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Representative Baldwin Joins Impeachment Call
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, wants to see the House impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. She also wants to investigate whether similar action should be taken against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
And she is not alone on either front.
The fifth-term congresswoman from south-central Wisconsin formally signed on this morning as a co-sponsor of House Resolution 333, the proposal by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, to begin impeachment proceedings against the vice president. Baldwin is the 16th member of the House to agree to co-sponsor the resolution, and she is the fourth member of the House Judiciary Committee to do so.
Baldwin also signed on to a resolution sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., calling on the Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Gonzales should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. She is the 20th co-sponsor of that measure.
Despite the rising levels of support for both resolutions in recent weeks, impeachment is not just around the corner. The House has 435 members, half of whom would have to vote for impeachment in order to formally sanction the vice president. Even to get to a point where a full House vote might be a live prospect, the Judiciary Committee would have to take up the matter.
The committee has 40 members, and its chairman, U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., has been resistant to bringing up impeachment since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., declared last year that impeachment would be "off the table" in the new Congress.
In recent weeks, however, impeachment has moved back on to the table.
Kucinich introduced his articles of impeachment against Cheney in late April, saying at the time that he was doing so because "the vice president actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and Congress about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. He has purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive us about the relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida. And he openly lied to the American people and has publicly threatened aggression against Iran."
Initially, only a handful of members agreed to co-sponsor the measure. But as frustration with the Bush-Cheney administration has grown, so too have the numbers of those determining that some action must be taken to hold the administration to account.
House members have expressed a number of reasons for backing impeachment of Cheney, including anger over allegations that the vice president took the lead in manipulating intelligence regarding Iraq, promoted illegal spying on Americans and defended the use of torture. Cheney's recent attempt to avoid scrutiny by claiming that the office of the vice president was not part of the executive branch added fuel to the fire. And then there was President Bush's decision to commute the 30-month prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff and co-conspirator in moves to punish former Ambassador Joe Wilson for exposing the deceptions that led to war.
Baldwin made no secret of her frustration with Bush and Cheney when she referred to the commuting of Libby's sentence as "a perversion of justice."
"The president told the American public that he would hold anyone in his administration involved in the Valerie Plame leak case accountable and now he is doing just the opposite. Time and again, this president's utter disregard for the rule of law proves him unworthy of the people's trust and the office he holds," said Baldwin, who is an attorney. "This decision is a shameful display of the cronyism and corruption that are disgraceful hallmarks of this Bush administration."
Last week, when she voted with a majority of the House Judiciary Committee to issue contempt citations for former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, following their refusal to comply with subpoenas issued in the U.S. attorney investigation, Baldwin declared: "It is the duty of the Congress - a co-equal branch of government - to serve as an effective check on possible abuses by the executive branch."
House Resolution 333 focuses on a number of these issues and an additional concern of Kucinich and Baldwin: the vice president's frequent suggestions that the U.S. might attack Iran.
"This House cannot avoid its constitutionally authorized responsibility to restrain the abuse of executive power," says Kucinich, who with Baldwin and the other co-sponsors of the impeachment resolution have been consistent foes of the war in Iraq.
The notion that Congress needs to restrain executive power appears to be gaining popularity.
According to recent polling by the American Research Group, 54 percent of Americans want Cheney impeached. Among Democrats, that number rises to 76 percent. A majority of self-described independents back action to hold the vice president to account, as do 17 percent of Republicans.
Local activists rallied on July 4 to call on Baldwin to support impeachment of Cheney, and have delivered petitions bearing thousands of signatures supporting the initiative to her office.
Baldwin is the first member of the Wisconsin congressional delegation to sign on as a co-sponsor of the resolutions to impeach Cheney and Gonzales. But others are feeling the heat. Impeachment activists have targeted Democratic and Republican House members with petitions, office visits and protests.
Today, in Washington, Kucinich accepted petitions bearing the names of more than 100,000 Americans calling on Congress to open impeachment hearings with regard to the vice president. John Nichols' new book is The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism. Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson hails it as a "nervy, acerbic, passionately argued history-cum-polemic [that] combines a rich examination of the parliamentary roots and past use of the 'heroic medicine' that is impeachment with a call for Democratic leaders to 'reclaim and reuse the most vital tool handed to us by the founders for the defense of our most basic liberties.'"
Copyright © 2007 The Capital Times
20 Comments so far
Show AllImpeachment off the table? No, No, No! Move Pelosi off the table! People of San Francisco: please curb your dog.
I just got plane tickets for my family to the September 15th March on Washington, flying from California (under $300/ea round trip). My letters about impeachment to my reps have fallen on deaf ears. But I'm not giving up. Care to join us? If we don't impeach, the murderers go free, and collect a retirement at OUR expense. I will not be complicit. As Maxine Waters said in a recent LA Times story about impeachment, "if the numbers are there, Congress will listen." Come be part of the "numbers".
http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_homepage
It's time to put more pressure on fence-sitting Democrats. For months, when I get a fundraising call from the DNC or DLC or my state Democratic party, I politely say the following "When impeachment is seriously back on the table, my wallet will be open" and then I hang up. We need to hit them where they will listen. If everyone - especially the big donors - took this position, they would have to listen to the calls for impeachment. No money, no campaign! Carry on!
Daniel Cook - Huffman:
You are right on target. I have returned every mailing from the Democrats asking me for money. I have written on the request forms - "No money from me until impeachment is back on the table." I notice that I am receiving very few mailings from them these days. Guess they just don't want to hear it.
Daniel, thanks for the suggestion, I think I will do the same. I can't stand it anymore, we have to do it.
The best reasons I can see for impeachment is what appears to be the next round of attacks that are part of the systematic takeover of the US government.
Prisons being built in case of an "insurrection"
Systematic spying on all Americans
Bills that postpone elections in case of a terrorist attack
A secret government being run by one man, and it ain't the president
The planned forthcoming attack on Iran..
It's now or never, folks..
Thank you Representative Baldwin.
When over 95% of all bribes to both parties come from the oligarchy's banks and corporations, I doubt Daniel's suggestion will have much of an effect. It's a worthy effort though.
The best way to end Big Money corruption is for the people to take our government back and become the lawmakers via the referendum as in Mike Gravel's National Initiative.
TomasDolor - I concur.
The patriot act was over 300 pages in length that magically appeared a short time after 9/11 and passed through congress in a matter of days. 9/11 was the initial shock and awe that opened the door to what we now face in terms of an attack on our basic rights. If you think that this was not premeditated then think again.
The secret (shadow) government went into effect after the 9/11 attack. This was reported in the mainstream media and is not based on conspiracy.
I do not know what is going on in our government, but there are ominous signs that our democracy is under siege. We need to what we can to prevent this. I do not think that our government is powerful enough to stop 300 million people united in restoring the republic.
Forcing the House of Reps to begin the impeachment of Cheney would be the first step. Bush would be left without a brain again, eventually he will fold.
Go Tammy! Right thinking is good. Insist, please, that the rest of the decent people in Washington bring their influence to bear in cleaning up the lice that are at the head of our government
Laila Selk & Daniel Cook-Huffman:
Way to go, people! Evidence again that there are plenty of folks running loose that actually know how to *do* things, rather than just complaining.
I would really like to join that Sept 15th march on Congress against Cheney and Bush. I want to get my smiling mug onto some security service's database. It's my patriotic duty to be counted among the brains-not-turned-to-mush-yet list of Americans. And I'm gonna be carrying my great big American Flag.
"Kucinich introduced his articles of impeachment against Cheney in late April, saying at the time that he was doing so because "the vice president actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and Congress about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. He has purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive us about the relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida. And he openly lied to the American people and has publicly threatened aggression against Iran.""
THANK YOU CONGRESSMAN KUCINICH....AND THANKS TO ALL THE OTHER CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES WHO SIGNED ON TO H.R. 333.
If the Democrats back down from impeaching these criminals, they can plan on losing a lot of votes from the people who realize that this country is turning into a dictatorship.
Howdy Doody will get my vote!
Many still blame Nancy Pelosi for holding up The impeachment of Cheney.
Two points. First, the fact is, HR Bill-333 is stalled on the desk of Congressman Conyer's. It is Conyers ONLY who is not allowing the bill to be placed on the house floor for a vote. Certainly if Pelosi asked him to act, he probably would, but it is not necessay for him to have the word of Pelosi now.
The other point is, Conyers is violating the Constitution and breaking the law, by refusing to act on the bill. That is an un-arguable fact.
Therefore, no matter how much any dislike it, there is not much any can do, except complain. Complaining and petetions are not working so far, and it's been a long time that Conyers has refused to budge. Cindy Sheehan spoke with Conyers and was arrested for protesting his in-action and his violation of the law. Why no one has challenged Conyers on this is beyond me.
Conyers is certainly looking like a sellout weasel these days, especially with the rhetoric he was spewing forth about impeachment previously. But Conyers inaction does not excuse Pelosi's public pronouncement that impeachment is off the table. This pronouncement is undoubtedly at least part of Conyers motivation toward weaseldom.
If only my phone calls and letters to my congressman would start to have an effect.
Unfortunately I can not threaten to stop giving money to the democratic party. I have not been able to support them in good conscience for years now.
Mr. Conyers,
I require you to do your sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. You have no choice in the matter; you must obey the wishes of the People.
You see how the democrats treat their constituents. It's time to abandon them and join a more progressive party.
But, Tammy why did you endorse Clinton?
That's just swapping our insiders for theirs.
Pathetic.
And Hillary is against impeachment and single payer, so what policy of her's do you have in common?
too many of the "left" in congress are just as deluded as the right in forgetting that we are citizens, not subjects.
I remember when the Clinton scandal was going on. He got impeached. There was no hemming and hawing on the side of the Republicons. It was Impeach! Now! And they did. The Republican party has become the most murderous organization on the planet. They have no qualms about impeachment for those they dislike. It's just, bam, impeach. No debate. Nothing. Just do it. It's this Republican mentality (bolstered by a silent yet implicit threat of murder against all adversaries) that is destroying our country. Jesus' party has no conscience and is now just a platform for the meeting of the criminally insane. I think it is time to do to these monsters what they do to their adversaries. No mercy. Impeach the lot and then abolish the treasonous Republican party.