Okay, let's say we win back the House in November. What then?

[kay1864]

Let's say we win back the House in November. And let's say we almost win the Senate, but not quite.

And let's say the Dems in the House decide to impeach Chimpy (and maybe Cheney).

So we get impeachment hearings in the spring of 2007. What then?

1. The GOP-controlled Senate remains loyal to Chimpy, and fails to convict.

2. The GOP-controlled Senate realized the political danger of not convicting Chimpy (given the overwhelming scandals in 2005 and 2006), and convicts. Chimpy's removed from office (and maybe Cheney too).

3. The GOP-controlled Senate realized the political danger of not convicting Chimpy (given the overwhelming scandals in 2005 and 2006) BUT they can't stomach Cheney (or Nancy Pelosi) as President, so they fail to convict.

4. Other __________

(Yeah, I coulda done this as a poll, but I wanted to get actual feedback, not just votes)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. It will depend upon what is going on in November

I'd say that one sure thing is that a Democratically controlled House will probably start massive investigations on everything that has been wrong with Bushco. Could be that the Senate repukes may make a deal to give them either Cheney or Bush just to stop investigations so that it doesn't take them all down.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Honestly, I don't think you see impeachment hearings unless we get both.

Simply put, it'd do more harm than good. We'll finally have a platform to push our initiatives against a lame-duck President. We'll be heading into 2008 with a year's worth of vision to show the American people exactly why they need Democrats in the White House and the Senate. Without the power to actually remove Bush from office, I think impeachment does little more than provide credence to the idea that all Democrats can do is hate Bush. Given how ineffective he has already made himself and that he's not running for election again, I doubt it'd be a good idea to attack him unless you can go all the way with it.

[kay1864]

7. Good point!

I guess I'm thinking that if the House conducts the impeachment hearings, we might see an effect in the Senate similar to what happened in 1999. Namely, that the Senate GOP heard loud and clear that their constituents were against spending $40 million on a BJ.

THIS time around, however, there is (1) a REAL set of crimes, not a BJ from a willing intern, and (2) Chimpy's ratings are in the toilet, whereas Clinton's were in the high 60's.

So I'm thinking that even with a GOP-controlled Senate, they will respond to overwhelming pressure from their constituents.

Maybe.

[Nimrod2005]

3. I drink lots of Tequila for about 1 year.

Then my Democratic friends in the House can do whatever they like until 2008, when I will drink more Tequila after we win.

I hope this helps.

[bottomofthehill]

4. From a Will Pitt Post Last Week

This is what the House will look like if the Democrats are given enough support to take that chamber back.

At least 10 Congressional Progressive Caucus members will become Committee Chairmen or Chairwomen. An additional 35 Congressional Progressive Caucus members would become Subcommittee Chairmen or Chairwomen. The following Progressive Caucus members would become Committee Chairs:

Congressman George Miller: Chairman of Education and Workforce Committee;

Congressman Barney Frank: Chairman of Financial Services;

Congressman Henry Waxman: Chairman of Government Reform;

Congressman Bennie Thompson: Chairman of Homeland Security Committee;

Congressman Tom Lantos: Chairman of International Relations Committee;

Congressman John Conyers: Chairman of Judiciary Committee;

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter: Chairwoman of Rules Committee;

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez: Chairwoman of Small Business Committee;

Congressman Lane Evans: Chairman of Veterans Affairs Committee;

Congressman Charles Rangel: Chairman of Ways and Means Committee.

The following Progressive Caucus members would become Subcommittee Chairs:

Appropriations Subcommittees: Congresswomen Rosa DeLauro and Marcy Kaptur, Congressmen John Olver, Jose Serrano, and Ed Pastor;

Armed Services Subcommittee: Congressman Neil Abercrombie;

Education and Workforce Subcommittees: Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and Congressman Dennis Kucinich;

Energy and Commerce Subcommittees: Congressman Ed Markey and Congresswomen Jan Schakowsky and Hilda Solis;

Financial Services Subcommittee: Congresswoman Maxine Waters andCongressman Luis Gutierrez;

Government Reform Subcommittees: Congresswoman Diane Watson and Congressmen Dennis Kucinich, Elijah Cummings, Danny Davis of Illinois, and William Clay;

International Relations Subcommittee: Congressman Donald Payne;

Judiciary Subcommittees: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and Congressmen Jerry Nadler and Melvin Watt;

Interior Subcommittees: Congressmen Raul Grijalva and Tom Udall and Congresswoman Donna Christensen;

Rules Subcommittees: Congressman Jim McGovern;

Small Business Subcommittees: Congresswomen Madeleine Bordallo;

Transportation and Infrastructure: DeFazio, Filner, Holmes-Norton, and C. Brown;

Ways and Means Subcommittees: Congressmen Pete Stark, Jim McDermott, and John Lewis of Georgia.

...so...did'ja hear DeLay's gonna quit?

17 open seats now.

Just sayin'

[TahitiNut]

5. I see it as a two-step process.

(1) Identify the Right Thing™ to do.
(2) Do it.

[wryter2000]

6. Impeachment isn't the only issue

I want the bastards impeached and removed from office. To me, there's also an issue of getting all the shit they've done out into the open so all the Repug and Repug supporters' noses are rubbed in it.

I want weeks long hearings on (each) war profiteering, Rumsfeld et al. incompetence, torture/rendering, violation of civil liberties (including wiretapping), corruption, manipulation of intelligence and outright lies in their arguments for invading Iraq, failure to protect us from further terrorist attacks/failure to capture Bin Laden, voting irregularities/stolen elections, misusing/manipulating/lying about science, violation of the environment/global warming, the response to Katrina/failure to do anything since then, and everything else they've done.

I want all of America bathed in their crimes for the next two years. Somewhere in there, I'd like for Bush and Cheney to be impeached. But unless we get rid of the whole bunch of vermin and their ruling philosophies, we'll be fighting the same fight again in another few years.

[bluestateguy]

8. Then the subpeonas start flying

The Bush White House will be converted into a law firm, as they will spend the nest two years doing depositions, providing documents and testifying at hearings.

All Bush domestic legislation will be scuttled.

[MadMaddie]

9. Well if we do win...

Once the intial tasks are completed...

Impeachment process started...

The Democrats will have to look at every single government organization and evaluate if the leadership in each organization is actually a qualified professional or is a political hack (Heckofa job Brownie)....they will have to drill down all of the leadership positions in each organization...they will have to try and recruit the Civil Service professionals that were pushed out by the * cabal...