Just POlitics

Pelosi hypocrite

The Washington Times covers Republicans’ accusation that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is a hypocrite for not calling for investigations into Democrats who have done the same things that caused her to call for investigations of Majority Leader Tom DeLay:

"She demanded an investigation into [Majority Leader] Tom DeLay, but hasn't said a word about these Democrats who have done the same thing," said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican. "If she doesn't call for investigations into her fellow Democrats, then it's clear she's being a hypocrite."

Republicans are wondering why the California representative won't ask for investigations into Democratic Reps. Norm Dicks of Washington, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, James E. Clyburn of South Carolina and Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, all of whom face questions about accepting travel paid for by lobbyists.

"As we expressed in earlier letters, Madame Leader, it appears more and more that your repeated calls for an investigation of Mr. DeLay are more driven by politics than by any real concern for the House rules," Mr. McHenry, with two other Republicans, wrote in a letter to Mrs. Pelosi yesterday.

Stop Hillary Pac

Former Congressman John LeBoutillier is helping lead the way for a Stop Hillary PAC that has launched a website and is trying to raise money. The site has a lengthy list of radio stations that LeBoutillier is scheduled to be on.

Arthur Finkelstein's "Stop Her Now" effort was announced earlier and Hillary has cited Finkelstein’s group as a reason her supporters need to send her more money.

DeLay’s opponent

Former four-term Rep. Nick Lampson announced his intentions to seek the Democrat nomination to face Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Lampson lost in the last election following DeLay’s support of the Texas legislature redrawing the Congressional districts in that state.

Lampson said that he was certain that the scandals and corruption would be a part of the campaign to unseat DeaLay.

Social Security an "Earned Benefit?"

Editorial by: Roger Wm. Hughes

"Means testing would change the whole nature of Social Security, which is supposed to be an earned benefit that you pay into. I'm a little skeptical," said Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. - (R-Fla.) who is a senior member of the committee that handles Social Security.

One of the great questions is whether Social Security benefits are an earned benefit. Every worker can receive a calculation about how much money they will be entitled to upon retirement. The calculation is based upon the worker’s wage history and how much they have paid into the Social Security system. From that standpoint, it would appear that Social Security benefits are an earned benefit.

However, what is really at work is that the government has made a promise that future generations will pay in at a given rate of taxation to pay the government’s pledge of entitlement benefits. It is called a pay-as-you-go system. The money that a worker pays in today is spent on those who are retired now. The worker paying in today must rely on future workers to pay for the government’s promise of entitled benefits.

The government has also established that those retirement benefits will receive annual cost of living increases that are larger than the rate of inflation. In fact, the government has promised more than it can deliver, and because of this Social Security’s future is insolvent.

There are other reasons for this lack of financial soundness, but the question is whether Social Security is an earned benefit. With the unsound financial basis of Social Security, there is evidence that it is not an earned benefit: If it were an earned benefit, then it should be able to actuarially fund itself.

The real clue as to whether Social Security is an earned benefit is in the name itself. Social and security combined is a euphemism for the public’s general welfare. The emphasis is on welfare.

Social Security, like other public welfare programs, taxes a class of citizens and then redistributes those taxes. In this case, America has redirected wealth to senior citizens at a rate previously unknown in the history of the world. It is a system that expands security to some at the expense of others. The worker who dies before reaching retirement doesn’t receive their alleged earned benefits. The retiree who dies before getting back their alleged earned benefits has nothing.

No, Social Security is not an earned benefit. It is instead a program for the general welfare of senior citizens who live a long time.

D.C.’s vote in Congress

Representative Thomas M. Davis III, Republican from Virginia, has introduced legislation that would allow Washington, D.C.’s congressman a vote in the House of Representatives. It would not grant voting rights in the U.S. Senate.

The legislation would cause the House to grow by two members -- to 437--  after the November 2006 election. Washington would gain one seat, with the other going to the state next in line for a Congressional seat, namely Utah, which narrowly missed gaining a fourth House seat after the last reapportionment.

Pulling the trigger

The Hill reports on the growing frustration by conservatives with Sen. Bill Frist and the likelihood that the end of filibustering judicial nominees will be soon:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s (R-Tenn.) chief of staff has told conservative activist leaders and business-community representatives that Frist will soon trigger the so-called "nuclear option" to end threatened Democratic filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees this month.

The chief of staff, Eric Ueland, said the event will take place in "less than a month," according to several people who attended a closed-door meeting late last week.

But social conservatives are anticipating from conversations with Frist’s staff that the controversial move will take place next week and are predicting a conservative backlash if Senate Republicans delay any longer.

Kerry’s plans

The Hill reports on Sen. John Kerry’s plans to run for President again:

The political team Kerry has hired to staff his new leadership political action committee, Keeping America’s Promise, indicates that he is gearing up for just such a showdown. Kerry has hired John Giesser, the No. 2 operative at the DNC in 2000 and 2004, to run it and Jay Dunn, who served as DNC finance director, to manage its finances.

"Everything he is doing from a political standpoint points in that direction," said Steve Grossman, who served as DNC chairman in 1998, of the likelihood of another presidential run for Kerry. "That’s a very, very high-powered team that he’s keeping in place. You don’t generally spend those kind of resources and put that effort in building the A team to run for another term in the U.S. Senate."