State Rep. Ryan MacKenzie, one of three announced Republicans seeking Lehigh Valley's Congressional seat, has announced that he supports "term limits for elected officials as well as bureaucrats. I will also push to ban members of Congress from trading stocks based on their insider information and demand transparency in grant funding to expose their conflicts of interest."
To be specific, he's support term limits of three terms for Congressman and two terms for US Senators.
MacKenzie also said he would support a ban on insider trading by members of Congress, but that is already illegal. A more important question is whether he supports the Ban Stock Trading Act, which would bar all members of Congress and executive branch from holding or trading in individual stocks, even if they are placed in a so-called blind trust.
Finally, I'm unclear on his statement concerning transparency in grant funding and have asked for clarification.
I have also forwarded MacKenzie's statement to his rivals, Maria Montero and Kevin Dellicker, for any insights they may wish to share.
29 comments:
From the original post: “I have also forwarded MacKenzie's statement to his rivals, Maria Montero and Kevil Dellicker, for any insights they may wish to share.”
Why not also forward the statement to Susan Wild’s office for any insights SHE would like to share?
I’d love to see her thoughts on those issues, and since you’re going to be working on her behalf anyway it might just streamline the process.
It's what he supports - not what the crooks in congress allow him to pass.
Term limits for Congress are a good thing!
Good for him for signing this. Let’s see Maria and Kevin play copy cat now.
Good Suggestion!
"Why not also forward the statement to Susan Wild’s office for any insights SHE would like to share?"
Bernie you don't really believe insider trading is illegal for members of Congress? You're normally not nearly that naive. Even the NY Times disagrees with you:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/13/us/politics/congress-stock-trading-investigation.html
Your follow question is a good one on the Ban Stock Trading Act, which is a much needed piece of legislation.
If he was so ambitious to get to Washington why did he run for that newly created state house seat that was basically created for him. So what is he focused on now the people in his district or getting the republican nomination for Washington.
Ryan literally brags about all the grants he got in the State House over the years. Look back at his press releases and social media. What is he even talking about? Does he think people are stupid enough to believe his bullshit? I guess since sugar daddy Pat Browne lost, he doesn’t have the same influence with grants, so now he’s going nuclear on them. Ryan is a fraud in his political and personal life. Rumor is if his polling isn’t good by Christmas, he will run back to his state house seat like he did when he ran for congress last time. Bernie - you should make Ryan guarantee that he won’t go back to his state house seat. Ryan is a slithery snake.
In response to some suggestions, I have asked Susan Wild's campaign for a response as well.
It does seem unconscionable that our lawmakers are allowed to openly break the same insider trading law that Martha Stewart served jail time for and any other common citizen would be brought up on charges for the same actions. If any politician who feels the trading act is to much a burden to make a such a sacrifice for the common citizenry they serve then they should seek other employment.
I am on the fence about term limits. While understanding that a politician can turn into a "Fed Ed" whose main concerns are perks and power, I would hate to see a person forced out who is doing a spectacular job. This is said with the hope that some are actually go into office help the public and not just themselves.
Of course, the biggest change would be to get the money out of politics which includes changing the law where corporations are allowed to give unlimited funds to campaigns.
Ryan is a career politician who just a mean person.
Bernie O'Hare said...
In response to some suggestions, I have asked Susan Wild's campaign for a response as well.
August 16, 2023 at 11:06 AM
You're the best!!!
Term limits sounds great on face value, but also tends.me to think Congressperson today, lobbyists tomorrow. I prefer those in Congress dedicated to the people and not lobbyists on training.
Ryan MacKenzie is a silver spoon politician. His rich dad (a Pat Browne and Charlie Dent cronie) has been grooming him for politics since he was a kid.
He'd be nowhere without being a Pat Browne protege.
Ryan recently got married just in time to run for congress, although he is not known to have been dating anyone for any length of time. He'd suddenly have a "girlfriend" with him at big events like inaugurations and PA Society Weekends, but soon after the girlfriends would "disappear."
He is a career politician which is not what is needed to represent the Lehigh Valley in Washington.
He should resign from his PA House seat immediately so a new state rep. can be chosen. Ryan running for Congress means he is not fully focused on his PA House district, and that is not fair to us constituents of the 187th.
What does he mean by "as well as bureaucrats"? Who counts as a bureaucrat? That could mean the US Civil Service, state or local employees, or staff at any governmental agency. Would it cover members of the armed forces, police and fire officials, teachers? What about the administrators in those organizations? Does it apply to his future congressional staff? Last I checked, no one's official title is bureaucrat. It tends to mean anyone employed in a large organization whose decisions or actions I don't like.
Does the candidate support the attempt of Trump to ignore the outcome of the 2020 election? Either you stand behind Trump's crap or you don't.
To me, term limits increase the power of unelected bureaucrats.
If it were to pass, next thing you know you’d have a bunch of unelected bureaucrats holding the real power behind whatever empty shell of a politician they can get elected.
Kind of like what’s going on with Biden, Feinstein, and Fetterman. Pelosi and McConnell aren’t far behind on that list.
Wonder if he was at the meeting with rudy and the fake elector coup.
He tries to hide his maga leanings at least for now.
He shares quite a lot of the same views as Lynch but hides it better.
view his manifesto and the dog whistles are pretty clear.
Fun fact, in 2010 the tea party said if any were elected they would serve 1 term and leave. Fast forward, the tea party is now the freedom caucus. They are still there. I wouldn't believe an of them, ever.
Geez Bernie. Can you kiss Mackenzie’s ass anymore? You really got to stop doing what Charlie Dent tells you to do. Charlie is a hasbeen and is now laughed at by most republicans.
I should add if career politician Charlie Dent is pushing Mackenzie, that’s all I need to know.
Susan Wild aligns more closely with Xi and Palestinian terrorists and gas stove banners. I'll take a wacky MAGA guy over her. She's nuts. Can't even control her own weight. No self control. Paid for by California.
Fun fact: Democrats supported slavery and opposed civil rights and they're still there. Now what? Things change and politicians remain hypocrites.
@11:10AM…Admittedly a minor point, but Martha Stewart was not convicted on securities fraud charges, she was convicted of lying to investigators, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. To the core point, agree that there clearly does need to be enhancement of laws and regulations about elected representatives’ ability to personally trade in the market while serving in office.
9:27, Let's go thru a bit of history, shall we? This goes back a long way. When the party structures started, Jefferson was the original states righter and proud slave holder. It was then the Democratic Republican party and mostly southern. The Democrat Republican party became the Democratic party and was heavily southern. Though Washington was anti-party, his views aligned with those of the federalists, who supported a strong central government, The federalists became Whigs and eventually Republicans. They were mostly northern and western. At the time of the civil war, there was a big split between Democrats who supported national unity (not necessarily emancipation) and those who wanted peace (copperheads). The Republicans had a faction led by Thaddeus Stevens who wanted to abolish slavery, but most Republicans were more concerned about national unity. After the civil war, Democrats and Republicans began to change as the industrial revolution took root. Democrats began to see the need for a strong central government while agrarian communities were more appreciative of individual freedom. TR, who was a Republican, was considered quite progressive and enacted reforms that helped people working ion the mills and factories and mines. People who worked in these industries slowly became Democrats while those in more agrarian communities slowly became Republican. During the civil rights era of the '60s, southern Democrats opposed the movement, which was championed by LBJ. They left the Democratic party and became Republicans. So now Democrats are the party who believe in a strong central government and the notion that government exists to help people. Republicans favor more decentralization and less control.
"Geez Bernie. Can you kiss Mackenzie’s ass anymore? You really got to stop doing what Charlie Dent tells you to do. Charlie is a hasbeen and is now laughed at by most republicans."
Are you suggesting I decline to share what the three candidates say? I really have no say in the R nominee and am merely sharing the views of the candidates.
You might want to open a history book. Maybe start with the southern strategy. Also check Republican platforms from the 50s and now.
Ask Mackenzie where the accountability is for this…
https://www.repmackenzie.com/News-Print/10497/Press-Releases/Browne,-Mackenzie-Announce-Grants-for-Area-Infrastructure-Projects-
Wait what?
https://www.lvhn.org/news/lvhn-receives-45m-state-racp-funding-lvh-muhlenberg-icu-and-childrens-hospital-nicu-secured
Oh where oh where is Susan. She’s to busy sending me her weekly email of nonsense to respond. She’s a rubber stamp for Joe. Time for her to go!
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