The Hill: Democrats Have Raised Impeachment Some 20 Times More Often Than Republicans

I recently wrote on the issue of impeachment that has been reportedly so widely in the media. As I noted in the column and in prior interviews, there is no serious move toward impeachment by the Republicans and most of the impeachment talk has come from the White House and Democrats, including in fund-raising campaigns. Indeed, I was critical of the Washington Post column after one of the hearings in which I testified on executive over-reach. While the issue of impeachment was mentioned only a handful of times and usually to dismiss it as an option, the column was entitled “Republicans see One Remedy for Obama — Impeachment.” It seems that even denying impeachment as an option still constitutes discussing impeachment. Now The Hill newspaper has looked at the congressional record to see who is raising impeachment more often. The result was that Democrats raised the issue 20 times more often than Republicans, who barely uttered the “I” word.

The Hill found just 4 references to impeachment on the House and Senate floors by Republicans while finding 86 such references by Democrats.

Of course, the issue remains a cash cow for Democrats with millions being raised to fight off impeachment when the money could be just as well spent on chupacabra repellant. As of yet, President Obama has not committed an impeachable act and Speaker Boehner has steadfastly ruled out such an effort in the House.

The top three House Democratic leaders — Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (S.C.) also have all been flogging the impeachment horse. The black caucus has also been active in raising the issue, including Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee who raised it 18 times. She is followed by Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson (six times), New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (nine times), CBC Chairwoman and Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge (once), California Rep. Barbara Lee (twice), New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne (once), North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield (twice) and Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards (once). Other members discussing impeachment are Reps. Kurt Schrader (Ore.), Bill Pascrell (N.J.), Steven Horsford (Nev.), Luis Gutierrez (Ill.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), Jackie Speier (Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

Source: The Hill