After ethics review, Senate postpones committee vote for Betsy DeVos - Polidicks

[quote]The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has postponed the vote on Trump’s education pick Betsy DeVos, hours after receiving the completed ethics review for the Michigan billionaire. The committee vote, originally scheduled to take place Tuesday has been rescheduled for Jan. 31 at 10 a.m., according to a statement from the HELP committee chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The announcement arrived after the Office of Government Ethics, an agency that examines nominees’ financial disclosures and resolves potential conflicts of interest, released its long-awaited report Friday. Alexander said he wants to give each Senator on the committee time to review the documents. Ethics Director Walter M. Shaub Jr. had said a full vetting of extremely wealthy individuals, such as DeVos, could take weeks, if not months, much to the chagrin of Senate Democrats who wanted to review it before DeVos’s confirmation hearing, which took place Tuesday evening. (See the full ethics report below).[/quote] [url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/01/20/the-ethics-review-for-trumps-education-pick-betsy-devos-is-complete-clearing-the-way-for-a-confirmation-vote/?utm_term=.b1ee5bc7eb3e[/url]

[QUOTE]Though Democrats bristled at having just five minutes each to question DeVos — during which they used some of their time complaining about it and asking for another round of questioning — Alexander limited them to the single round. Her opponents say Alexander is rushing what should be a careful examination of someone they say is unqualified to lead the nation’s education department.[/QUOTE] Fuck off, Lamar Alexander. Your motives are as clear as glass.

Even if she was ethically spotless it'd be hard to recommend her as Secretary of Education. She seemed completely confused during the hearing.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;51712672]Even if she was ethically spotless it'd be hard to recommend her as Secretary of Education. She seemed completely confused during the hearing.[/QUOTE] Should read her grammatically egregious tweets.

Just like how Republicans do mental gymnastics justifying this administration, they will also perform pollitical gymnastics to get her in.

[quote]the HELP committee[/quote] That's a helluva committee name

[QUOTE=1239the;51712654]Fuck off, Lamar Alexander. Your motives are as clear as glass.[/QUOTE] The majority of the democrats that I saw used their time to score political points (like Sanders). So I don't have too much sympathy for them.

The pertinent point is that DeVos does not at all seem competent to do the job she has been appointed to do. She should not be confirmed under any circumstance.

[QUOTE=General J;51712736]Just like how Republicans do mental gymnastics justifying this administration, they will also perform pollitical gymnastics to get her in.[/QUOTE] In the days of the Roman Republic, the Romans made no difference between a great civic leader and a great military leader. It was simple to them, if you could lead an army, obviously you could lead a country. This of course, lead to awkward situations with men who knew how to dictate great battles, but couldn't set a decent tax rate, or men who could arrange marvelous festivals but could barely swing a sword leading thousands of men. In more modern times, the Republican party takes a very similar stance. A great businessman (or the relative of a great businessman) must, obviously, also be a great politician. The position they lead and their experience in it doesn't matter. They made money in the past, obviously, so they must know how to rearrange the school system in a way that benefits America's children.

[QUOTE=sgman91;51712862]The majority of the democrats that I saw used their time to score political points (like Sanders). So I don't have too much sympathy for them.[/QUOTE] There were a number that demonstrably expressed concern about conflict of interest or her lack of experience. Franken brought up a debate in the education community about how to measure students' achievement, and DeVos had zero idea what he was talking about whatsoever. She has no experience with public education - only privatizing public education. There were plenty of concerning points raised up by democrats. The motive is pretty clear.

[QUOTE=.Isak.;51712955]There were a number that demonstrably expressed concern about conflict of interest or her lack of experience. Franken brought up a debate in the education community about how to measure students' achievement, and DeVos had zero idea what he was talking about whatsoever. She has no experience with public education - only privatizing public education. There were plenty of concerning points raised up by democrats. The motive is pretty clear.[/QUOTE] There were a few, yes. That's why I referred to the majority and not all.

I voted for Trump, but I am staunchly against Betsy DeVos. She has literally no experience as an educator or with the public schools. She doesn't have an earthly idea how the average kid does his day to day. I would've thought you would have at least gotten a teacher in that position or something.

[QUOTE=italics560;51712997]I voted for Trump, but I am staunchly against Betsy DeVos. She has literally no experience as an educator or with the public schools. She doesn't have an earthly idea how the average kid does his day to day. I would've thought you would have at least gotten a teacher in that position or something.[/QUOTE] And Carson doesn't have an earthly idea about housing and urban development. And Perry doesn't have an earthly idea about how our nuclear power systems operate. It's a bit of a recurring theme.

I'm going to celebrate if this woman gets canned.

At the very least she's not just walking into the position uncontested.