Mediaboss Marketing

WASHINGTON (AP) The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it is dropping separate investigations against Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and Republican Rep. Roger Williams of Texas.

Lujan, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was accused of using the House chamber to raise money for campaign purposes during a June 2016 sit-in on gun control.

Williams, an auto dealer, was accused of a conflict of interest in offering a 2015 amendment to a transportation bill that would have benefited auto dealers.

The ethics panel said neither Lujan nor Williams violated House rules, but cautioned that both lawmakers acted in ways where mistakes are possible. The panel urged all House members to seek guidance from the ethics committee when in doubt.

A spokesman for Lujan called the complaint politically motivated and without merit.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a conservative-leaning watchdog group, filed a complaint last year alleging that Lujan and other Democrats violated ethics rules by using the House chamber to raise money for campaign purposes. Specifically, the group said Lujan and others sent campaign emails featuring photos of themselves during the June 2016 sit-in.

The ethics panel found that the emails involving Lujan were sent by a campaign consultant on the congressmans behalf, adding that there was no evidence that Lujan directed the emails to be sent while on the House floor. The screenshot used in one of the emails violated House rules, the panel said, but there was no evidence Lujan was aware of the decision to use the photo before the fundraising missive was sent out.

Spokesman Joe Shoemaker said the ethics panel acted appropriately by dismissing the case. Congressman Lujan is committed to abiding by House rules and will continue to do so in the future.

Williams on Tuesday stood by his decision to offer an amendment to a wide-ranging transportation bill that would have allowed auto dealers to rent out vehicles even if theyre subject to recall.

This bill would have resulted in unintended consequences that would punish small business owners, employees and consumers, he said in a statement. As I knew all along, the committee found no violation of any law, rule or regulation.

Williams has said the amendment was intended to address recalls aimed at trivial defects, but critics said it would apply more broadly.

The independent Office of Congressional Ethics, an outside panel that reviews ethics complaints against House members, said Williams personal financial interest in his auto dealership could be perceived as having influenced his decision to offer the amendment.

The ethics panel said Williams should have sought ethics guidance before submitting the amendment and urged him to take care to avoid creating any impression that he was sponsoring the amendment to benefit himself or his business.

In Lujans case, the ethics panel said the evolving nature of electronic communications and campaign solicitations presents novel issues that are not directly addressed by the House Ethics Manual. Further guidance on email use is needed, the panel said.

Read more:
House ethics panel clears NM Democrat, Texas Republican - LubbockOnline.com

Tecumseh Democrat George Hanna announced Monday that he had filed to run for the Kansas House of Representatives in a district that covers part of Shawnee County.

Hanna, 47, a veteran and activist, is running in the Democratic primary for the seat currently held by Republican Rep. Ronald Ellis, of Meriden. Ellis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the announcement, Hanna worked to unionize Topeka city employees after getting his start in activism by working against the anti-LGBTQ Westboro Baptist Church. Hanna became homeless as an adolescent, according to the press release.

It is because of the things I have been through that I fight for tolerance and acceptance today, Hanna said.

Hanna said veterans issues and Medicaid expansion would be pillars of his campaign. He said he serves as the chair of Kansas Democratic Caucus for Veterans and Veterans Families and is a student at Kansas State University.

The rest is here:
Democrat announces bid for Kansas House seat covering part of Shawnee County - Topeka Capital Journal

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appeared Sunday on Fox News to defend herself and the Democratic Partys new initiative dubbed A Better Deal aimed at rebuilding her partys standing with the nations voters.

Pelosis pitch was straightforward: our economy is rigged against Americas workers and only Democrats can fix it.

One small problem: America has heard this before. On countless commercials. In numerous debates. For months on end.

As highlighted by even supportive media outlets, A Better Deal is largely a rehash of solutions offered by Hillary Clinton during her failed presidential campaign. That doesnt mean A Better Deal is without merit, as Foxs Chris Wallace noted. But clearly something was missing when Clinton made these same losing arguments.

The American people were looking for something more. Something different.

And that underlines why Pelosis performance was another train wreck for Democrats. D.C. Democrats still dont understand or wont accept why they keep losing.

President Trump reached the White House with a simple promise: Make America Great Again. He saw a broken immigration system, gutted manufacturing base, and a set of toothless foreign policies that all originated from feckless and corrupt D.C. elites.

To right the ship, Trump vowed to drain the swamp of Americas political losers and push through an agenda that would leave the country literally tired of winning.

Said differently, Trump focused on the brokenness of Washington D.C.

It was a smart strategy.

For years, Congress approval rating has been dismal. America has grown tired of the constant political warfare between dueling politicians that has resulted in little progress.

Poll after poll also shows that voters are disgusted by a political system that all too often leads to career politicians who drink off the corrupting spigot of campaign cash from corporate interests.

Bottom line: America wanted better leadership and an effective government in 2016. Fair or not, Trump became the credible voice to accomplish those goals.

Six months later, its debatable whether Trump is the voice that America wanted. However what isnt up for debate is that the country still desires better leadership. In fact, polls show that we view it as the most pressing issue facing the nation.

More important than health care. More than the economy. More than immigration.

And yet despite the countrys hunger for fresh leadership, Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi (with 29 years in office) continue to appear on TV to promote the partys reboot. Complete with Clintons losing proposals.

To underline the absurdity, Pelosi made it clear that the new initiative is not a course correction, but a presentation correction.

In other words, same politicians and same message, just a prettier bow.

If the whole enterprise smacks of ego, it should. Pelosi knows that Americans want new leadership and a functional national government. She knows that this requires her to step aside for the good of the party and country. However shes made it clear that shes not going anywhere.

To the point, when Pelosi was asked about the importance of a fresh start for the party, she responded, I dont think people want a new direction.

When asked whether she would withdraw for a new generation of leaders, she refused.

I am a master legislator, Pelosi said.

D.C. Democrats have thus placed the party in an intractable position: they have leaders who lack the credible voice to move the party forward, yet the leaders refuse to leave.

For those Democrats outside the Beltway, this conundrum leaves them with two uncomfortable options: Accept the status quo, or fight back.

The status quo is clearly unacceptable. Democrats have the fewest number of elected officials at the state and national level since the 1920s. Sixty-seven percent of Americans view the party as out of touch.

That leaves rebellion.

An effective political coup requires concerned governors, legislators, and Democratic voters to publicly reject their current leadership. If Pelosi and others like her wont step down, the rebels must make it clear to Americas voters that the D.C. Democrats do not speak for them.

Meanwhile, a successful rebellion must offer an agenda that demonstrates that Democrats have heard Americas demand for new, effective leadership. Indeed, the rebels must embrace the only proven ways to eject career politicians from their perches of power and money: term limits and a lifetime ban on elected officials from lobbying.

For years, an overwhelming majority of Americans have demanded passage of these two initiatives. Voters understand that if politicians arent chasing corporate cash for reelection or a lucrative retirement, they are more likely to do the business of the American people.

Consider the issue of prescription drug prices, highlighted as a part of A Better Deal. When the U.S. Senate recently considered legislation that would have allowed Americans to import cheap prescription drugs from Canada, 14 Democratic senators rejected it (along with most Republicans). Not surprisingly, many of these politicians have collected large sums of campaign cash from pharmaceutical giants.

To point out the obvious, this is the broken system that helped put Trump in the White House.

And that begs the question: would the president join a Democratic rebellion in a push for term limits and a ban on lobbying? After all, he recently upgraded his drain the swamp mantra to drain the sewer.

If President Trump declines, then the rebels could fold the idea into a new covenant with the American people.

Call it Our American Oath.

Shortly after Donald Trump was elected, a group of sensible Americans and I drafted a series of 10 policy directives designed to help move the country forward. From term limits to the economy and the War on Terror, we hammered out agreements that reflect Democratic values while working to find common ground with Republicans.

No matter the covenants particulars, its time for a national rebellion of concerned Democrats. Officials like Pelosi have become unresponsive and tone deaf, pushing failed schemes like A Better Deal when what American voters want is better leadership.

Its time that Democrats give voters what they deserve.

Bryan Dean Wright is a former CIA ops officer and member of the Democratic Party. He contributes on issues of politics, national security, and the economy. Follow him on Twitter @BryanDeanWright.

Read more here:
I'm a Democrat but Nancy Pelosi is totally clueless about what Democrats need to do to win - Fox News

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An educator and activist announced Monday shes running for a U.S. House seat in central Arkansas, becoming the second Democrat to launch a bid to unseat the districts incumbent Republican congressman.

Gwendolynn Combs filed paperwork last week with the Federal Election Commission to run for the 2nd Congressional District. Combs is a gifted and talented specialist at Stephens Elementary in Little Rock and was also the organizer of a womens march at the state Capitol in January that coincided with others nationwide. Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill is seeking a third term next year after first being elected to the seat in 2014.

Combs criticized Hill and the states other Republican House members for backing legislation that would have repealed and replaced major portions of the federal health overhaul. The repeal efforts collapsed in the U.S. Senate last week. Combs said she would have voted for the health care law when it was enacted in 2010.

We need to consider that health care is a human right, and its not something that should hinge on a persons economic status, Combs said. Those people who work hard shouldnt be bearing the burden of tax breaks for the wealthy.

A spokesman for Hills campaign did not immediately respond to a message Monday afternoon. Hill has more than $816,000 on hand for his re-election bid, according to his latest campaign fundraising report.

Combs said she supports abortion rights and opposes efforts backed by Hill and other Republicans to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood. She also said she supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and would probably support linking the wage to inflation. She said she opposed President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and criticized his plan to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Combs, 42, has never run for office before and is among several political newcomers who are running as Democrats try to rebound from recent losses in the state. Another Little Rock teacher and activist, Paul Spencer, announced earlier in July he was seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2nd District seat. Republicans hold all Arkansas four U.S. House and two Senate seats, as well as all of the constitutional offices and a majority of both chambers of the state Legislature.

___

Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ademillo

Read more:
Democrat launches bid for US House seat in central Arkansas - Washington Times

Congressional sexism is becoming cliche and Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., is just the latest to cry misogyny.

During a committee hearing to discuss morale at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (of all things), the New York Democrat asked the witnesses overly broad questions, ran over her time by more than a minute, and then complained when Chairman Ron Estes, R-Kan., interrupted what was sure to be an anti-Trump tirade.

"Day in the life," Rice tweeted after the exchange. "Worth noting there are men from both parties who don't act like this. So we've got that going for us, which is nice." Because you know, Republicans are chauvinists by default.

Except no, no they're not.

Attacks against old man Republicans from old woman Democrats, like this fake sexist-Estes narrative, aren't just baseless. They're boring. Watching the entire exchange, not the edited version blasted out by Rice's office, shows the laziness of the charge.

First, Estes didn't cut Rice off. He reminded her that her time had expired. Estes didn't censor Rice's rant. He cut her off to recognize Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who is also a woman and who is just as critical of the current administration as Rice.

That wasn't some sort of power move designed to silence women. It was regular order.

"I value following the committee rules," Estes told me after the exchange went down and hysteria was blowing up. A good natured Kansan who's been in Washington for less than four months, he says he just wanted to be sure "that everyone has an opportunity to speak."

Rice wanted an opportunity for a viral moment, much like that of Sen. Elizabeth Warren. That Massachusetts Democrat was made a martyr when she was ruled out of order on the Senate floor by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. And ever since then, every lady lawmaker now seems to need a viral clip chronicling her struggle with the man.

Most notably, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., increased her stock by claiming that she was silenced first by a GOP colleague and later by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Oddly enough though, as my colleague Emily Jahinsky noted, sexism isn't bipartisan.

No one cries patriarchy, for instance, when screaming male protestors shut down Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Apparently, it's okay to tell a woman to sit down and shut up in Trump's America so long as she's a Republican.

And that's why Rice's martyr-mongering is so obnoxious. There was no real offense, just another attempt to cry foul and win points. But if Rice plans on shattering glass ceilings by playing victim she should at least find a more convincing villain than Estes.

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

Originally posted here:
New York Democrat Rep. Kathleen Rice tries (and fails) to cry sexism in committee - Washington Examiner