
 
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  • #53
Vanadium 50 said:
I have taken a trek or three up to the Hill, and talked to Congresspeople from both sides of the aisle. I would think it is a mistake to consider one party pro-science and one party anti-science. If pushed, I would say that Republicans are more pro-science (i.e. they see scientific investment as a national good) and Democrats are more pro-scientist (i.e. they see scientists and other academics as one of their core constituencies) but this is an oversimplification that is almost as bad.
I understand this is oversimplified, but that's an interesting observation. Although saying the D's value scientists only as voters is a bit cynical :oldwink:. Fact is, there just aren't that many scientists to catch the interest of either party, IMO.
 
  • #54
Vanadium 50 said:
but this is an oversimplification that is almost as bad.
Little context for lisab's observation.
lisab said:
Fact is, there just aren't that many scientists to catch the interest of either party, IMO.
Even more cynically, are both parties merely seeking Madison Avenue endorsements from the scientific community with which to "snow" the voters?
 
  • #55
Astronuc said:
I would like to see less of this - Senate Democrats muscle big Obama donors into ambassadorships
lisab said:
Places that require diplomatic "heavy lifting" don't usually get this kind of appointee.
"Hartley is known for being a campaign bundler who raised more than $500,000 for Obama's re-election bid in 2012.[19]" --- Wiki
 
  • #56
lisab said:
Although saying the D's value scientists only as voters is a bit cynical

Had I said that, it would have been cynical.
 
  • #57
Vanadium 50 said:
I would think it is a mistake to consider one party pro-science and one party anti-science. If pushed, I would say that Republicans are more pro-science (i.e. they see scientific investment as a national good) and Democrats are more pro-scientist (i.e. they see scientists and other academics as one of their core constituencies) but this is an oversimplification that is almost as bad.
I would add that for stances on most particular issues, politics trumps science to the point of irrelevancy. Democrats can say (and be right) that the Republican position on global warming goes against the science, but Republicans can say (and be right) that the Democratic position on nuclear energy contradicts science and the Democrats' global warming position.
 
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  • #58
In related news, the House just voted to overturn Obama's immigration order. This and the similar Keystone vote are interesting but probably ultimately meaningless because:
1. They can't overturn a veto.
2. Congress has the authority here - but the President has the power.
3. Even if Congress sues, Obama can probably just stall until he's out of office (how's that court-ordered NRC Yucca Mountain review going...?).
 
  • #59
russ_watters said:
...meaningless because:
1. They can't overturn a veto...
I'm not so sure. Senate passed Keystone with 63 votes, 3 shy, for a vote that, for the moment, doesn't mean anything because as you say because it will be vetoed at first and Obama himself takes the brunt of the opposition. Should Obama stay on trend with the like of skipping Paris, voting with him might become increasing expensive.
 
  • #60
We the Confused have an ongoing petition to the executive branch for the removal of Senator Ted Cruz from oversight of the space-science committee, 17K so far. The wording is probably too timid to succeed; authors should have demanded the Senator be jailed by an executive Bill of Attainder, his property seized, and then deported when released.
 
  • #61
mheslep said:
We the Confused have an ongoing petition to the executive branch for the removal of Senator Ted Cruz from oversight of the space-science committee, 17K so far. The wording is probably too timid to succeed; authors should have demanded the Senator be jailed by an executive Bill of Attainder, his property seized, and then deported when released.
Respectfully, this was a waste of time.

Only the Senate has jurisdiction over the makeup of its various committees. (Article I of the US Constitution and Senate Rules) It would be like petitioning the House or Senate to command the President fire one of the cabinet members in his Administration. Officers of the US Government, like cabinet members, can either resign or be impeached by the House and removed from office upon conviction in the Senate.

Bills of Attainder are illegal under the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Sec. 9)

And, whatever links are contained in your post are broken or otherwise non-functional.
 
  • #62
  • #63
Congressman Andre Carson (D-IN) was appointed this week to the US House intelligence committee. In the past, Carson has made the following public comments (and later backtracked some of them):

Carsen, 2012 Hartford, Connecticut:
'America will never tap into educational innovation and ingenuity without looking at the model that we have in our madrassas, in our schools, where innovation is encouraged, where the foundation is the Qu'ran.'

'It's unfortunate that there are those [undercover law enforcement] who are thinking that, at this convention right now, we're having secret meetings, that we're plotting to destroy this country. But I say to those who are here undercover: Allah will not allow you to stop us.'
 
  • #64
Orrin Hatch is the happiest senator in Washington
The Utah Republican says he wants Elizabeth Warren to be ‘the new Kennedy’
http://news.yahoo.com/orrin-hatch-is-the-happiest-senator-in-washington-230742347.html

Let's see where that goes.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has been in the Senate for 37 years, and he’s seen it all. But for the first time in his career, he has a security detail.

Hatch, who will turn 81 in March, was elevated to his new position after Republicans took control of the Senate last fall. It’s a largely ceremonial post given by tradition to the longest-serving member of the majority party. It includes a few significant duties, such as signing legislation that’s been passed by both chambers before it leaves Congress on its way to the White House. The holder of the post also presides over the Senate when it is in session, though this latter duty is often delegated to newer members of the body.

Most important, the president pro tempore is third in line to the presidency, after the vice president and the speaker of the House.
. . . .
 
  • #65
Lawmaker reimbursed costs for lavish office décor
http://news.yahoo.com/lawmaker-reimbursed-costs-lavish-office-decor-175543466--politics.html
 
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  • #66
Cruz: Lift all contribution limits on campaign cash
http://news.yahoo.com/texas-cruz-lift-contribution-limits-campaign-cash-193953501--election.html

. . .
Cruz, a first-term senator who represents Texas, said deep-pocketed donors should have the same rights to write giant campaign checks as voters have to put signs in their front yards. Both, Cruz said, were an example of political speech, and he added that "money absolutely can be speech."

"I believe everyone here has a right to speak out on politics as effectively as possible," Cruz said told a voter who asked him about the role of the super-rich in politics.
. . .
 
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  • #67
GOP Lawmakers: Speaker Boehner to resign end of October
http://news.yahoo.com/gop-lawmakers-speaker-boehner-resign-end-october-134146275--politics.html
 
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  • #68
Astronuc said:
GOP Lawmakers: Speaker Boehner to resign end of October
http://news.yahoo.com/gop-lawmakers-speaker-boehner-resign-end-october-134146275--politics.html

Wow! This is completely surprising to me - I didn't see it coming at all, I thought Boehner could stand up to the hardliners in the R party. Just...wow.
 
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  • #69
lisab said:
completely surprising
Five years as a doormat for Obama, Reid, Pelosi & Co.? A surprise? :rolleyes:
 
  • #70
I thought Boehner was just stepping down from the Speaker of the House position, but NPR played his statement where he indicated that he is resigning from Congress effective end of October. Some are sad and some are glad.

Boehner To Step Down From Often Thankless Job. What's Next For His Successor?
http://www.npr.org/2015/09/25/44348...en-thankless-job-whats-next-for-his-successor

'Simple As That': Boehner Decided To Resign Today
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...-boehner-will-step-down-at-the-end-of-october
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallp...ver-boehner-resignation-pressure-was-working/

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/house-speaker-john-boehner-took-many-of-his-129855485621.html
 

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