Saturday, January 14, 2017

Ethical Oversight — Nope, Not Needed Part Deux: GOP Weasels Profess

Office of Government Ethics (OGE)
(Added to the GOP's chopping block)

Updated from earlier post 
(Now combined GOP-Trump motto)

FOLKS THIS IS NOW VERY VERY SERIOUS STUFF - to wit:
After-the-fact update (it came in shortly after the below was posted) and falls in line with the whole idea and prospect of the Trump's marketing the Trump name and products from the White House for their own financial gain (believe it or not; it is real).
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One day after President-elect Donald Trump encouraged supporters to “Buy L.L. Bean,” an ethics watchdog warned federal employees they must not endorse products or companies.
The OGE (discussed below in greater detail) said on its official Twitter account: “All executive branch employees must refrain from misuse of position, including endorsements.”
No mention of Trump was made in the tweet, and many rules for federal employees do not apply to the president
(I Note: Which I am sure he knows about and will stretch the limits to the limits). 
The ethics office has tweeted other reminders to employees this week, including one that federal gift restrictions remain in place during the upcoming inauguration.
The office's endorsements message drew attention on Twitter, though, because it came after Trump posted support for the Maine catalog retailer known for its backpacks and rubber-bottomed boots. Activists had called for a boycott following reports that a member of the family that owns L.L. Bean contributed to Trump's campaign.

Trump tweeted: “Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L. Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L. Bean.” (Thus Trump was implying that since she supported him and he won that was her reward: Presidential endorsement for their products – no conflict, right Mr. and Mrs. GOP)?
Original post starts here:

I already blasted the new 115th all-GOP run House on the ethics oversight issue they wanted to toss. Then after an intense public backlash they backed down and reversed course which you recall was on the very first day of the new session – ironic to say the least. The GOP vote to back down from reining in the Office of Congressional Ethics was unanimous as Jake Sherman of Politico reported (can be reviewed here). 

Sadly, they are baccccck and after the big prize as seen in this UPDATED STORY FROM THE AP that has this HEADLINES:

GOP lawmakers go after ethics official who criticized Trump
The heart of that AP piece is seen, I believe, in these two statements which are germane and right to the point:

House Republicans have shown no inclination to challenge President-elect Donald Trump on ethics matters. Instead, they are going after the federal ethics official who questioned Trump's potential conflicts of interest.

(My Note: How ironic is that, yet so typical of the hypocrisy shown by this GOP probably over the past 10-15 years).

Two key Democratic views:

From Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, top Democrat on the committee sharply criticized Chaffetz for summoning OGE Director Mr. Walter Shaub, saying: “The Oversight Committee has not held one hearing, conducted one interview, or obtained one document about President-elect Donald Trump's massive global entanglements, yet it is now apparently rushing to launch an investigation of the key government official for warning against the risks caused by President-elect Donald Trump's current plans.”

Other Democrats see a coordinated effort by Republicans to undermine the OGE ethics reviews of Trump cabinet nominees to ensure they will avoid conflicts of interests. The question is why are the Republicans holding that view?

This from House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who said: “Instead of honoring his committee's responsibility to hold the administration accountable, Chairman Chaffetz has appointed himself President-elect Trump's chief strongman and enforcer.”
Here is the background on the Office of Government Ethics (OGE):
It is an independent agency within the executive branch of the Federal Government which is responsible for directing executive branch policies relating to the prevention of conflicts of interest on the part of Federal executive branch officers and employees. OGE primary duties include the following:
·         Establishing the executive branch standards of conduct;
·         Issuing rules and regulations interpreting the criminal conflict of interest restrictions;
·         Establishing the framework for the public and confidential financial disclosure systems for executive branch employees;
·         Developing training and education programs for use by executive branch ethics officials and employees;
·         Ensuring that individual agency ethics programs are functioning properly by setting the requirements for them, supporting them, and reviewing them.
The Director of OGE is appointed by the President after confirmation by the Senate and serves a five-year term, thereby overlapping presidential terms, and is not subject to term limits. Other OGE employees are career civil servants. The office was created by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. The OGE was separated from OPM in 1989 pursuant to reform legislation. 
So, this brings me back to Rep. Jason “A-hole” Chaffetz (R-UT) – I say A-hole and because that is based on my opinion and close scrutiny of his past performance and remarks and focus while sitting as the Chairman of the all GOP-run House Oversight Committee… see it you agree. Where we are now with Chaffetz and obvious partisan pursuit for oversight of the non-partisan, independent ethics oversight office – now pathetic and ironic is that? But, as I said, SOP for the GOP. 
As for me, I see the ethics office as key and necessary and yes, Mr. Shaub has a duty to enforce the rules and law and also I say yes, he should tell the public about “What our government employees, appointed or elected are up to that is unethical since they all work for us: “We the People” isn’t that what GOPer profess in every speech and Talk Show sound bite?

BTW: Mr. Trump can replace Mr. Shaub and appoint a new head of the OGE, which I suspect he will and probably, based on the current attitude in DC, probably consider and pick a Jack Abramoff or Tom DeLay sort of person. What do you think? They fit that mold, don’t they? After all, the GOP motto seems to be as the graphic above says: “We don’t need no stinkin Ethics or Ethical oversight, either.”

Continue the story at the AP link above or here.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this pathetic story with me. Stay tuned.

No comments: