Chaffetz OUT!

[Skjellyfetti]

Chaffetz is checked out.

With less than two weeks left before his early exit from Congress, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) trashed President Trump and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a no-holds-barred interview.

Chaffetz — an ardent Obama critic who withdrew his Trump endorsement weeks before the 2016 election — said he thinks the new administration is already doing a worse job with transparency and helping congressional investigations.

“The reality is, sadly, I don't see much difference between the Trump administration and the Obama administration,” Chaffetz told the Sinclair Broadcast Group on Sunday.

“I thought there would be this, these floodgates would open up with all the documents we wanted from the Department of State, the Department of Justice, the Pentagon. In many ways, it's almost worse because we're getting nothing, and that's terribly frustrating.”

Chaffetz, who is chairman of the House Oversight Committee, placed the biggest blame on Sessions for withholding documents his panel could have used for probes.

“With all due respect, the attorney general has not changed at all,” he said.

“I find him to be worse than what I saw with (former Attorney General) Loretta Lynch in terms of releasing documents and making things available. That's my experience, and that's not what I expected.”

He claimed Sessions had held up his committee's plans to continue investigating two Obama-era matters — the “Fast and Furious” firearms deals and the IRS’ alleged unfair treatment of conservative groups.

“I mean, we have been in court trying to pry those documents out of the Department of Justice and still to this day, they will not give us those documents,” he said.

“And at the State Department, nothing. Stone-cold silence...I think if we went to the senior-most people, even the President himself, they would be pulling their hair out and they would hate to hear that. But within the bowels of the organization, they just seem to circle the wagons and think, ‘Oh we can just wait you out. We can just wait you out.’”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politic ... ?cid=bitly

[GannonFan]

I liked this part...

“And at the State Department, nothing. Stone-cold silence...I think if we went to the senior-most people, even the President himself, they would be pulling their hair out and they would hate to hear that. But within the bowels of the organization, they just seem to circle the wagons and think, ‘Oh we can just wait you out. We can just wait you out.’”

Does that mean there's a Deep State in the State Department???

[CID1990]

I liked this part...

“And at the State Department, nothing. Stone-cold silence...I think if we went to the senior-most people, even the President himself, they would be pulling their hair out and they would hate to hear that. But within the bowels of the organization, they just seem to circle the wagons and think, ‘Oh we can just wait you out. We can just wait you out.’”

Does that mean there's a Deep State in the State Department???

Well it is certainly 95% democrat, and I know more than a few people who have already proven themselves to be the kind of people who will break their oaths and agreements over politics

But I'd assign the silence to more incompetence and fear than anything else -

Nobody wants to be the DoS person who cooperated willingly with a Republican committee - they'd be a pariah

[93henfan]

Fox News bound.

[kalm]

The cost of housing has gotten so expensive that Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) thinks that a monthly subsidy of $2,500 from the Government is a good idea to help ease the burden — for members of Congress.

He told The Hill on Monday that "I really do believe Congress would be much better served if there was a housing allowance for members of Congress," given that "Washington, D.C., is one of the most expensive places in the world." He said that "a $2,500 housing allowance would be appropriate and a real help to have at least a decent quality of life in Washington."....

The cost of housing has gotten so expensive that Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) thinks that a monthly subsidy of $2,500 from the Government is a good idea to help ease the burden — for members of Congress.
$2,500 a month comes out to $30,000 a year. That would bring the annual Congressional salary, which is $174,000, to over $200,000. It would also cost taxpayers "roughly $16 million a year for all 535 members" of Congress, The Hill reports....t.

Back in 2009, Chaffetz was known for occasionally camping out in his office to save money. And, earlier this year, he provoked an outcry after saying that, under the GOP's proposed health-care plan, poorer Americans could somehow afford insurance by choosing to forgo new iPhones.....

The timing also seems less than fortuitous, given that the Republicans in Congress are trying to pass a health care reform bill that reduces Medicaid for poor and middle-class Americans. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has found that "half of the tax cuts would go to families making more than $500,000 a year," while "the super rich, those making $5 million or more, would receive an average tax cut of nearly $250,00

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/27/jason-ch ... idies.html

[Ibanez]

The cost of housing has gotten so expensive that Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) thinks that a monthly subsidy of $2,500 from the Government is a good idea to help ease the burden — for members of Congress.

He told The Hill on Monday that "I really do believe Congress would be much better served if there was a housing allowance for members of Congress," given that "Washington, D.C., is one of the most expensive places in the world." He said that "a $2,500 housing allowance would be appropriate and a real help to have at least a decent quality of life in Washington."....

The cost of housing has gotten so expensive that Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) thinks that a monthly subsidy of $2,500 from the Government is a good idea to help ease the burden — for members of Congress.
$2,500 a month comes out to $30,000 a year. That would bring the annual Congressional salary, which is $174,000, to over $200,000. It would also cost taxpayers "roughly $16 million a year for all 535 members" of Congress, The Hill reports....t.

Back in 2009, Chaffetz was known for occasionally camping out in his office to save money. And, earlier this year, he provoked an outcry after saying that, under the GOP's proposed health-care plan, poorer Americans could somehow afford insurance by choosing to forgo new iPhones.....

The timing also seems less than fortuitous, given that the Republicans in Congress are trying to pass a health care reform bill that reduces Medicaid for poor and middle-class Americans. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has found that "half of the tax cuts would go to families making more than $500,000 a year," while "the super rich, those making $5 million or more, would receive an average tax cut of nearly $250,00

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/27/jason-ch ... idies.html

You're in Congress making $174k. Get a condo. Share a house. Mark Sanford slept on a cot in his office and never once complained. WC(b) dandy.

[Grizalltheway]

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/27/jason-ch ... idies.html

You're in Congress making $174k. Get a condo. Share a house. Mark Sanford slept on a cot in his office and never once complained. WC(b) dandy.

Utah is on the coast?

[Ibanez]

You're in Congress making $174k. Get a condo. Share a house. Mark Sanford slept on a cot in his office and never once complained. WC(b) dandy.

Utah is on the coast?

West of the Mississippi.

[CID1990]

In terms of the D.C. cost of living, he's right.

FSOs doing domestic tours in DC would have better living conditions if they lived in Section 8 housing, unless they are fortunate enough to have bought a house 20 years ago or have family in the area.

DC has gotten absolutely ridiculous. The 750 sq ft high rise apartment I live in right now in Arlington VA is about $2900 per month.

If I do a domestic tour I told my wife we'd have to live out around Front Royal or Harpers Ferry and I'd have to commute 2 hours one way using the VRE or MART

[Grizalltheway]

Utah is on the coast?

West of the Mississippi.

I recall people chastising me for calling PA east coast. Or maybe it was West Virginia.

[Ibanez]

West of the Mississippi.

I recall people chastising me for calling PA east coast. Or maybe it was West Virginia.

Probably was one of those uppity Mid Atlantic posters.

[Grizalltheway]

I recall people chastising me for calling PA east coast. Or maybe it was West Virginia.

Probably was one of those uppity Mid Atlantic posters.

Probably. Fucking dweebs!

[Ibanez]

Probably was one of those uppity Mid Atlantic posters.

Probably. Fucking dweebs!

In general, I approve anything East of the Mississippi...except Florida. That's a whole different world down there.

[93henfan]

$174k is pauper pay in DC if you choose to live there.

Of course, the elephant in the room is the lobbyist money surreptitiously funneled to these crooks in various forms. Their cries don't draw much pity.

[CID1990]

My main issue with this is that if you are going to live in something more than a root cellar within 20 miles of the Hill, you need to have wealth and means that fall in the top 10-15 percent in the country.

That isn't the formula for encouraging the average Joe or Julie to run for office. Don't we complain about all the fat cats?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Skjellyfetti]

My main issue with this is that if you are going to live in something more than a root cellar within 20 miles of the Hill, you need to have wealth and means that fall in the top 10-15 percent in the country.

Depends on how "diverse" an area you can stomach.

Where do you think their staffers live? Walk around Eastern Market and similar neighborhoods and it's a lot of young people making a lot less than $147k. A short walk from the Capitol.

It's not all Kalorama.

[kalm]

My main issue with this is that if you are going to live in something more than a root cellar within 20 miles of the Hill, you need to have wealth and means that fall in the top 10-15 percent in the country.

That isn't the formula for encouraging the average Joe or Julie to run for office. Don't we complain about all the fat cats?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe if he quit buying cell phones he could afford a government job.

[GannonFan]

Maybe we should just build a mandatory dorm for Congressmen and some type of mandatory dorm/assisted living building for the Senators? That would take care of either the need to pay them more to afford a place to live and would alleviate the need for them to take excessive amounts of money from lobbyists to afford fancy digs?

[Skjellyfetti]

Would also be more convenient for the hookers and coke dealers.

[93henfan]

My main issue with this is that if you are going to live in something more than a root cellar within 20 miles of the Hill, you need to have wealth and means that fall in the top 10-15 percent in the country.

Depends on how "diverse" an area you can stomach.

Where do you think their staffers live? Walk around Eastern Market and similar neighborhoods and it's a lot of young people making a lot less than $147k. A short walk from the Capitol.

It's not all Kalorama.

Eastern Market is nice now. The old Eastern Market is the new Potomac Ave. Hell, they're even building nice condos around RFK now, and that was a kill-zone five years ago. Anything within a bike share of a Metro Station not in Anacostia or Minn Ave/Deanwood/etc is high rent now.

[GannonFan]

Would also be more convenient for the hookers and coke dealers.

Imagine the keggers they could have in those dorms. Ted Kennedy would've been a god in a place like that.