Guest Post by Kurt Schlichter
Congressional hearings were created to educate lawmakers so they have knowledge before they pass bills or impeach a president.
Not today. Today, hardly any education happens.
During the President Trump impeachment “testimony,” legislators tried to score points. At least five times, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., shut down criticism by shouting, “Gentleman is not recognized!”
I get that politicians are eager for “face time” in front of a larger audience, but I assumed they would at least try to learn things. Nope.
Maybe they don’t want to ask real questions because they fear looking as dumb as then-Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, did at a hearing on Facebook. He asked Mark Zuckerberg, “How do you sustain a business model in which users don’t pay for your service?”
“We run ads,” smirked Zuckerberg. “I see,” said Hatch.
What’s obvious to most people somehow eludes the oblivious “experts” in Congress.
At another Facebook hearing, Congress grilled Zuckerberg about his plan to launch an electronic currency called Libra. Zuckerberg said, “I actually don’t know if Libra is going to work, but I believe it’s important to try new things.”
He was right. But instead of asking about technological or economic implications of the idea, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, asked Zuckerberg, of the companies partnering with him, “how many are headed by women?”
“Congressman, I do not know the answer,” replied Zuckerberg.
“How many of them are minorities?” asked Green. “Are there any members of the LGBTQ+ community?”
Green doesn’t want to learn anything. He wants to sneer and score points.
Politicians’ sloppy ignorance is extraordinary. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, grilled Google CEO Sundar Pichai about iPhones, citing a story about his granddaughter using one, leading Pichai to explain, “Congressman, iPhone is made by a different company.”
Today’s posturing is not what the founders had in mind when they invented hearings in 1789.
George Mason said members of Congress “possess inquisitorial powers” to “inspect the Conduct of public offices.”
Yes! Investigate government.
But today, they are more likely to threaten CEOs and bully opponents.
“Are you stupid?” then-Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said to one witness. They want to showboat, not learn. Often, they ask questions even when they know the answers.
“Ms. DeVos, have you ever taken out a student loan?” asked Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “Have any of your children had to borrow money?”
Warren knows that DeVos is a billionaire, but she wanted to score points with her fans.
One of the louder showboaters today is self-proclaimed socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. She asked Wells Fargo boss Tim Sloan, “Why was the bank involved in the caging of children?”
“We weren’t,” replied Sloan.
Some of today’s hearings are useful in that we get to see how absurd and ignorant our representatives can be.
During a hearing on military personnel being stationed on the island of Guam, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Georgia, said, “My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it would tip over and capsize.” Really. He said that.
Then there was the time Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., chair of the House Financial Services Committee, summoned bank CEOs to Washington and demanded, “What are you guys doing to help us with this student loan debt?!”
“We stopped making student loans in 2007,” Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan told her.
“We actually ended student lending in 2009,” added Citigroup’s Michael Corbat.
“When the government took over student lending in 2010 … we stopped doing all student lending,” explained Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase.
The Chair of the Financial Services Committee didn’t even know that her own party kicked bankers out of the student loan business, insisting that government take over?! Apparently not. She is so eager to blame business for government’s mistakes that she didn’t research her own topic.
The more I watch politicians, the more I hate them.
Let’s give them less power.
John Stossel is author of “No They Can’t! Why Government Fails — But Individuals Succeed.” For other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.
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Government is TOO DAMN BIG! Chip
We need a Constitutional Convention.
I used to think that, but any Article V convention of the states would have representatives appointed by the state legislatures. This would have politicians proposing changes to the Constitution to reign in the power of other politicians.
Unfortunately, as a country, we are screwed. whether it be by Balkanization (which the left will never allow), C W 2 or more likely by the slow transition to socialism/communism, it is coming. Trump was a speed bump in the road to socialism/communism and his time will be limited until the left gains control again and hits the accelerator. Look what they have done to CA and NY and are proposing in VA.
Boomers are the last generation that knew a relatively free America and we are getting older and dying off at a rapid rate. When we are gone, there will be very few who give a damn about liberty and the United States will be tossed into the scrap heap of history. It has been a good run, but our time is over.
I don’t think we’re done yet. We just need a reboot. But so long as people keep tilting at windmills in an attempt to fix a completely FUBARed system, it becomes less and less probable. Alinskyites don’t care about a rule of law; they embrace a rule of force. The longer Conservatives – and Boomers are notorious for this – play by a different set of “rules” (rule of law), the worse it will be. Boomers right now are our best friends and our worst enemies because it’ll take mass starvation before they get on board with a true John Galt lifestyle.
So…we wait, and we pray to the Lord for both redemption and deliverance.
I think we are due for a Fourth Turning event and we will have to see what comes after. At our age, I do not know how long we will survive a SHTF event, my wife especially. Like Stucky, I do not know how long I want to last after she is gone.
I think it is FUBAR but there is always HOPE. I believe that if we all were to bow our heads and pray the fervent prayer that changes desperation into a glimmer of hope, Bill S., a difference might be made, somehow by someone with God’s Grace.
1/2 of Congress is batshit crazy, the other 1/2, communist.
Start a drumbeat
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
And who in hell would you trust to do a convention. Names please.
It would be a whole new type of convention, I think. It would have to be a digital gathering where true representation could actually be achieved. I’m thinking outside the box.
When I say Constitutional Convention, I am NOT talking about a Conventional one.
no way mags,we would get railroaded–
the constitution we have is fine if our people had the guts & integrity to enforce it–
Under “Things I’d like to see”…
Just once, some witness who has nothing to lose,
when being grilled and raked over the coals
by the esteemed idiot from a Progtard district
needs to respond by saying something to the effect of:
“Senator, with no respect whatsoever deserved,
your question is one of the most arrogant, self serving queries
to ever be uttered before the cameras of our nation’s
presstitute whores in the mainstream media, in an inefficient attempt
to portray intelligence and consideration before this committee.
What is ya? Ignorant?”
Would truly be a mic drop moment in time.
Corey Lewandowski flirted with the idea,
during his last testimony.
It was wonderful to behold.
If Quinny, EC, Llpoh, Stucky, or RiNS ever get called into committee,
Hoo, boy, I’d book me a flight to D.C. to try and attend,
live and in person.
…. and those are the celebrate results of the public (and maybe even some private) education system in the USA.
Congress is the only job where congenital idiots thrive…
You are wrong. They thrive in government at all levels and in the bureaucracies they create. You should see some of the city council meetings in Memphrica.
Politics/government is the only job where congenital idiots thrive….