Nancy Pelosi’s announcement of an impeachment inquiry is a well-timed political stunt meant to distract voters and ensure that the Democrats regain control of the White House in the 2020 Presidential election.
By ignoring House precedent and forgoing a formal vote to initiate the inquiry, Pelosi is kickstarting yet another attempt to remove the President from office on insubstantial grounds.
Our country is in a divisive state. As a result of extremists on both sides capturing social and news media’s attention, political parties are more polarized than ever before. An impeachment vote would most certainly amplify this polarization. It is not in the best interest of our political system to use impeachment as a strategic tool. I will not defend the president if there are grounds for a conviction. However, unless that evidence surfaces, impeachment proceedings are a misuse of our government leaders’ focus and effort.
Pelosi previously stated that her support of a formal impeachment inquiry requires two things: bipartisan support and public support. As of last week, she has neither of those. A Politico/Morning Consult poll for Sept. 24 to Sept. 26 shows that only 43 percent of voters supported impeachment (10 percent of Republicans were in favor of impeachment).
Keep in mind the impeachment process involves both chambers of Congress. While Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached by the House, no president has ever been convicted and removed from office by the Senate. If this were to happen, it would seriously undermine the authority of our government in the eyes of other countries. The United States currently has a global leadership approval rating of 30 percent — its lowest in the past three administrations. I would expect this rating to slip even further if we were to convict our president. As a result of poor foreign support, our government has lost much of its “soft power.” This intangible asset is essential in the success of our deals with foreign countries. In the past three years, China and Germany passed the U.S. in terms of foreign approval. Unless this is remedied, America may begin to lose allies and trade partners to other global superpowers.
In September, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the second time in two months. The prior rate cut in July was the first since 2008. This action is usually intended to stimulate a slowing economy. Many market analysts are predicting a recession in the next 12 to 18 months. If a recession were to come, the federal reserve would have little room to cut low interest rates, leaving our economy in an extremely vulnerable position. Markets tend to over-respond to two emotions: excitement and fear. Impeachment is likely to incite fear in many institutional investors and may send us into a recession much earlier than our government and economy are ready for.
Last week was not the first call for impeachment from Democrats since Trump’s election. Frequent and fruitless talks of impeachment show a lack of control in the Democratic party. This is not a surprising matter, as Democrats have recently made other attempts at abandoning our system of government by defiling the electoral college and putting thoughtless radical speakers on their frontlines.
There was no quid pro quo agreement in the phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky back in July. The White House has cooperated and released a transcript of the call, which includes discussion on issues related to the Biden family. The whistleblower complaint that prompted the subpoena for the transcript was submitted because of concern over a potential violation of federal campaign finance law. However, the Department of Justice’s criminal division determined there were no campaign finance violations apparent in the transcript of the call. After receiving input from other departments, the DOJ has concluded there were no egregious legal matters requiring further action.
Article 2 Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” In accordance with prior cries for impeachment, there has been no conviction of any of the listed crimes.