mjk@tty3b.UUCP (Mike Kelly) (05/24/84)
Given the hijinks of the Reagan Administration, one friend of mine remarked: "We'll probably defeat him in November, but if we don't, we could probably impeach him." Violation of War Powers Act in Nicaragua and Grenada. An ongoing FBI investigation into the "business affairs" of Caspar Weinberger and George Schultz when they were head honchos at Bechtel. An ongoing Congressional investigation into his nominee for Attorney General, Ed Meese. An ongoing Congressional investigation into his CIA Director, William Casey, for receiving classified information during the 1980 campaign (doesn't it seem that the Republicans can't win the Presidency without cheating; or at least, they think they can't win without cheating) Practically the entire top management at the EPA forced to resign on charges of perjury and collusion with those the agency was supposedly regulating. This guy has appointed more petty crooks and con men to high office than any President in recent memory, save one, and he was a Republican, too. Mike Kelly ..!ihnp4!tty3b!mjk
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (05/25/84)
[] Well folks, I can't let this one go by without comment. You say "Impeach him for violations of the War Powers Act." Very interesting, but it won't hold water. The troops in Granada were out before the act went into effect. The troops in Central America are on maneuvers at the request of the government. They were not sent into a combat zone. The congress is very hesitant to test the Act because, if it gets to the Supreme Court, it will, in all likelyhood, be declared unconstitutional (that from Tip O'Niell). As for appointments, some people seem to have blinders on when it comes to democrats having made appointments. Besides, you can't impeach someone for appointments. Perhaps you would have a case against the Senate for approving the appointments, but not the President. I suggest you try to temper your hatred and try to see the realities of politics on both sides of the aisle. If you think that one politician is more lilly white than another, then your living in a dream world. Politics today is a matter of picking the lesser evil, if that's possible. Go out and find us an honest man with enough guts to face the problems and I will do my damndest to get him elected. I'm afraid though that any honest man you find will laugh in your face at the suggestion today. Further, if you think those three clowns from the Democratic party are any different, then you've got a lot to learn. I'm convinced that, once a person is elected to any office today, they become a prisoner of the system. What has to be done is to shorten the number of times any one person can hold an elective office. Two terms for a Congressman, One term for the Senate, two terms for President, Ten years for the Supreme Court ( I know, it's not elected, but there should be a time limit). This would help to break up the long term stranglholds and give honest men a chance to serve. It would further bring down the cost of running for office. Spending 2 or 3 million on a congressional seat is criminal, and only crooks seem willing to spend that much for a two year term. T. C. Wheeler
cas@cvl.UUCP (Cliff Shaffer) (05/29/84)
> Go out and find us an honest man with enough guts to face > the problems and I will do my damndest to get him elected. > I'm afraid though that any honest man you find will laugh > in your face at the suggestion today. Further, if you > think those three clowns from the Democratic party are any > different, then you've got a lot to learn. I'm convinced > that, once a person is elected to any office today, they > become a prisoner of the system. What has to be done is > to shorten the number of times any one person can hold > an elective office. Two terms for a Congressman, One > term for the Senate, two terms for President, Ten years > for the Supreme Court ( I know, it's not elected, but > there should be a time limit). This would help to break > up the long term stranglholds and give honest men a chance > to serve. It would further bring down the cost of running > for office. Spending 2 or 3 million on a congressional > seat is criminal, and only crooks seem willing to spend > that much for a two year term. > T. C. Wheeler It seems to me that there is a very simple way to solve all the problems mentioned above. That is to not allow any holder of an elective governmental office to hold another elective office (or an additional term of the same office) for one year after their term expires. This would completely solve the problem of incumbents spending time campaigning instead of doing their jobs (a common problem today with congressmen/presidents). It would probably cut down on the "professional" politicians, and go a bit more in the direction of individuals serving as office-holders for short periods of time and a high turnover rate as I think was originally intended. Of course the current crop of politicians would not like it one bit. Cliff Shaffer ...rlgvax!cvl!cas
david@rand-unix.UUCP (05/30/84)
Nice listing of trivia there, Mike, but I don't see a single `high crime or misdemeanor' anywhere on it. The Dems ain't gonna beat him, and there ain't no cause to impeach him....sorry, Charlie... By the way, the action in Grenada in no way vilated the War Powers Act; nor has any of the U.S. activity in Central America; even the `surrender now' faction in Congress doesn't argue about that. Further, the `classified information' Casey received was no such thing; `classified information' is stuff that to some extent is vital to national security, something the Carter papers unarguably were not...while it may have been private information, or even `commercially confidential' on some level (since, after all, we do buy and sell the Presidency), it was not government information. Casey's action, while probably unethical, was quite probably completely legal. By the way, I dislike Reagan as much as the next chimp, but I really do get tired of hearinfg how he's responsible for the sun burning out in five billion years...believe it or not, campers, the man is right about some things (the woeful state of our defenses, Grenada, the basic nature of the Soviet Union); while this in no way should excuse his many errors (the MX, James Watt, school prayer, etc.), this constant flow of garbage making him out to be Attila the Hun strikes me as sour-graping from folks who've never understood that Jimmy Carter got beat in '80 for some very good reasons. OK, afterburner disengaged...the betting line in California is Hart giving 3 to Walt...me, I'm voting for Truman... Cheers! --- das
alle@ihuxb.UUCP (Allen England) (05/30/84)
+ > From Mike Kelly ..!ihnp4!tty3b!mjk > Given the hijinks of the Reagan Administration, one friend of mine > remarked: "We'll probably defeat him in November, but if we don't, > we could probably impeach him." Violation of War Powers Act in > Nicaragua and Grenada. An ongoing FBI investigation into the "business > affairs" of Caspar Weinberger and George Schultz when they were head > honchos at Bechtel. An ongoing Congressional investigation into his > nominee for Attorney General, Ed Meese. An ongoing Congressional > investigation into his CIA Director, William Casey, for receiving classified > information during the 1980 campaign (doesn't it seem that the Republicans > can't win the Presidency without cheating; or at least, they think they > can't win without cheating) Practically the entire top management at the > EPA forced to resign on charges of perjury and collusion with those the > agency was supposedly regulating. This guy has appointed more petty crooks > and con men to high office than any President in recent memory, save one, > and he was a Republican, too. Well Congress could certainly impeach a President at any time. But, you would be hard pressed to remove him from office for the offenses cited above. --> War Flowers Act (oops, Powers) - This would almost certainly be thrown out by the Supreme Court as an unlawful restraint of Executive Power. Haven't you wondered why Congress hasn't been more vocal about trying to hold the President on this? Why do you think the compromise on the time table for the troops in Lebanon was worked out? Many Congresspersons realize that if push comes to shove, this little ditty will be tossed out! --> Remove a President from office for the doings of his cabinet ministers while in private business!! Don't make me laugh. There are always ongoing Congressional investigations in these post-Watergate days and there will be for some time to come. Don't expect much to come of it. If the electorate doesn't remove Reagan from office for these *offenses*, then don't expect Congress to do it. It won't happen. Starting to get a little worried, eh Mike?? --> Allen <-- ihnp4!ihuxb!alle