Note to Dems throughout the nation: EITHER GROW A COMPLETE SET OR SHUT UP. IT'S PAINFULLY OBVIOUS ONLY ONE OF YOUR BALLS HAS DESCENDED, AND ALL OF THIS TALK OF IMPEACHMENT AND SUCH IS ONLY TEASING US, DRIVING US NUTS.
An impeachment resolution introduced into the California Legislature by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) may be blocked from reaching the floor, RAW STORY has learned.
Democrats control both houses of the California Legislature. But leaders may be wary of losing Republican support for budget and tax measures, which require a two-thirds majority for passage under California law, one legislative insider told RAW STORY.
The measure calls on Congress to investigate potentially impeachable offenses committed by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"This is important enough, and the things that Bush is looking to do next are outrageous enough that we need to start a national dialogue on all of the outrageously unconstitutional and dangerous things that they have done," said Koretz, who represents West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and parts of Los Angeles.
Support for the measure is building within the Legislature.
In Washington, Republicans have cheered Democratic impeachment calls, saying they will only help them at the polls in November. Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman recently emailed supporters saying, "The Democrats' plan for 2006? Take the House and Senate, impeach the President. With our nation at war, is this the kind of Congress you want?"
Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) is coauthor of the California impeachment resolution. Assembly members Jackie Goldberg (D-LA), Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-LA), Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), Jerome Horton (D-Inglewood) and Rudy Bermudez (D-Norwalk) have agreed to cosponsor AJR 39, Koretz told RAW STORY.
California is one of three states to take up an impeachment resolution under Section 603 of Section LIII in Constitution, Jefferson's Manual and Rules of the House of Representatives. The provision specifies that impeachment proceedings may be set in motion by charges transmitted from a state legislature or territory. Previously, this obscure provision has only been invoked to initiate impeachment proceedings against a judge.
Vermont and Illinois are considering similar measures. If passed, AJR 39 would be transmitted by the California Secretary of State to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration in Congress.
"The Legislature here is so polarized that it's hard to even get it referred to committee," said one Sacramento insider who asked not to be named. "It's going to be an uphill battle."
Koretz gutted an existing measure and introduced the amended version of AJR 39 on April 21. If referred to the Assembly Rules or Judiciary Committee, the bill would likely have enough support to reach the floor for a full vote, an Assembly insider confirmed.
The California resolution asserts the Bush Administration has committed a raft of impeachable offenses including waging war against Iraq in violation of the United Nations Charter, misleading Congress and the people about the threat posed by Iraq, and manipulating intelligence. AJR 39 also cites as potentially impeachable offenses the federalization and deployment of National Guard members overseas, violation of the Federal Torture Act, detaining prisoners indefinitely without access to legal counsel and authorization of warrantless wiretapping.
The resolution claims that Bush and Cheney may have committed espionage, fraud and obstruction of justice related to the leaking of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson's identity and subsequently thwarting the investigation.
A complete copy of the impeachment resolution can be found here (Adobe needed...PDF format).
I really don't care if they do it now, or if they wait until after the elections later this year (as it's been rumored that many in Congress would get the ball rolling then)--just do it. No more scandals and corruption, please. At least for a few years.
Tags: [impeachment resolution], [impeach Bush], [Bush Administration], [Assemblyman Paul Koretz], [California Legislature], [AJR 39], [California Secretary of State], [House Judiciary Committee], [President George Bush], [Vice President Richard Cheney], [Section 603 of Section LIII in Constitution, Jefferson's Manual and Rules of the House of Representatives]
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