Now that the raging dumpster fire (h/t Driftglass) George Santos is likely going bye-bye, out from under his shadow emerges Tennessee MAGAt Andy Ogles. We've covered Ogles and his (alleged!) wild fabrications before. Now Channel 5's Phil Williams is asking questions and that's bad news for Ogles. As my colleague Scarce said, given Williams's reputation for truth-finding, "Ogles should just resign now and get it over with."
Williams notes that Ogles has been extremely late in filing his financial disclosures, and once filed, his required-by-law reports are missing data. Wow, he could be a Supreme Court Justice with that experience!
And then there's his campaign, to which Ogles reported he loaned $320,000. Where did THAT money come from? Nobody knows for sure, though there's inkling that maybe he took out a home equity loan and had his in-laws co-sign it.
Still, not clear from his required-by-law financial filings. "Missing from Ogles' report is any reference to any bank accounts or other assets of more than a thousand dollars, which must be disclosed. 'It definitely raises big questions as to where that money came from,' the CLC's Danielle Caputo said. "How was he able to loan it because currently his financial disclosure reports are not showing that sort of wealth that he could easily lend that money."
In keeping with his party's reputation, not only is Ogles not forthcoming with required financial information, he is also not one of God's brighter creatures:
Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, freshman congressman and prime beneficiary of Nashville area gerrymandering, ... launched a loud crusade against some pending water heater standards.
Ogles proudly proclaimed in a tweet, “I introduced the Hot Showers Act to require the Department of Energy to stop its climate tyranny and allow the free market to dictate the price of appliances, not woke energy elitists.” He added in a news release, “Joe Biden’s climate crusade has gone too far. He has weaponized the federal rulemaking process to place non-electric technology off the market artificially. When it seemed like prices couldn’t get any higher, this rule continues that trend and bankrupts consumers even more.” He finished his bloviating of right-wing buzzwords with, “I will always fight against any ‘Green New Deal’ directive that actively targets consumers and puts America last. Dealing with big government is stressful enough, and a good cure for those woes is a long hot shower. But, like most good things, Joe Biden wants to take that away from you too.”
Had Ogles done his homework, he would have discovered that standards on residential water heaters have long been required by Congress, but haven’t been updated in 13 years. Contrary to Ogles’ unhinged assumptions, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimated the new rules would save consumers every year $11.4 billion in energy and water bills.
As they say in Tennessee, bless his heart.
