House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s appointment Thursday of three Democrats to Congress’ new debt-reduction supercommittee completes the roster of a panel whose members are already being tugged in competing directions.

Pelosi selected Reps. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina and Xavier Becerra of California, who both are members of the party’s House leadership, and Maryland’s Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee. The choices bring racial diversity to the supercommittee because Clyburn is black and Becerra is Hispanic.

The 12-member panel, divided evenly among Democrats and Republicans, has until Thanksgiving to propose $1.5 trillion in 10-year budget savings. If it does not propose a package or if Congress doesn’t approve it, $1.2 trillion in automatic budget cuts will be triggered.

In a statement, Pelosi, D-Calif., said the supercommittee’s goal should be “to grow an American prosperity enjoyed by all Americans.” She said it should aim at producing jobs and economic growth that reduces budget deficits.

Complicating the panel’s task are the economy’s alarming stall, the chaos dominating financial markets and last week’s historic downgrade of the government’s credit rating. Next year’s presidential and congressional elections will put added political pressures on the lawmakers.

Pelosi said that when Congress returns from recess next month, it should pass jobs legislation, including highway and aviation bills lawmakers have been working on.

Job creation legislation usually costs the government money and drives up short-term deficits.

Other congressional leaders had made their selections earlier this week.

Read the whole thing here.

Rep. James Clyburn and a group of House Democrats are urging President Barack Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling if Congress can’t come up with a satisfactory plan before the Tuesday deadline.

Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat, said Wednesday that if the president is delivered a bill to raise the debt ceiling for only a short period of time, he should instead it and turn to the phrase in the Constitution that says the validity of the U.S. government’s debt “shall not be questioned.”

“If that’s what lands on his desk, a short-term lifting of the ceiling, the debt ceiling, he should put it on his desk next to an executive order,” Clyburn said at a press conference. “He should sign an executive order invoking the 14th Amendment to this issue.” The Associated Press reported that he was applauded when he suggested the idea at a caucus meeting earlier in the day.

“I believe that something like this will bring calm to the American people and will bring needed stability to our financial markets,” Clyburn added, noting that President Harry Truman did it once during his presidency after Congress was unable to pass a bill to raise the debt ceiling.

Obama and others in his administration have said they will not rely on the 14th Amendment. At a town hall last week, Obama said that he has “talked to my lawyers” and “they are not persuaded that that is a winning argument.”

Read the whole thing here. If President Obama doesn’t think the Presidency has the authority to do something, we’re very certain that authority doesn’t exist. Exit question: Is there anything the 14th Amendment can’t do? Its like the MacGyver of constitutional amendments.

It’s important to note that Eddie Slaughter is not just a black farmer, he is the Vice President of one of the largest black farmer advocacy groups in America, the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association.

After seeing the BigGovernment.com interview, Congressman Bishop, clearly upset with the video revelation, made the following admission to his local paper, the Albany Herald yesterday:

“Yes, I am aware that there is fraud in the program, that’s why anti-fraud provisions were written into the settlement,” Bishop said Thursday morning “My job was to help secure funding for constituents who had been discriminated against by the USDA. It’s not my job to monitor fraud in the program. I can’t assume responsibility for fraud. You can’t lay that at my feet.”

“This is ridiculous. It’s not my job to determine who is a qualified claimant or not, or who gets paid or who doesn’t get paid.”

“I’ve worked with Eddie Slaughter for more than 15 years.”

We now have an admission from a prominent member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and a co-sponsor of Pigford legislation, that he was not only told by a black farmer that the Pigford I payout process was “rife with fraud,” but also that as a member of Congress there was nothing he could do about it.

A Member of Congress claims to have no access to mechanisms for congressional oversight of congressionally appropriated billions and that’s not national news?

Did Rep. Sanford Bishop ever think to call the Department of Justice to demand an investigation into the billion-dollar taxpayer fraud that was taking place in the settlement that was one of his signature issues?

“Don’t lay that at my feet.” Bishop now says.

What makes Bishop’s incredulous expression of non-responsibility even more troubling is the fact that in 2005, he joined fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Artur Davis (D-AL) as an original co-sponsor of the ”African-American Farmers Benefits Relief Act of 2005” which would add 55,000 more claimants into Pigford. Not only was Bishop not blowing the whistle on existing fraud, he was actively working to send his constituents back for another fraud-filled “bite of the apple,” costing U.S. taxpayers billions.

Representative Bishop told the Albany Herald, “Yes, I am aware that there is fraud in the program, that’s why anti-fraud provisions were written into the settlement.”

Let’s talk about those supposed anti-fraud provisions safeguards in Pigford II. First of all, those provisions were put in after Reps. Steve King (R-IA), Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) put on press conferences drawing attention to the fraud. These negligible measures granted politicians minimal cover, as Rep. Bishop is perfectly showing.

Also, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, Rep. Bishops’s fellow Congressional Black Caucus member and third-ranking House Democrat, criticized those very safeguards on the floor of the House of Representatives in front of the entire nation. This video is from Nov. 30th, 2010:

(Clyburn discusses the fraud-prevention mechanisms starting at 2:02 of video)

Clyburn contends that having the two fraud provisions in the bill may lead to “witch hunts and intimidations” (2:44).

Since we have proved widespread fraud in Pigford, and now Clyburn’s CBC colleague admits to knowing about it for years, Clyburn’s statements on the House floor now take on added significance.

Why would the third-ranking House Democrat speak out against fraud-prevention provisions in Pigford II when at the very least other members of the CBC demonstrably knew fraud was rampant in Pigford I?

Why would Clyburn say it would create a “witch hunt” even though the witches are very real, especially considering there have been no investigations or “witch hunts” into Pigford at all. To the contrary, we have spoken with FBI whistleblowers who are willing to testify before Congress that multiple Pigford fraud investigations were quashed.

Could it be that Reps. Sanford Bishop and Clyburn know that if the extraordinary amount of fraud is discovered that the American taxpayers’ “money will stop flowing” to the voters in their districts?

Though it may be a mix-up or a misunderstanding, it doesn’t look good. On the tape, Norton notes that colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee have already received donations. “I’m handling the largest economic development project in the United States now,” she says. “I’m simply candidly calling to ask for a contribution.” She then helpfully supplies an address.

The call could be examined to see if it breaks House ethics rules, and could not come at a worse time for Democrats trying to maintain their majority in the House and Senate in November midterm elections. Ethics violations by Republicans helped get Democrats elected in the last two election cycles when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to “drain the swamp.”

Since then, Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California – like Norton, members of the Congressional Black Caucus — have been the targets of ethics investigations. But those who see some sort of conspiracy against Democrats or CBC members forget that Nancy Pelosi backed the formation of the Office of Congressional Ethics in 2008, which has drawn fire from the unlikely pair of House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). Reps. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) and Mark Souder (R-Ind.) – hardly CBC members — resigned this year after ethical troubles. And, of course, the problems of Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) are still being untangled.

Just as ethics violations have hit both parties, outreach to lobbyist cash is obviously not limited to party or race. Politico today reported: “Top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are preparing for a GOP takeover — by meeting with dozens of energy and telecom lobbyists.” The Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan investigative site, gives a rundown of the interests and industries contributing to Republican and Democratic leaders.

The problem may be a system where campaign costs run into tens of millions of dollars, and the latest electoral darlings are multimillionaires with unlimited personal resources. (For gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman of California, it’s $119 million and counting.)

But when I read a quote like this one, last month on Politico, from a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, speaking on the condition of anonymity, that when it comes to investigations, there’s a “dual standard — one for most members and one for African-Americans,” I think, even if it’s true, so what?

Why supply ammunition if you think someone’s out to get you? If there’s one thing that years ensconced in Washington’s political culture will no longer obscure, it’s that politics as usual won’t work in 2010. People are mad and they want accountability, a politician’s every word and action will be dissected under a microscope, and an over-the-transom tape will eventually find its way to a cable channel, radio station or partisan political Web site near you.

Some things you can see coming.

Read the whole thing here.

Last year, President Obama promised to focus “every single day” on getting Americans back to work:

“My commitment to you, the American people, is that I will focus every single day on how we can get people back to work, and how we can build an economy that continues to make real the promise of America for generations to come.”

Of course, today the President seemed to take a mulligan on his jobs’ vigil, opting instead to do a taping of “The View” and attending a few fundraisers in NYC.  But not to worry, just yesterday, one of the President’s staunchest allies, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) introduced legislation to amend the Stimulus legislation to promote an obviously important component of sustained economic growth:

By Mr. CLYBURN:

H.R. 5878. A bill to amend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make funds and tax benefit available to assist job creation and workforce diversification in the golf industry, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Of course, in a certain way, this makes perfect sense.

From the blog White House Dossier:

President Barack Obama has played a remarkable 41 rounds of golf since becoming president, easily outpacing his predecessor and possibly damaging his ability to portray himself in 2012 as a populist advocate of average folks.

With the excursions lasting on average at least five hours, the president has devoted a total of more than 200 hours to golf, not counting time spent on the White House putting green. That’s the equivalent of twenty five eight-hour work days, or five work weeks spent smacking golf balls.

The former community organizer’s 41 trips around the links – a standard of recreational activity well beyond the budgets of most Americans – compares to only 24 total outings for former President George W. Bush, according to statistics compiled by White House chronicler Mark Knoller of CBS News. Bush, whose golf outings were used to help deride him as a callow, lazy, rich boy, played his 24th and last round on Oct. 13, 2003, saying he was ending the practice out of respect for the families of Americans killed in Iraq.

Since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 rig workers and started the Gulf oil spill, Obama has teed up seven times, according to White House Dossier’s count. This includes back to back sessions April 23 and 24 while on vacation at the Grove Park Resort & Spa in Asheville, NC, just days after the crisis began.

Now, here I had thought these golf outings were simply a little recreational break for the First Golfer. It looks like there were actually some kind of economic fact-finding missions. Having immersed himself in the nation’s golfing sector, he’s ready to mobilize the federal government and do whatever it is that sector needs. I guess Obama really meant it when he said he would focus “every single day” on creating jobs… even while golfing!

When I realized that this week is the 30th Anniversary of this, well…let’s just say I bow to the One’s brilliance.

With the South Carolina Democrat Senate nomination going to no-job, no-money, living-at-home-with-mom Alvin Greene, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is now calling for an investigation, hinting that Greene may even be a ‘Republican plant’.

There were some real shenanigans going on in the South Carolina primary. I don’t know if he was a Republican plant; he was someone’s plant.

While we applaud Congressman Clyburn’s attempt to maintain the integrity of the political process, where the hell was he last week…?

Stung by a series of inquiries, nearly half the members of the Congressional Black Caucus want to scale back the aggressive ethics procedures that Democrats trumpeted after gaining control of Congress.

Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, and 19 fellow black lawmakers in the all-Democratic caucus quietly introduced a resolution last week that would restrict the powers of the new independent Office of Congressional Ethics. The office, formed by Congress in 2008, is run by a panel of private citizens.

The message from Clyburn and others seems to be they want clean candidates coming in, who can get as dirty as they want later (and there will be no investigations to worry about).

While Clyburn didn’t support the measure, but sure didn’t speak out loudly against it.

Pardon us if we don’t buy this new-found virtue.

A member of the terrorist support group Code Pink assaults then Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice at a Congressional hearing, Oct. 24, 2007. AP Photo by Charles Dharapak

Code Pink co-founder and Democrat activist Jodie Evans and President Barack Obama, Oct. 15, 2009.

[Note: This is the latest segment in an ongoing series about Code Pink and its co-founder Jodie Evans. Click here to read earlier articles.]

House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (SC)  recently accused Republicans of “aiding and abetting terrorism” because of their support for the Tea Party movement. With all due respect, Rep. Clyburn needs to clean out his own party first before he has standing to say anything on the subject.

Top Democrat Party activists Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin, through their group Code Pink, have spent the past eight years terrorizing soldiers, their families and public officials on the homefront while working with terrorists and state sponsors of terrorism abroad. Rather than being condemned and disowned, Code Pink is embraced by President Barack Obama and leading Democrats while being celebrated by the media.

The Code Pink Democrats have harassed wounded soldiers and their families at military hospitals in Washington, D.C. and San Diego; they have repeatedly targeted military recruiting centers for abuse; they cruelly taunted the children of military families at a White House Halloween party; they have terrorized government officials at their homes and they have led a campaign for the kidnapping of former President Bush and his wife Laura (for this they enlisted the support of the Muslim Brotherhood).

Abroad, the Code Pink Democrats have worked with state sponsors of terrorism including the governments of Saddam Hussein, Cuba’s Castro brothers, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syria’s Bashar Assad as well as the anti-American governments of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Bolivia’s Evo Morales.

In December 2008, the Code Pink Democrats led a shoe throwing protest in front of the White House to celebrate an incident in Baghdad when an Iraqi “journalist” threw his shoes at President George W. Bush. This encouragement of violence against Bush was a propaganda bouquet by the Code Pink Democrats to their terrorist allies aroud the world.

These Code Pink Democrats have also worked with terrorists including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Sunni terrorists in Iraq and the father of Islamic terrorism: the Muslim Brotherhood. The Code Pink Democrats have bragged about giving cash and humanitarian aid to terrorists who target Americans, Israelis and free Iraqis.

The Code Pink Democrats publicly endorsed the terrorists in Iraq in 2005 at the World Tribunal on Iraq.

“There is widespread opposition to the occupation. Political, social, and civil resistance through peaceful means is subjected to repression by the occupying forces. It is the occupation and its brutality that has provoked a strong armed resistance and certain acts of desperation. By the principles embodied in the UN Charter and in international law, the popular national resistance to the occupation is legitimate and justified. It deserves the support of people everywhere who care for justice and freedom.”

Jodie Evans also gave her personal endorsement of the terrorists killing our soldiers:

”We must begin by really standing with the Iraqi people and defending their right to resist. I can remain myself against all forms of violence, and yet I cannot judge what someone has to do when pushed to the wall to protect all they love. The Iraqi people are fighting for their country, to protect their families and to preserve all they love. They are fighting for their lives, and we are fighting for lies.” (AlterNet, June 26, 2005)

While the Democrat Party complains about Republicans saying things like “You lie!” and “Baby killer!” on the House floor, at least the Republicans have the courage to speak for themselves. Democrats have given special Congressional access to members of the Code Pink Democrats so they could disrupt President Bush’s second inaugural address, a speech to Congress by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and assault Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In December 2008, the Code Pink Democrats led a shoe throwing protest in front of the White House to celebrate an incident in Baghdad when an Iraqi “journalist” threw his shoes at President George W. Bush. This encouragement of violence against Bush was a propaganda bouquet by the Code Pink Democrats to their terrorist allies around the world.

Code Pink Democrat co-founder Jodie Evans was tapped by Barack Obama at the beginning of his presidential campaign in February 2007 to co-host his breakthrough Hollywood fundraiser. Just weeks before, Evans and the Code Pink Democrats were in Cuba working with the Castro government to put pressure on the United States to free the al Qaeda detainees held at Guantanamo.

Jodie Evans served as a fundraising bundler for Obama’s presidential campaign. She donated the maximum money to Obama’s primary and general election campaigns. She also donated thousands of dollars to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint vehicle by Obama and the Democrat party.

Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin serve on the board of the Progressive Democrats of America. Serving alongside Evans and Benjamin on PDA’s board are elected Democrats: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers (MI); Rep. Donna Edwards (MD); Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ); Rep. Barbara Lee (CA); Rep. Jim McGovern (MA) and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA). Rep. Maxine Waters (CA) is listed as part of the PDA Emeritus Board for having served on the board between 2005-2009.

When the Code Pink Democrats delivered $650,000 in cash and humanitarian aid to what Benjamin called “the other side” in Fallujah in late December 2004 as the Marines were clearing al Qaeda out of the Iraqi city, they carried with them letters of support from Democrats Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA); Rep. Henry Waxman (CA) Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH) and Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ).

Five years later, in December 2009, the Code Pink Democrats delivered thousands of dollars in “humanitarian aid” to Hamas-controlled Gaza supported by letters from Democrats Sen. John Kerry (MA) and Rep. Andre Carson. Hamas guaranteed the Code Pink Democrat’s safety during their trip to Gaza.

The Code Pink Democrats also worked with the late Democrat Rep. John Murtha (PA), awarding him their “Pink Badge of Courage.” Murtha, in turn, shielded the Code Pink Democrats from arrest by Capitol Police.

Barack Obama has ignored several appeals by veterans and military families to disavow Jodie Evans and the Code Pink Democrats. Instead, he gave Jodie Evans a photo-op for her to be seen delivering anti-American propaganda about Afghanistan after she met with the Taliban. He has also given Jodie Evans special access to his Deputy Chief of Staff and the Office of Public Engagement.

The Code Pink Democrats have been given carte blanche by Obama and the Democrats to consort with terrorists abroad and terrorize opponents at home. When will the mainstream media, including Fox, take notice?