Here are my observations and opinions from my selected news of the day.
(Cartoon courtesy of Gary Varvel)
FEEDING THE SWAMP – On May 26, 2019, I wrote of the financial investigation brewing over Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings and his wife, Maya Rockeymoore. I told you about Rockeymoore running two non-profit entities whose operations appear to have overlapped, and that a charity she ran received millions from special interest groups and corporations that had business before her husband’s committee, according to Alana Goodman of the Washington Examiner.
Representing the Center for Global Policy Solutions, she was awarded $6.2 million in grants between 2013 and 2016, while her consulting firm was selected for a $1 million federal contract with the GSA in 2017.
Prior to his marriage to Rockeymoore in 2008, Cummings struggled with serious financial problems, experiencing a house foreclosure, unpaid taxes to the IRS, court appearances for unpaid debts, and hefty child support payments. It easy to see how he was able to improve his financial status.
The Swamp will be losing one of its dwellers in Cummings, but it appears his widow, Rockeymoore, will continue to be fed by the Washington Swamp, as she is expected to run for his House seat. Word in the Beltway is that other potential candidates will make room for her out of respect for her late husband.
IOWANS DON’T SEE IMPEACHMENT as a major issue confronting them. The latest survey from Emerson Polling found that just seven percent consider impeachment the “most important” issue, with the economy leading at 33 percent and healthcare (insurance) at 14 percent.
HAVE YOU HEARD that the State Department identified nearly 600 security violations in its now-completed review of e-mail records of dozens of former agency officials and aides to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?
“The investigation, which covered the 33,000 e-mails Clinton provided for review, found 91 “valid violations” attributable to 38 individuals, some of whom may face disciplinary action,” according to Daniel Chaitin of the Washington Examiner.
The individuals under scrutiny were not identified, nor was it revealed if any of those who were found culpable are still employed at the State Department per agency policy.
The Democrat-controlled House Oversight and Reform Committee (Cummings) has ignored Republican requests for a hearing on this 36-month investigation.
THEN THERE’S THIS – Democrat Rep. Katie Hill, who defeated two-term Republican Rep. Steve Knight in California’s 25th District in the midterms, was highly sought after for television interviews. She appeared several times on Laura Ingram’s show on Fox.
With word circulating about her being involved in a “throuple” relationship with her female staffer and Hill’s estranged husband, and nude photos appearing in the blog Red State, I imagine she will be trying to avoid television cameras.
Of course, there’s the concern for national security, as Hill serves on the Armed Services Committee and has access to extremely sensitive national security information. Incidentally, she also serves on the House Oversight and Reform Committee (Cummings), according to Matt Margolis, PJ Media.
MEANWHILE, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, the lone minority Republican woman in Congress, the State of Washington’s 3rd District, intends to support President Trump in 2020.
Admitting that she did not vote for him in 2016, she told reporters during a lunch for Winning for Women Thursday that the administration’s economic successes are too big to ignore, referencing the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
She cited that “it’s the first time- especially among women, especially among minorities … among the disabled – that those numbers are at all-time low, and they now have the ability to hunt jobs.”
“My district did vote for him, and I think one of biggest mistakes people are going to make is not respecting their voters,” she said.
Beutler is of Mexican descendent and was named to MSNBC’s “Top Latino Politicians to Watch.”
“EVERYONE KNOWS she (Nancy Pelosi) hates this president and is working furiously to undermine him,” writes Megan Fox of PJ Media.
Writing of Pelosi’s repeated statements that she prays for the president’s mental health, Fox writes, “nobody believes this woman prays,” referring to her aiding and abetting the slaughter of the unborn through her unwavering support of Planned Parenthood.
IN AN OP-ED FOR THE LEFTIST Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote, “the combination of a U.S. pullback and the escalating Turkish-Kurdish hostilities is creating a strategic nightmare for our country.”
Kramerontheright wishes he was as concerned about the Congressional nightmare we have now in Washington DC, where Democrats are conducting interviews behind close doors in an effort to draw plans for our president’s impeachment. I recognize that it’s the House that is behind this move, but that hasn’t stopped Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer from commenting.
Surely, McConnell understands how Pelosi and Schiff have rewritten the rules as a means for producing negative talking points for the media to develop fake news aimed at undermining the presidency. We saw it with the false reporting on the Kurt Volker interview.
THE RIGHT DECISION isn’t always seen to be the correct decision, or should I say the politically correct decision. That would be the administration’s plan to host the G-7 meeting at the Trump National Doral Miami Resort.
It’s the best place because the entire contingent can be housed on a single property, unlike previous meeting hosted by other countries. The G-8 meeting hosted by President Obama at Camp David was considered a disaster.
And holding the meeting at Doral would be millions of dollars cheaper, according to Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s chief of staff.
Then there are those who see it as an emoluments clause issue. Give me a break. We have a president who puts more hours a day in the job than any previous president and accepts no pay for his service as president, and yet the opposition see it as a means for him to line his pockets. Balderdash!
AND FINALLY, I don’t know. I don’t know why the DOJ IG report wasn’t released on Friday as was predicted. Stay tuned.
May God continue to bless the United States of America
