Dems Junkets on the taxpayer dime?

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

As I stated earlier, it appears from the reports that this is a minor part of the trip. And she does not set national policy on issues with Italy. So why would she need to meet with anyone?

Perhaps to meet with US commanders and forces stationed in Italy?

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional delegation today were briefed by U.S. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa, and Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples. Admiral Fitzgerald and his NATO staff provided information on NATO activities in the Balkans, the ongoing training of Iraqi Security Forces, and operations against pirates off the coast of Somalia....

http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewConte...4975420&EDATE=

Then a speech to the Italian Chamber of Deputies, focusing on shared security and economic interests with a G-7 partner:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi today addressed the Italian Chamber of Deputies as part of an official delegation visit. Pelosi was invited to speak before the Chamber by President Gianfranco Fini. Below are the Speaker’s remarks entitled, “Strong Allies for a Secure Future – U.S. / Italian Relations and Future Challenges,” as prepared:....

http://www.isria.info/en/18_February_2009_40.htm

And finally, on to Afghanistan:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Afghan President Hamid Karzai America's "new strategy" in Afghanistan will focus on reconstructing the war-battered country and maintaining strong counter-terrorism measures, his office said....

...The congressional delegation to Afghanistan met Friday with U.S. Forces at Camp Eggers in Kabul and were briefed by U.S. Ambassador William Wood, and U.S. and allied military commanders.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS...osi/index.html

I wonder how many wild and frivolous parties she attended in Afghanistan. We all know that Kabul is a vacation destination for the rich and famous these days.

In fact, the minor part of the trip were the social events (part of every diplomatic trip) that have your panties in a knot.

[TheMercenary]

Pelosi does not make policy for international relations with any country. So tell me again why she went?

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Pelosi does not make policy for international relations with any country. So tell me again why she went?

The US State Department has a report on its website to explain the role of Congressional oversight to foreign officials who might understand the US system of government.

But clearly, Merc, you need a lesson on the US system of government and the role of Congressional oversight as well.

Congressional oversight of policy implementation and administration has occurred throughout the history of the United States government under the Constitution. Oversight — the review, monitoring, and supervision of operations and activities —takes a variety of forms and utilizes various techniques...

Congressional oversight refers to the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation. Congress exercises this power largely through its standing committee system. However, oversight, which dates to the earliest days of the Republic, also occurs in a wide variety of congressional activities and contexts. These include authorization, appropriations, investigative, and legislative hearings by standing committees; specialized investigations by select committees; and reviews and studies by congressional support agencies and staff.

Congress’s oversight authority derives from its “implied” powers in the Constitution, public laws, and House and Senate rules. It is an integral part of the American system of checks and balances....

The philosophical underpinning for oversight is the Constitution’s system of checks and balances among the legislature, executive, and judiciary. James Madison, known as the “Father of the Constitution,” described the system in Federalist No. 51 as establishing “subordinate distributions of power, where the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner that each may be a check on the other.”

Oversight, as an outgrowth of this principle, ideally serves a number of overlapping objectives and purposes:
* improve the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of governmental operations;
* evaluate programs and performance;
* detect and prevent poor administration, waste, abuse, arbitrary and capricious behavior, or illegal and unconstitutional conduct;
* protect civil liberties and constitutional rights;
* inform the general public and ensure that executive policies reflect the public interest;
* gather information to develop new legislative proposals or to amend existing statutes;
* ensure administrative compliance with legislative intent; and
* prevent executive encroachment on legislative authority and prerogatives.

In sum, oversight is a way for Congress to check on, and check, the executive.

http://fpc.state.gov/59730.htm

Don't worry...there wont be test.

[TheMercenary]

Clearly you don't understand that the Speaker of the House does not set national policy with individual nations, even if it is the home of her ancestors and she goes on a junket on the taxpayers dime to be wined and dined as she drains the payroll of the government.

Don't worry, I don't actually expect you to fully comprehend this fact.

But I do expect you to try to continue to make excuses for the Demoncratic duplicity and Pelosi's failures.

[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Clearly you don't understand that the Speaker of the House does not set national policy with individual nations, even if it is the home of her ancestors and she goes on a junket on the taxpayers dime to be wined and dined as she drains the payroll of the government.

Don't worry, I don't actually expect you to fully comprehend this fact.

But I do expect you to try to continue to make excuses for the Demoncratic duplicity and Pelosi's failures.

If she has to go somewhere on business, which clearly she did, what is wrong with her having some leisure time while there? You are just trying to stir shit up. Admit it Merc. :p

[TGRR]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Clearly you don't understand that the Speaker of the House does not set national policy with individual nations, even if it is the home of her ancestors and she goes on a junket on the taxpayers dime to be wined and dined as she drains the payroll of the government.

Don't worry, I don't actually expect you to fully comprehend this fact.

But I do expect you to try to continue to make excuses for the Demoncratic duplicity and Pelosi's failures.

At least two posts were made demonstrating that Pelosi DOES, in fact, have both reason and constitutional standing to set/influence policy with individual nations.

You simply blew the posts off with a crappy ad hominem attack.

I thought you knew your shit. Guess I was wrong.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by TGRR

At least two posts were made demonstrating that Pelosi DOES, in fact, have both reason and constitutional standing to set/influence policy with individual nations.

You simply blew the posts off with a crappy ad hominem attack.

I thought you knew your shit. Guess I was wrong.

Look dude, I saw them, I just don't give them as much weight. The job of the Congress is to oversee, not to make the policy. She has no business going to any country and working national policy IMHO. Oh, and as I stated earlier, if she did go why a trip to Italy? In the military they call it throwing you a bone. Only she gave herself the bone.

[TGRR]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Look dude, I saw them, I just don't give them as much weight.

Naw. It was just the constitution, after all. Can't compare to Hannity or Beck.

[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Look dude, I saw them, I just don't give them as much weight. The job of the Congress is to oversee, not to make the policy. She has no business going to any country and working national policy IMHO. Oh, and as I stated earlier, if she did go why a trip to Italy? In the military they call it throwing you a bone. Only she gave herself the bone.

She's the freaking SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. Of course she has business going to other countries. Good grief. Going to visit another country as a member of the US government does not mean you get to make policy. Do Ambassadors make policy? No, they don't. But it is their job to represent the United States government, just as it is for any member of Congress who goes overseas.

...the ANSA English Media Service reported (accessed from the Nexis database): "Since arriving in Italy on Saturday, Pelosi has visited the American air base at Aviano in northeast Italy and the American military cemetery in Florence and is due at the NATO Joint Forces Command in Naples Wednesday." Further, a February 19 press release issued by Pelosi's office stated: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional delegation today were briefed by U.S. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa, and Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples. Admiral Fitzgerald and his NATO staff provided information on NATO activities in the Balkans, the ongoing training of Iraqi Security Forces, and operations against pirates off the coast of Somalia." The release further stated: "On Saturday, Speaker Pelosi and the Congressional delegation visited Aviano Air Base where the Speaker pinned the Bronze Star Medal on Technical Sergeant Phoebus Lazaridis for extraordinary service in Afghanistan. The delegation paid their respects to the more than 4,400 American World War II soldiers buried at the Florence American Cemetery on the outskirts of Florence on Sunday."

Nonetheless, in his report -- all or part of which aired on six occasions on CNN's The Situation Room, Lou Dobbs Tonight, American Morning, and CNN Newsroom -- Griffin did not mention that the delegation reportedly met with U.S. soldiers and military commanders in Italy, or that Pelosi reportedly gave a major speech on security and global warming there. Indeed, in discussing his report, Griffin and CNN anchors repeatedly suggested that the trip was a frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars... http://mediamatters.org/items/200902230022

Not to mention that she also went to Afghanistan. yea, she wasn't working at all...

Merc...you're always good for a laugh.

[TheMercenary]

And I can always count on you to be an apologist for the duplicity of the Dems, well at least for the next 4 years. It fits you well.

It must be bitch when the facts are on my side.

But why should facts matter in your obsession with Pelosi and Obama.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Redux

It must be bitch when the facts are on my side.

Fail.

Pelosi does not set National Policy. Must be a bitch when you live in a fantasy world of your "facts". Give it up. Nothing you have posted disputes anything in this thread. Enjoy your false "facts".

[Aliantha]

When are you two going to be nice to each other?

Originally Posted by Aliantha

When are you two going to be nice to each other?

I'm done.