How do impeachment proceedings play out in the House?
Constitution gives House sole responsibility to impeach; Mark Meredith reports.
Congressional Democrats are rushing headlong into impeachment proceedings. They are doing so without solid evidence that President Trump engaged in anything remotely close to "high crimes and misdemeanors." Here's why they can’t help themselves.
First, the Democratic Party today is not the Democratic Party of years past. Today’s Democratic Party is the party of government and "social justice."
They favor the expansion of government, dramatically so, even though government already accounts for 38 percent of the total U.S. economy. They favor the expansion of regulation, even though the costs of existing regulations exceed another 12 percent of the economy.
NEWT GINGRICH: DON'T CALL IT IMPEACHMENT — CALL IT A WITCH HUNT
Democrats today see government as an employer, the provider of pensions and the purveyor of justice through the courts. Democrats feel their party MUST select the next Supreme Court justice, or they will lose the courts for years to come – as well as their ability to mete out social justice.
As such, having the White House and Senate in Republican hands is more unacceptable to them now than at any time since before the Civil War.
With that intensity in mind, it’s time to rethink the attack on President Trump. Democrats want the presidency. Trump is in their way.
Sure, Trump fights back in ways that gall them (and the establishment). On the other hand, the left demonized kinder, gentler men as well, including Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
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It’s time to realize that this isn’t really about Trump’s personality or tactics. They want the presidency, and they will attack future Republican nominees and presidents as well. Don’t be surprised. The imposition of socialism has been always been an ugly fight.
Secondly, Democrats have resorted to impeachment because the Democratic Party cannot satisfy its base with just the House. You cannot control government with just the House. The presidency is a must.
Third, it is a mistake to think the Democrats are unified or that impeachment was a consensus move among them. Several sets of hands are on the Democratic Party's driving wheel. One belongs to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who wants to defend 31 freshmen House Democrats in districts that Trump won.
The second set belongs to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and her "Squad." They want to defeat moderate Democrats in Congress — thereby jeopardizing House control.
The 2020 presidential candidates are also grabbing the wheel. They're demanding "Medicare-for-all," impeachment and massive spending increases.
There's also the impeachment crowd. Beyond Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., there are also longtime Democratic Party backers such as Tom Steyer (who is now also a presidential candidate) and George Soros, who have been stoking the flames of impeachment with millions of dollars in contributions.
In the competition between them, the Democratic Party has moved further to the left, making impeachment all but inevitable.
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The last piece to the puzzle of how the Democrats arrived at this moment, is the cold, hard truth the Democrats are facing. They know the inspector general report on surveillance abuses will be ugly for them. They are waiting for Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham to unload on issues such as crimes committed by Democrats in the 2016 election and with respect to the Ukraine.
They know that President Trump could declassify information on issues ranging from surveillance abuses to the Obama administration's policymaking related to Uranium One and Iran.
What's the Democratic Party to do under these circumstances?
The answer is now plain to see.
They have moved out in front of the pending release of information. They are taking the fight to President Trump. They want to dirty Trump in every way possible. Then, when Durham, Barr and Trump drop their truths — Democrats will claim that it is simple retaliation by a president who has done things wrong all along.
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In short, Democrats want to control the narrative, and they want Republicans on the defensive.
It is, of course, a high-stakes gamble, given the paucity of facts on the Democrats side. But with so much at stake, the Supreme Court on the line, and the White House in its sights, the Democratic Party thinks it’s worth the risk – America be damned.