The 118th Congress and The Special Counsel 2.0

Episode 342 Show Notes- The 118th Congress and The Special Counsel 2.0

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Episode Description

As Republicans gain the majority in the 118^th Congress, Professor Giordano breaks down the Republican agenda, both legislative and investigatory. As the Republicans do take over the leadership reigns in the House, do Democrats have a false sense of security given the better-than-expected midterm results? Also, on Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a new Special Counsel to investigate former President Trump as the former President announced his 2024 candidacy. What does it all mean? Listen, and find out.

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Show Notes- The 118th Congress and The Special Counsel 2.0

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Intro

Welcome to The P.A.S. Report Podcast.

What’s up everyone and Happy Thanksgiving. Now that Republicans are all set to take the majority in the House of Representatives on January 3rd, it’s important to examine what the 118th Congress will look like. What are the legislative priorities? What will the investigations focus on? How should Republicans proceed?

All these are important questions that I want to tackle in this episode, and I have advice for the new Republican House in the 118th Congress, and they better listen up if they want to position themselves for 2024 because I already see the Republicans falling into the same traps that they had in the past. At this point, there is no room for error given the stakes, and they need to smarten up.

And while Republicans have to play it smart in the 118th Congress, the Democrats seem to have been lulled into a false sense of security because of the better-than-expected midterm results. They have shown no signs or willingness to reverse course with their failed policy agenda. So, it appears that both parties have their issues.

I also want to talk about the former President. The President announced his 2024 candidacy, and I’ll break it down. But I also want to focus on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcement that he appointed a new Special Counsel to investigate the former President.

What is this, the thousandth investigation into the former President? Will this Special Counsel be similar to that of the corrupt Mueller Special Counsel that investigated Russiagate only to announce they had nothing? Is this Special Counsel 2.0, and where will it go?

I’ll focus on it all, and I will keep this episode shorter than normal because I’m sure many of you would rather be prepping for Thanksgiving than listening to me.

Before I jump in be sure to subscribe to the podcast, and if you find the show informative, share it with your family and friends. Also, I want to hear what you think. Write a review on Apple podcast or drop me an email at podcast@pasreport.com.

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The 118th Congress

So, the legislative picture appears set. Democrats retain the Senate with a plus one majority pending the outcome of the Georgia runoff race. Even if Senator Warnock loses, Democrats will still retain the majority because it will be 50/50 with the Vice President casting the tiebreaking vote.

The Republicans have a slim majority in the House, so they will be the majority party, and will get to set the House agenda.

We have a divided government and at least that should be enough to put the breaks on the failed agenda currently being implemented.

However, I am concerned regarding the Republican agenda. It appears that Republicans learn nothing and continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.

What is the Republican House Agenda?
Last week, Republicans came out and announced that they will be conducting several investigations into the president and his administration.

But rather than announce the investigations, the Republicans should have announced their legislative priorities. Now I said that online and got some pushback. Some said they can do two things at once. Other Republicans said that since the Senate won’t even consider Republican legislation, there is no point in wasting time and effort pushing a legislative agenda. Others said too bad. That this is payback for how Democrats abused their powers with endless investigations and two impeachments into the former President, and that Republicans should do whatever it takes to do the same to President Biden and the democrats.

I understand the feelings and the animosity. We live in an emotionally and politically charged environment, but if the midterms have shown us anything, it’s that you cannot win an election by simply pointing to the other side and saying they’re bad. That only works for Democrats.

Republicans have to show that they have plans to solve the problems ordinary Americans are facing. hear me out.

Why Should Have Republicans Announced a Legislative Agenda First?
Before announcing the investigations that will be taking place, Republicans should have explained what their legislative priorities are. This is not to say the investigations aren’t important, and I’ll explain their importance of them in a minute. Announcing these investigations is red meat to the base, but it does nothing to win over new voters.

Understand, that the majority of people out there aren’t political animals, so, it’s not like they will be following the investigations. Also, it’s not like the mainstream media outlets will cover these investigations. They will simply downplay and ignore them.

You have others who are tired of endless investigations, especially when the investigations don’t lead to reforms or changes.

The fact is that equal justice is essential in the system, but the midterms showed us, people want solutions to the problems, and that’s why Republicans should have introduced the legislative agenda first.

They should explain how they intend to introduce legislation that will open up our oil/gas wells and allow companies to produce more oil and gas, bringing more supplies on the market to lower the price at the pump, build the pipelines, and make America an energy exporter again. Some will push back and say that would never even be considered in the Senate, and even if it is considered in the Senate, the Democrats would vote it down or President Biden would veto it, so what’s the point?

The point is to get Democrats to vote against this type of bill and get them on record. For the Democrats that vote against this bill, you already have your first campaign ad of the 2024 election season that can be used in all the districts, the senate races, and the presidential race.

Democrats will have to defend 23 Senate seats in the 2024 election. Many of these Senate seats will be in competitive races, and several taking place in red states. States where the constituencies want to see lower energy costs.

This bill would also be aimed at helping to reign in inflation to some degree, and that’s why announcing the legislative agenda is critically important.

Another piece of legislation they should immediately introduce to also help with inflation is the reigning in of government spending. Republicans should put forward legislation that reduces government spending and puts the United States on track toward some semblance of fiscal responsibility. Over the last 20 years, Republicans preached about fiscal responsibility, but when they had the power, they increased spending just as much as Democrats.

This is what has led to Republicans losing an enormous amount of trust, not only by their ordinary constituencies- Republicans and Conservatives but also Independents. There is nothing more that turns voters off than when the party constantly preaches one thing and then does the exact opposite once they get into power.

One of my listeners brought up a great point when it comes to independents. He explained how independent voters like himself are losing faith in the electoral process where they believe it doesn’t matter who they vote for. Independents, by their nature, view the parties as exploring who is the lesser of two evils.

Quoting directly, “Independent voters are tired of being neglected, disrespected, and trivialized by the GOP.”

One of the biggest problems is how Republicans claim to be the party of small, limited government, yet they continually increase the size and scope of the government apparatus. Just look at former President Bush who saw the largest expansion of government in our history. How’s that working out for everyone?

It’s why we need to go back to the core principles, and actually govern from that perspective. House Republicans would be wise to commission studies on inefficient and ineffective government programs and begin to dismantle these programs. They should also study the potential benefits and drawbacks of cutting or eliminating some of the cabinet-level departments and agencies within the federal apparatus.

Another thing House Republicans should push is a Constitutional Amendment implementing term limits for members in the House and Senate. This should actually be a cornerstone issue for the GOP and should be adopted into the party platform. Nothing says reducing the power of government like implementing a new check.

Now, I am not naïve enough to think this would happen, but the point is to get every member on record. A lot of times, a bill won’t go to the floor unless the Speaker thinks it has a chance of passing, which is dumb. Let this go to the floor, let it be debated, and let it be voted on.

When it comes to ordinary Americans, the one thing that most registered democrats and republicans can agree on is term limits. The overwhelming majority of the American people would support this regardless of which political party they may subscribe to.

They need to put forward an immigration bill that backs Democrats into a corner and offers a real solution to secure our border and one that solves illegal immigration and overhauls the legal immigration process to make it more streamlined and easier for those who will add real value to society.

Legislation like this is important. First, it shows Republicans are serious about governing. That they have plans designed to alleviate some of the problems we face. Secondly, it puts Democrats on record in the House as to where they stand on these issues.

Over the next several weeks, I will explain other policy solutions to the problems and what legislation could be developed, but I wanted to highlight these first so that you get the point.

One of my fears is that they repeat the repeal-and-replace mistake. For six years, Republicans campaigned on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. They won the house. They won the Senate. They won the Presidency. And when they had the power, what did we learn? We learned that over the course of the 6-year period, the Republicans didn’t have a plan. They didn’t have a piece of legislation ready to go to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something better. Sorry, but that’s unacceptable. They should have had legislation ready to go that was already sorted out. This a piece of legislation that could have sailed through because all the studies were already conducted, the experts testified, and had universal agreement from the majority of Republicans.

Instead, it was a huge failure. We cannot repeat that failure because it made the republicans look incompetent.

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What Should the Investigations Focus on in The 118th Congress?

Now, even though I said the legislative agenda should be a priority and they shouldn’t have announced the investigations, that doesn’t mean the investigations aren’t important. They certainly are.

I wouldn’t have said a thing, and then just blitz them with subpoenas on January 3rd to preserve all documents, and electronic files, and have them immediately turned over to the House. Once those subpoenas were issued, I would issue a second round of subpoenas calling on individuals to provide public testimony.

There are a number of investigations that need to be conducted, but the top investigation should be focused on the FBI and how the FBI has been weaponized politically to target political opponents. To me, this is the most important investigation because you cannot have a bureaucracy as powerful as the FBI pushing an ideological agenda, and yet that is exactly what we’ve been witnessing.

Just look at how they raided anti-abortion protestors’ homes. These were people who prayed and sang hymns in front of abortion clinics, and yet the FBI raided their homes as if they were members of al-Qaeda. It was disgraceful. We all know how the FBI has lied to the FISA court and manipulated evidence in order to target a political opponent. The federal courts lambasted the FBI last year on four occasions for illegally accessing the NSA repository on Americans.

This is unacceptable and it’s clear the FBI has become a corrupt political organization. This is the most important investigation. Once the investigation is completed, Republicans need to introduce legislation stripping the FBI of certain functions and putting safeguards in place to ensure these abuses never happen again.

In the 118th Congress, I do believe that Republicans should continue the January 6th investigation. When Speaker Pelosi vetoed McCarthy’s Republican picks to sit on the J6 committee, I wonder if McCarthy will follow through and not allow Congressmen Schiff and Fang Fang Swalwell to sit on the committee. See, normally I would say it’s important for Republicans to show that they can rise above petty politics, but Schiff and Swalwell are key players in the complete weaponization of our government. They are toxic.

The focus of the committee should be on how January 6th was allowed to happen. If it was a planned event, and we had intelligence showing the potential for violence, why didn’t the FBI, the Speaker, the Capitol Police, or anyone else do anything to stop it? Why were there glaring security measures? More importantly, did any federal officials participate in what happened on January 6th and engage in criminal behavior? We need answers to make sure we don’t see another January 6th.

Obviously, the investigation everyone is looking at is the Biden family business. Now, this is where Republicans have to be really careful. In my opinion, there is clear criminality here, and you do not want to make this be viewed as some type of partisan hit job. Also, Democrats and the media are already pushing the narrative that Republicans want to investigate Hunter Biden, but the republicans have to make it clear that it’s not about Hunter. It’s about the big guy.

This investigation has to center around President Biden, and whether he sold access in return for millions of dollars. At the end of the day, Republicans’ focus should be on whether President Biden himself corrupted the offices he held and whether he is compromised.

All criminal evidence should be forwarded to the Department of Justice, even though the likelihood of the Department of Justice bringing charges is nil, it is important to put it on record, and perhaps, after 2024, maybe we will have a different Department of Justice. The truth does need to be exposed.

And I will say this to any democratic listeners out there. It has nothing to do with Biden being a Democrat. I believe that any officials within our government, where their children are going around the world raking in billions of dollars by selling access, should all be exposed and prosecuted, regardless of their political party. It should be unacceptable, and this is why Republicans should be introducing legislation that bans family members from engaging in this type of activity. Again, it may be a bill that dies in the Senate or gets vetoed, but we should be getting everyone on the record.

Will President Biden be Impeached in The 118th Congress?

And this leads to the question of whether President Biden will be impeached or not. Impeachment is a waste of time. We all know he will never be removed from office. The Democrats weaponized the impeachment process for political purposes and did enormous damage to the system.

I don’t want to see a tit-for-tat bs game where whenever we have a President and the House is controlled by an opposing party, we see impeachments. It’s not healthy for the system, for the people, and for the country. If there is criminality, they can be prosecuted when they leave office. Besides, does anyone really want President Kackles?

And while I wouldn’t move to impeach President Biden, I would call for the impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas. This is a guy who routinely testifies that the border is secure, blatantly lying to members of Congress. And if he truly believes that this is what a secure border looks like, then he has no business being the DHS Secretary. He is guilty of dereliction of duty and should be removed from office. While I do believe he deserves to be impeached, I doubt the Senate would remove him from office, but don’t be surprised that there would probably be a few crossover Senate democrats voting to remove him from office. Either way, it would send a message that accountability matters, and so I fully advocate for Secretary Mayorkas to be impeached, not for political purposes, but for lying and extreme incompetence.

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Merrick Garland Announces a Special Counsel

This now brings me to Merrick Garland’s announcement that he is appointing a Special Counsel to investigate former President Trump following Trump’s announcement that he’s all in for 2024.

As a side note, I will not get fully into the 2024 presidential race until more candidates announce, and then I will go through each candidate to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

But Garland’s announcement was not surprising. It’s like a series of never-ending investigations that never produce anything. It’s so frustrating because it’s all political. This is the most investigated person in the history of the United States. Does anyone doubt if they had strong evidence of criminal behavior that he wouldn’t already be charged, tried, and convicted?

And again, things like this don’t do anything to restore faith and heal political divisions. Instead, they see him as a threat. They despise his supporters, and they want to provoke them.

Consider the Attorney General’s statement when he announced the Special Counsel. I’ll read a snippet.

“The Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution.

Based on recent developments, including the former President’s announcement that he is a candidate for President in the next election, and the sitting President’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a Special Counsel.”

I want you to think about what he is saying. He is saying that since the former President announced his candidacy, and since the current President has announced his intention to run for reelection, it was necessary to appoint a Special Counsel.

According to Attorney General Garland, it’s necessary to show “the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters.”

Is he kidding me? Did he forget that there is currently an ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden by the feds in Delaware? Why no Special Counsel there? Is it because maybe the fix is in, and they are trying to run the clock on the statute of limitations?

You know, it’s moves like this that directly undermine the federal institutions. It’s moves like this that make people question their faith in the institutions. It’s moves like this that show they don’t care about perception, and they care more about politics than they do about objectivity, facts, and the law.

If you’re going to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate the former President, then why not appoint a Special Counsel to investigate the sitting President’s family? By his own rationale, that’s exactly what should be done, but he is nothing more than a partisan hack doing President Biden and the Democrat’s bidding.

If he had an ounce of integrity, he would have appointed two special counsels, but integrity is in short supply these days.

And mark my words, a Trump indictment is coming. It won’t come in a week or a month. The indictment will come after a whole bunch of candidates announce, and then at some point next year, they will announce an indictment in an attempt to throw the Republican primary into complete chaos.

That’s what it’s really about. Listen, if anyone breaks the law, they deserve to be prosecuted. I don’t care who they are or what political ideology they subscribe to. However, this is so blatantly partisan, and this is what they do in banana republics and third-world countries.

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Closing

But the most important thing in this episode is that you understand that politics is one part of life. Faith, family, and relationships are much more important. Remember that this Thanksgiving.

Sometimes you have to tune out all the noise and appreciate those closest to you. I hope that all of you and your families have a Happy Thanksgiving. Times seem bleak right now, but remember, we live in the greatest country the world has ever seen. We’ve been through difficult times before, but we’ve always emerged stronger. This time will be no different.

I hope you found the content of this episode informative. I appreciate all the 5-star ratings on Apple Podcasts, and if you have 30-seconds please write a good review.

I want to thank you for joining me, and I’ll be back on Monday with another great episode of The P.A.S. Report Podcast.

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