Editor:Congress is no more a voting body representing the people. Our Republic is a Representative Democracy. We must have responsible people representing our needs. Speaker Pelosi is running a dictatorship. No one Representative or small group writes proposed legislation, it comes from an elite group or staff, and from that, there is no time for debate, consultation, or compromise. 600 pages more or less must be digested within a few hours of the vote. Has anyone heard the train whistle? Fire Pelosi!! Remember November.

Human beings would believe even the most outlandish lie as long as it fell close to what they wished to be true. -Tom Clancy page 209 Chain of Command by Marc Cameron

Regards,

John Stiegelmeyer

Thus: Our Cindy Axne

From Paris with Lies: The Cindy Axne Story

October 8, 2022

Ninety percent of House Democrats have voted by proxy rather than showing up on the floor (while still getting paid). On Nov. 8, the American people will render their judgment by voting for a new Republican Congress that works or an absentee Democrat Congress that lies.

by Newt Gingrich

When I was in Des Moines, Iowa, last week, I did an event with Zach Nunn, the Republican state senator running for U.S. Congress against Democrat Incumbent Rep. Cindy Axne.

We were discussing how Axne had voted for the so-called Inflation Reduction Act - the dishonestly named bill which actually increases inflation by spending nearly $500 billion (including $80 billion to help the Internal Revenue Service hire an estimated 87,000 additional agents).

When it passed, Axne tweeted, "PASSED! I just voted YES on the #InflationReductionAct"

The trouble was, Axne didn't vote for the bill. She was in France. Somehow, Axne failed to mention that she was in Paris (likely busy drinking Champagne and eating escargot) while a colleague voted for her in Washington.

Surely a Representative being paid $174,000 a year could show up and vote. Not in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's House.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pelosi established a system of proxy voting, so members could vote without risking spreading the illness.

Like a truant student faking a doctor's note, Axne cited the COVID-19 measure when she wrote the Clerk of the U.S. House:

"I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency," she wrote in the letter - which delegated to Virginia Rep. Jennifer Wexton the authority to constitutionally represent the people of Iowa.

Now, Axne was able to get away with this scheme because Pelosi extended the proxy voting measure through November. (Likely so her spiraling members can be at home to salvage their campaigns without worrying about missing votes).

Axne didn't fool anyone for long. She showed up in multiple pictures (clearly in France) on her family members' social media accounts.

As the local NBC affiliate in Des Moines wrote:

"U.S. Representative Cindy Axne, the 3rd District Democrat from West Des Moines, said that she was on a long-planned family vacation to France in August The house originally permitted proxy voting as a COVID-19 preventative measure, so that Congress could continue to conduct its work without requiring all members to physically be present. Axne cited that provision in her request to the house clerk for a proxy vote, even though the health pandemic was not the reason that she wasn't able to be physically present for the vote that day."

How many hardworking Iowans do you think have the luxury - and arrogance - to call in sick to take a European vacation? Further, the cost of living keeps going up, along with gas prices and the crime rate - due to Democrats' policies. How many Iowans do you think want to pay Axne to go on vacation, while she asks someone else to vote to make those prices keep going up?

Axne's dishonesty brought a rebuke from the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, an independent ethics group.:

"This is a clear case where Rep. Axne blatantly made a false statement to the House Clerk, and by extension to the American people, said FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold.

"There is no ambiguity here-she admitted it on television after she was caught," Arnold added. "Obviously, this willful abuse of the proxy system is very troubling and yet another example of politicians not even being able to follow the simple rules they themselves put forth."

Both the 2022 House Republican Commitment to America and the 1994 Contract with America call for abolishing proxy voting. (Although in 1994, we were worried about proxy voting in committees. It would have been unthinkable to consider proxy voting on the floor at that time).

As the Commitment to America puts it:

"Democrats have sought to undermine the constitutional principle of one-person, one-vote by rejecting common sense changes that majorities of Americans support. In the House, Democrats created a 'voting-by-proxy' system that allows Members of Congress to get paid without ever needing to show up for work."

The Commitment notes that 90 percent of House Democrats have voted by proxy rather than showing up on the floor (while still getting paid). It also commits to end proxy voting in Congress.

Cindy Axne's Parisian vacation is a good example of why representatives should be required to show up and vote.

On Nov. 8, the American people will render their judgment by voting for a new Republican Congress that works or an absentee Democrat Congress that lies.

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BT October 14, 2022, 4:35 pm Good article. Thanks, John. There are a lot of us that love reading what you have to share.
NG October 14, 2022, 5:17 pm John you must be smart enough to realize why new hires are needed at the IRS. It is because their funding was cut by republicans so they could not go after the millionaire and billionaire tax cheats. The Democrats tried on a previous bill to reinstate that funding but had to compromise with republicans and take it out. The rich and big businesses are ripping us off and I guess you and Newt condone that.

This all started because republicans were thumbing their noses at everyone and refusing to even wear a mask to try to protect their fellow representatives. It is a fact that republicans care only about themselves and their power and of course the rich people. They don't give a damn about the working people. Republican representatives DO NOT care about their fellow colleagues

Immediately after the insurrection everyone came out against it, including republicans. But since then they now say things like it was just a regular tourist day. That is pretty sick. I hope you have been watching the hearings so you know what a group of evil people you are a member of.

So you are ragging on Rep. Axne because she made a false statement to the house clerk, which I agree wasn't right. But really John!!!!!! Have I ever heard you rag on trump for all the lies he told and all the crooked deals he tried to pull or for the theft of classified documents? Have you ever ragged on trump for wanting to have Vice President Pence murdered? Have you ever ragged on him about starting the insurrection? Have you ever ragged on republicans for kissing up to trump and putting party over country?

Your most profound statement was, Quote: "Human beings would believe even the most outlandish lie as long as it fell close to what they wished to be true."
Have you given any thought to how well that describes republicans and yourself? That is exactly what you do.

Norma Gould
GB October 16, 2022, 7:15 pm Norma, you must be smart enough to realize the challenges we face as a nation of not the fault of the Republicans or even the middle of the road Democrats. It is a corruption problem at the highest levels of our government! Here is a clue for you.. Trump is not the current President. That would fall on the Biden Crime Family! Call a spade a spade..
GB October 16, 2022, 7:23 pm Norma it is interesting (actually disgusting) how Biden and Obama blamed Trump for kids in cages.. yet Obama actually started that practice.. yet under the Biden administration, no less than a quarter million illegal juvenile girls have been pushed into the Sex Slave Industry with the help of the Cartel who put them into this country. Yet Biden remains silent. That would be the same thing as condoning it. Think about it.
SJW November 1, 2022, 9:13 am Marionette Miller-Meeks (among others) also voted by proxy that day. Congress was on recess in August but Mitch McConnell decided to call for a vote anyway. Axne's vacation to Paris had been planned for months. I am sure if you had asked, she or her staff would have gladly explained.