Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi Ousted in Military Coup

[TeaForTwo]

.
Tea For Coup !!!!!!!!

 

[SteveGangi]

What a shame we can not do the same thing here.

At least here, we have something in place so no ass clown can become president FOR LIFE, like in some other countries. But I'm not comfortable with anyone overthrowing a lawfully elected president here, even if he IS an asshole. It's a hell of a dangerous precedent. Besides, our real problem is Congress. They make law. And the problems.

 

[SteveGangi]

It looks as though we actually agree. There are lots of people (regardless of party) who are useless pieces of crap and living the high life on our dime.

Too many.

 

[SteveGangi]

Are you retired yet? I have been for the last 13 years and have seen my pension eroded year after year. The increase in my health care insurance this year was as much as I paid per month when I retired and what is amazing is I took a lower coverage to try to save some money. All costs have far exceeded my increases over the years. So, no... I may not be as bad off as the people in Egypt; but things are not as rosy as you may think.

It's Congress.

 

[Nicky]

.. Hold on now .. Obama did not say anything about using the US military to restore Morisi to power or anyone else .. what is wrong with you ?

People twist shit like this every day. Unfortunately, those with no motivation to read or research the matter themselves believe these outrageous declarations.

 

[KP]

It's Congress.

Term limits and no retirement. Being in Congress was supposed to be a public service. Now it is just a way to have power and get rich.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

Term limits and no retirement. Being in Congress was supposed to be a public service. Now it is just a way to have power and get rich.

At least you can elect your senators. If you think congress is awful, research the BS that is the Canadian Senate.

Toronto Star
News / Canada
Many Canadian senators make money outside the Senate

Many Canadian senators hold paying jobs outside of politics, including lawyers and corporate directors who earn thousands of dollars in fees.
Many Canadian senators make money outside the Senate

FRED CHARTRAND / THE CANADIAN PRESS file photo

"I make sure that if I take on any obligations, they don’t interfere with my Senate duties and I really work hard at that," says Conservative Senator David Tkachuk.
By: Joanna Smith Ottawa Bureau reporter, Published on Thu Jul 04 2013

OTTAWA—Lawyers, motivational speakers, corporate directors and even a Christmas tree farmer are all sitting in the Canadian Senate — and making extra money from their moonlighting, too.

A Star analysis of the latest disclosures that senators made to the Senate ethics officer shows all but 17 of the 101 senators whose summaries are available online said they received, or expected to receive, additional income of more than $2,000 within the year before or the year after signing the declaration.

The basic annual salary for a senator is currently $135,200, with extra going to those who have roles such as chairing committees.

Nothing in the Conflict of Interest Code for Senators prevents them from enjoying a life — and a paycheque — outside politics, so long as they disclose it to the ethics officer, avoid any conflicts of interest and put their Senate duties first.

This includes practicing a profession, such as practicing medicine like Conservative Sen. Dr. Asha Seth, or, in the case of Liberal Sen. Elizabeth Hubley, being the artistic director of a traditional dance studio.

It also includes owning or otherwise remaining involved with a business, such as the Christmas tree farm owned by Conservative Sen. Donald Oliver, and having a role as a director or an officer in a corporation, union, non-profit organization or other association.

Nearly half of them collect a pension, too.

“Part of the role of a senator is to be active in his or her community,” said Liberal Senate leader James Cowan, one of eight senators who still practices law, although he said he has reduced his role at Halifax firm Stewart McKelvey, where he is a partner, to dealing mostly with long-term clients.

“I think the more experience we bring to the Senate from outside politics and the community, the better senators we are,” said Cowan, who is also receives an honorarium for being corporate secretary to the board of directors at the Halifax International Airport Authority.

Conservative Sen. David Tkachuk, who sits on the board of directors for Calian Technologies, Inc., a technology service provider based in Ottawa, said it is important to know which job is the priority.

“I understand and I have always understood fully that my primary business is the business that I was appointed to, which is the Senate,” Tkachuk said.

“I make sure that if I take on any obligations, they don’t interfere with my Senate duties and I really work hard at that.”

Outside experience can also mean making money.

Since most senators who declared additional income referred to private businesses — including some big ones like the Toronto Argonauts and the B.C. Lions football teams, both owned by Conservative Sen. David Braley — there is no way to know exactly how much the majority of senators are benefiting from their side jobs.

Nine senators did disclose being on the boards of directors at publicly traded companies, which means the fees and other compensation they were entitled to can be found in corporate documents.

Together, they were entitled to at least $868,792 in directors’ fees and at least another $294,508 in share- or option-based awards.

Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald received no director’s fees from Canada Coal Ltd., although he was entitled to $35,640 in option-based awards, whereas Conservative Sen. Hugh Segal was entitled to a total of $357,315 in fees and share-based awards from his positions at Just Energy Group Inc. and Sun Life Financial Inc.

The compensation Liberal Sen. Paul Massicotte is entitled to from Agellan Commercial Real Estate Income Trust, which had its initial public offering this January, is not yet available.

Those numbers excludes Pamela Wallin, who recently resigned from the boards of both Porter Airlines Inc. and wealth management firm Gluskin Sheff & Assoc.

Her disclosure to the ethics officer has not yet been updated to reflect the change.

The rules are similar for the House of Commons, where MPs are also allowed to have jobs and sit on boards, so long as they are not cabinet ministers or parliamentary secretaries, who must follow stricter rules for conflict of interest given their more powerful roles in government.

Segal said there is good reason to not forbid backbench MPs and senators to carry on business outside politics.

“I think (that) would give us, in both chambers, folks who come from certain social and economic strata and it would exclude a lot of other people like teachers and farmers and people, who have worked on an hourly basis, and folks who own small businesses from ever getting involved, because they couldn’t afford it,” Segal said.

New Democrat MP and ethics critic Charlie Angus, whose party has long wanted to abolish the Senate, said he understands that rationale but does not think it should apply to senators.

“If you’re in the Senate, you’re elected for life and there is very little scrutiny of what happens in the Senate,” Angus said.

“Senators, until they got themselves in trouble (with the Senate expenses scandal), always flew under the radar,” Angus said.

Segal noted the threshold where MPs are required to disclose additional income is much higher at $10,000, which he argued is because people can vote an MP who spends too much time at another job out of office, whereas senators are appointed.

Segal, who is a senior adviser at Toronto law firm Aird & Berlis LLP and a senior fellow at the Schools of Policy Studies and Business at Queen’s University, defended his decision to continue a lucrative life outside politics.

“It’s one thing if you’re somebody in your 70s, but if you’re in your mid-50s and you have a family and other financial obligations, I think you do have a duty to do what you can responsibly and to get paid fairly,” said Segal, who added he would have declined the Senate appointment if the rules had prohibited receiving outside income.

Tkachuk put it more plainly.

“You get paid for doing work,” he said.

Senate scandal | Canada | Toronto Star

 

[parts]

Every member of Congress..eats meals we save up for..every meal.
Every member of Congress has the best medical care and insurance most of us cannot afford.
Every member of Congress has Limo..cars..airplanes..security..apartments on our dime in one way or another.
Every member of Congress is allowed to profit from inside information in many ways we can not.
Every member of Congress has pension..education benefits for their children..and works in an environment of luxury..

Every Member of Congress authorized these benefits for themselves...

 

[TeaForTwo]

.
Hmmm, looks like I'll be running for Congress next year then....
.

 

[SteveGangi]

Term limits and no retirement. Being in Congress was supposed to be a public service. Now it is just a way to have power and get rich.

... and figure the odds that THEY will ever vote in term limits that would limit their terms. It's one big racket.

 

[parts]

Note: Starting in 2014, the only health care coverage made available to members of Congress and their employees by the federal government will be coverage offered through the Health Insurance Exchange created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - the "Obamacare Act."

Hmmm..Voted 40 times to repeal Obamacare ?

 

[SteveGangi]

Every member of Congress..eats meals we save up for..every meal.
Every member of Congress has the best medical care and insurance most of us cannot afford.
Every member of Congress has Limo..cars..airplanes..security..apartments on our dime in one way or another.
Every member of Congress is allowed to profit from inside information in many ways we can not.
Every member of Congress has pension..education benefits for their children..and works in an environment of luxury..

Every Member of Congress authorized these benefits for themselves...

... and JUST like the Canadian Congress, they also make mountains of money from "outside" - speaking engagements, "campaign" contributions, direct bribes, and income from their personal holdings.

 

[parts]

The House sets the funding levels for the MRA ( Members' Representational Allowance)
annually as part of the federal budget process. According to the CRS report, this amount decreased from a total of $660 million for fiscal year 2010, to $573.9 million for fiscal year 2012.

In 2012, individual representatives received MRA allowances ranging from $1,270,129 to $1,564,613, with an average of $1,353,205.13.

The House sets the funding levels for the MRA annually as part of the federal budget process. According to the CRS report, this amount decreased from a total of $660 million for fiscal year 2010, to $573.9 million for fiscal year 2012.

 

[parts]

Senators' Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA)
In the U.S. Senate, the Senators' Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA) is made up three separate allowances: the administrative and clerical assistance allowance; the legislative assistance allowance; and the official office expense allowance.

In the fiscal year 2013 legislative branch appropriations bill, the size of the average Senate SOPOEA allowance is $3,209,103, with individual accounts ranging from $2,960,716 to $4,685,632, depending on the population of the senators' states.
According to the CRS, the total size of the Senate SOPOEA allowance decreased from $422.0 million in fiscal year 2001 to $396.2 million in fiscal year 2012.
Unlike in the House, the size of senators' administrative and clerical assistance staff is not specified. Instead, senators are free to structure their staffs as they choose, as long as they do not spend more than provided to them in the administrative and clerical assistance component of their SOPOEA allowance.

The fiscal year 2013 legislative branch appropriations report allowed $477,874 for each senator's legislative assistance allowance, stating that this amount was equivalent to three staff members being paid $159,291 each.

 

[parts]

Do Members of Congress Pay Income Taxes?

Members do pay taxes on their Congressional salaries, but they have given themselves some extra perks that elevate them above normal taxpayers.

For example, they wrote into the law a $3,000 annual income tax deduction for maintaining a second residence. Normally, a taxpayer in a lawmaker's income bracket could be subject to reductions in the value of his or her mortgage interest write-off for residences. The typical American who uses an additional residence for business or rental purposes may qualify for certain expense deductions, but only by filing complex forms.

In addition the IRS maintains two "customer service centers" to assist lawmakers and Capitol Hill employees in filling out their tax forms at a cost to taxpayers of $100,000. In 1993 Money Magazine determined that 60 percent of the Members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, who are responsible for our tax laws, didn't even prepare their own tax returns.

 

[BigAl]

Anddddddd back on topic


Egypt's security forces move against Muslim Brotherhood - CNN.com


Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's top prosecutor opened an investigation Thursday into claims that Mohamed Morsy and top leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood incited violence and the killing of protesters, a day after the military ousted the country's first democratically elected president.
The prosecutor, Gen. Abdel Maquid Mahmoud, issued an order preventing Morsy and 35 others from leaving the country while they are under investigation, state-run Middle East News Agency and EgyNews reported.
The news came as Egypt's security forces moved to arrest leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood who supported Morsy's rule and to silence their communications outlets.
Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told CNN that Morsy was initially under house arrest at the presidential Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo and later moved to the Ministry of Defense; the military has not commented on Morsy's whereabouts.
The news from MENA and EgyNews appear to contradict reports that Morsy refused an offer by the armed forces to leave Egypt for Qatar, Turkey or Yemen. The state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported Thursday Morsy would not step down voluntarily and that his speech Wednesday -- shortly before his ouster -- represented a "flagrant challenge to (the military's) authority" and a "declaration of confrontation with it."
A spokesman for Morsy's Freedom and Justice Party said that what started as a military coup was "turning into something much more."

What comes next in Egypt?

Egypt: Battle over the word 'coup'

Activist: People held hostage by Morsy

White House watching crisis in Egypt
In an interview in Cairo, El-Haddad cited the arrests as "very, very questionable attempts by the military to dismantle the Brotherhood."
He added, "This is a military coup that's establishing an oppressive new regime under the whitewashed face of the old regime."
The military should not take political sides, he said. Though he had had no direct communications with Morsy, sympathizers within the military were giving information to the Brotherhood, he said.
The former chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahdi Aakef, and his bodyguards were arrested Thursday in Cairo with four weapons in their possession, according to MENA, which cited security sources.
And Muslim Brotherhood supreme leader Mohamed Badei and the former supreme leader Mohamed Mahdi Akef have been arrested, Egyptian state broadcaster Nile TV said Thursday.
Badei was arrested for "incitement to murder," according to the arrest report cited by Al-Ahram.
Police are seeking another 300 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Ahram reported.
On Wednesday, police closed the studios of pro-Muslim Brotherhood television stations Misr 25, The People and al-Hafez and arrested some of the journalists, according to Al-Ahram.
Sporadic violence
Despite the moves against the Brotherhood, the military suggested Thursday it would protect the movement's members. It said it would not allow any attacks or intimidation against those who belong to an Islamic group, state-run Nile TV reported.
Even so, sporadic violence at times pitted Morsy's supporters against the opposition and the military, raising fears of spiraling unrest.
Clashes were reported at a pro-Morsy rally Thursday in the northern city of Zagazig, Nile TV reported, citing security officials. Thirty-two people were killed Wednesday in clashes in Egypt, officials told Nile TV. Hundreds more were reported to have been injured.
On its website, the Muslim Brotherhood declared "our unequivocal rejection of the military coup against the elected president and the will of the nation and refuse to participate in any action with the authority that stole the power and dealt violently with peaceful demonstrators."
It added, "Mohamed Morsy, president of Egypt, stresses that the measures that were announced by the General Command of the Armed Forces represent a full-fledged military coup which is unacceptable by every free person."


It called on demonstrators to show restraint.
The moves against the organization came as an uncertain new political order began to take shape with the swearing in of an interim president as well as the constitution's suspension on Wednesday.
State-run Al-Ahram News reported that Egypt's stock market surged 7% in the first hours of trading Thursday to a near two-month high.
Coup divides Egypt
The coup divided the millions of people who had taken to the streets across Egypt in recent days to defend or criticize Morsy's government.
It also raised questions about what will happen to Morsy and his supporters, who insist he remains the country's legitimate leader; whether violence blamed for the deaths Wednesday of at least 32 people will spread; whether democracy has a chance in Egypt.
But the Tamarod movement that had sought Morsy's ouster was moving on. It said in a tweet that it had nominated Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader, to become prime minister.
ElBaradei told CNN on Thursday that Morsy's ouster was not a coup but was instead a "correction of the uprising of 2011."
Another opposition figure, Egyptian Conference Party leader Amre Moussa, took a similar semantic stance. "This is not a coup; this is a revolution," the former presidential candidate told CNN's Jim Clancy.
Asked whether the Brotherhood arrests were necessary, he said they would be temporary. "There are certain security measures that should not stay but for the first couple of days, three, four days -- the new regime wants to ensure that discipline will take place."
Democratic processes had been "absent" under Morsy, said the former Arab League secretary-general, who lost last year in his bid for the presidency.
Asked whether he would run again, he said, "I have declared several times before that I do not intend to run for president next time. This is my determination as I am talking to you."
The conflicting views, the threat of more violence, possible divisions among the anti-Morsy coalition and Egypt's economic woes represent major obstacles to a smooth transition, said Hani Sabra, director of the Middle Eastern arm of the Eurasia Group, a U.S.-based political risk research and consulting firm. "I don't think that the military's so-called road map is actually going to move smoothly. I think there are a lot of challenges it faces."
The huge crowds that had celebrated Morsy's ouster Wednesday night with horns, cheering, fireworks had thinned hours later. On Thursday, the atmosphere in Cairo's Tahrir Square was calm and celebratory. Crowds cheered as military helicopters flew overhead. Women pushed baby strollers, children had their faces painted, music played and people danced.
Swearing in
Morsy, a Western-educated Islamist elected a year ago, "did not achieve the goals of the people" and failed to meet the generals' demands that he share power with his opposition, Egypt's top military officer, Gen. Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi, said Wednesday in a televised speech to the nation.
Adly Mansour, head of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court, was sworn in Thursday as interim president in Cairo.
At the ceremony, Mansour said the Egyptian people had given him the authority "to amend and correct" the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
Following a decree last month by Morsy, Mansour had become head of the court just two days earlier.
Until new elections, to be held at an unspecified date, Mansour will have the power to issue constitutional declarations, El-Sisi said.
The Egyptian military has dominated the country for six decades and took direct power for a year and a half after Mubarak's ouster.
Morsy's approval ratings plummeted after his election in June 2012 as his government failed to keep order or revive Egypt's economy.

Analyst: Morsy called military's bluff

Obama to Egypt: Return to civilian rule

Gen. Dempsey: World needs a stable Egypt

Egypt begins post-Morsy era
Morsy's opponents accused him of authoritarianism and forcing through a conservative agenda, and on Monday the military gave him 48 hours to order reforms.
As the deadline neared Wednesday, he offered to form an interim coalition government to oversee parliamentary elections and revise the constitution, which was enacted in January. But those actions failed to satisfy the generals.
Conflicting responses
The army's move against Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood, the long-repressed political movement that propelled him to office, provoked wildly conflicting reactions.
In Tahrir Square, the epicenter of two Egyptian upheavals, a vast gathering of Morsy's opponents erupted in jubilation and fireworks at El-Sisi's announcement Wednesday night.
"The crowd walked up to the barricades and started banging on them using rocks, sticks and even bare hands," said Sultan Zaki Al-Saud in a CNN iReport. "It sounded like thunder as the hollow barricades rang with every blow."
During his time in office, Morsy had squared off against Egypt's judiciary, the media, the police and even artists.
Egyptians are frustrated with rampant crime and a struggling economy. Unemployment remains high, food prices are rising and there are frequently electricity cuts and long fuel lines.
'The world is looking'
Morsy had remained defiant.
"The world is looking at us today," he said Wednesday in a taped statement delivered to the Arabic satellite network Al Jazeera. "We by ourselves can bypass the obstacles. We, the sons of Egypt, the sons of this country -- this is the will of the people and cannot be canceled."
Shortly after Morsy's statement aired, Al Jazeera reported its Cairo studios had been raided during a live broadcast and 28 staff members arrested. Most were later released, it said.
On Thursday, Al Jazeera's acting chief, Mostefa Souag, demanded the immediate release of the Egyptian channel's managing director, Ayman Gaballah, and Al Jazeera Arabic broadcast engineer Ahmad Hasan.
"A return to Mubarak-era practices of mass arrests and politically motivated imprisonment of Muslim Brotherhood leaders will have the worst possible effect on Egypt's political future," said Human Rights Watch, the U.S.-based advocacy group.
Concerns of a backlash
Some observers warned of an extremist backlash.
"The major lesson that Islamists in the Middle East are likely to learn from this episode is that they will not be allowed to exercise power, no matter how many compromises they make in both the domestic and foreign policy arenas," said Mohammed Ayoob, Michigan State University professor emeritus of international relations.
"This is likely to push a substantial portion of mainstream Islamists into the arms of the extremists who reject democracy and ideological compromise," Ayoob wrote in a CNN.com opinion piece.
President Barack Obama said the United States was "deeply concerned" by Morsy's removal and the suspension of the constitution.
He called upon the military to hand over power to "a democratically elected civilian government" but did not say it needed to be Morsy's.
At least three high-level conversations took place between U.S. military officials and their Egyptian counterparts in the past week, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
The president's national security team that has been in touch with Egyptian officials and regional allies urged a "quick and responsible" return to a democratically elected government, the White House said Thursday.
The situation has created an uncomfortable policy scenario for the United States, which champions democratic principles.
Washington has supplied Egypt's military with tens of billions of dollars in support and equipment for more than 30 years. Under U.S. law, that support could be cut off after a coup.
Obama said he had ordered "the relevant departments and agencies" to study how the change in power would affect U.S. aid.
The German government was more blunt in its assessment.
"This is a heavy setback for democracy in Egypt," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said. "It is very urgent for Egypt to return to constitutional order as soon as possible."

 

[Blackie]

.. You know .. the US has been dealing with the Egyptian military leaders through back channels for a long time, all the talk that Obama was giving the Muslim Brotherhood all manner of weapons and support as if he alone could even take such actions was not correct.

.. no matter the US administration .. it is a fine line to walk in these matters.

 

[KSG_Standard]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

This is more than a military coup. There were 30 million people in the streets demanding Morsi leave.