Conyers Exits…Stage Left

Conyers got away with this for a long, long, time…

Now it has caught up with him.

As for Congress…Conyers biting the dust is only the beginning.

Rep. John Conyers Jr., who faces allegations of sexual harassment, says he is retiring today, endorses son as his replacement

An attorney for Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) cast doubt Tuesday morning on reports the congressman won’t seek reelection following a slew of sexual harassment allegations.

Arnold Reed, a Detroit-area attorney, suggested on Twitter that a younger Conyers relative was not aware of his great-uncle’s plans when he told reporters he planned to run for his Michigan congressional seat next year.

The younger relative, Ian Conyers, told the Times his great-uncle would not seek reelection due to health concerns.

“The congressman will make his decision this morning consistent with my previous statements,” Reed tweeted. “I’m not responding to rumor and innuendo regarding Ian Conyers. I have not spoken to Ian Conyers and no one is aware of the congressman’s plans except he and I and his wife.”

Conyers, the longest-serving member of Congress, has been under pressure from Democratic leaders to resign since several former staffers alleged he made inappropriate advances toward them over the past two decades. He has denied wrongdoing.

The New York Times first reported Tuesday that Ian Conyers, the grandson of Conyers’s brother, plans to run for the seat.

“He is not resigning. He is going to retire,” the younger Conyers told the paper. “His doctor advised him that the rigor of another campaign would be too much for him just in terms of his health.”

Messages left with the younger Conyers were not immediately returned Tuesday morning.

The elder Conyers is expected to announce his plans at 10 a.m. Tuesday on a Detroit-area radio program.

 

Obama To Live in DC Area After Term is Over

Well…At least he won’t have any problem finding a home, and he possibly will be the first former President since George Washington to actually live in the area.

Daughter Will Keep the Obamas in Washington

After years of speculation, President Obama confirmed on Thursday that he and his wife, Michelle, intend to remain in Washington for “a couple of years” after his term ends.

It has been decades since a president stayed in the capital after leaving office. But Mr. Obama said during a visit here that “we’re going to have to stay” in Washington until his younger daughter, Sasha, finishes school.

“Transferring someone in the middle of high school — tough,” the president said in response to a question from a woman at a restaurant here.

Sasha is on track to graduate from the exclusive Sidwell Friends School in the spring of 2019. Mr. Obama said he was unsure where the family would move after that.

 

Supreme Court Throwdown May Be a Bust

Lines drawn in Supreme Court succession

WASHINGTON — As President Obama considers a second choice for the Supreme Court, Republican senators are urging him to pick a “mainstream” nominee to avoid a polarizing political battle ahead of the midterm congressional elections.

“If we have a nominee that evidences a philosophy of judges know best … we’re going to have a big fight,” Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Sunday. His panel will review Obama’s choice to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Stevens, the leader of the court’s liberal wing, has announced plans to step down this summer.

Sessions and other GOP senators did not rule out a rare filibuster to block a nominee they oppose. However, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the chamber’s No. 2 GOP leader and a member of the judiciary panel, signaled that it was unlikely. Kyl said the procedural maneuver should be used only in an “extraordinary circumstance.” Kyl spoke on ABC’s This Week, while Sessions was interviewed on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Senate records show only one filibuster of a high court nominee: in 1968, to block Lyndon Johnson‘s elevation of Justice Abe Fortas to chief justice.

Republicans have 41 Senate seats, just enough for them to block a confirmation vote.

Democrats predicted an easy road. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, said a new justice probably would be installed before the court’s term in October.

Short of President Obama selecting a Minority or black person for the Court – this should be no serious fight. At this point, the selection of a new Judge does not change the 5-4 majority. Going to the wall on this, as Republicans did with Sotomayor, could well have severe repercussions come November if the public sees Republican intransigence as extremist.

I doubt President Obama would make this nomination, but one of the more interesting choices could be Hillary Clinton.

 

Career in Government? It Pays More…

A recent survey by USA Today shows that in a number of occupations which exist both in the Government and commercial world – “the Government pays better”. That is not actually always true – but it makes good press.

Might be a real good idea for those aspiring college graduates to get a resume into the Government to pursue a career as a G-man or G-woman.

The key to this though, isn’t that the Federal Government pay scale has gone whacky. There are two factors contributing to the differential.

First is the age of the average Federal Government worker.

In the United States, for example, 60 percent of the federal civil service is older than 45 years – nearly double the 31 percent in the private sector. Furthermore, only 3 percent of the federal workforce is less than 25 years old.

In the Federal Government’s pay system, additional pay is given for each year of seniority in a position. So, a person who is new to a job makes less than someone with 10 years experience at the same job. The impact of an older workforce is to artificially push up the average salaries.

Second, is how commercial corporations have reduced their payroll by eliminating older workers – pushing down the average age of the workforce, while lowering expense due to salaries. This sort of age discrimination is fairly rampant – and has resulted in a massive real income loss for the average American Family. Where it gets truly ugly is the fact that this strategy has forced perhaps as many as 5 million older American workers into unemployment, or under-employment in what should have been their prime earning years – socking away a large portion of their retirement funds. In combination with the massive losses Wall Street has inflicted on pension and retirement plans – this means that the cost of this generation nearing retirement has been pushed off onto the Government, as massive numbers of people will be dependent on Social Security as their only income.

Ergo – the “shinola” is about to hit the fan.