Todays very bad example? A doctor who if he used his own political logic in his medical practice would probably be incarcerated for criminal malpractice. (sorry, doctors don't go to jail, they just go into the limbo of endless litigation, what ever) Texas Republican Congressman, Michael Burgess who took office in 2003, stepping into the seat held by former House Majority Leader, Dick Armey stated at a Tea Brain gathering last week that the impeachment of Barack Obama "needs to happen" but when asked on what grounds, well, he couldn't really say.
He was being aggressively grilled by his audience in regard to his vote to extend the U.S. Debt Ceiling Burgess rebuffed tea party members, insisting that allowing the nation to default would have been much worse than a credit ratings downgrade.
"I didn't want the country to go through what it is going through right now," Burgess reportedly said. "It's not the president's downgrade. The downgrade affected the whole country."
Representative Dr. Michael Burgess I pity anyone having this jackass as a doctor: "I have to perform surgery on you...but I don't know why" |
That vote shouldn't have come as a surprise to tea party Republicans. In times of less dire financial straits -- namely when the Republican party controlled Congress and the presidency -- Burgess was in favor of raising the debt ceiling every time he was asked, voting yes in 2003 and in 2004, and additionally voicing support for increases in 2006 and 2007, though official votes were not taken.
All told, Burgess has been in favor of raising the debt limit over $3.3 trillion to finance everything from foreign wars, massive, budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations and an unfunded prescription drug benefit plan that prohibited the government from negotiating for lower prices. Had he come to Washington just two years earlier, that figure would likely be closer to $4 trillion, which is approximately how much Republicans added to the nation's debt limit from 2001-2008.
But it was his vote on the most recent increase that sparked the tea party's ire. Responding to questions, Burgess reportedly vowed to resist future debt ceiling increases, saying that Congress should instead try to amend the Constitution to force balanced budgets and stave off future tax increases.
That position became a favorite among tea party supporters toward the end of the debt limit debate, with some even suggesting that Republicans could force the Senate to accept the plan. That argument faced several logical barriers however, being that constitutional amendments take years to complete and must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. The next debt ceiling increase will be taken up by Congress in 2013 -- well before an amendment could be accomplished. But when up against a wall, the worm crawls into the nearest hole...as the discussion degenerated into a lynching party demanding that Obama be impeached. He readily jumped on it and agreed.
"It needs to happen, and I agree with you it would tie things up," he reportedly said. "No question about that."
The U.S. Constitution, in Article II, Section 4, requires a conviction on "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" before an office-holder can be impeached. President Obama faces no such charges.
Asked to clarify, Burgess said he "wasn't sure whether the proper charges to bring up articles of impeachment against Obama were there", but he didn't rule out pursuing such a course.
(the illustration is from a great Basil Wolverton comic strip from 1954, They Crawl By Night, which creeped me out many years ago and still does! To see it in it's entirety click here!"
1 comment:
Hello Microdot,
The Teabagger Ultra Conservative, Andy Harris, who replaced my friend, the Moderate Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest, in the Republican Primary from the 1st district of Maryland; will wake up tomorrow with a large demonstration in his office in Salisbury, MD. Senior Citizens are highly pissed at him for voting in favor on this “Budget Bill” that is going to destroy their Medicare and Social Security. This district which tends to be a little more conservative than I personally like, are coming out in force to protest this Teabagger’s support of the Tea Party’s dysfunctional mindset that wanted to default on the U.S.’s responsibilities.
I hope they hold his ass to the fire and vote this bastard out of office in 2012!!
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