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Darrell Issa Goes On A Quest To Find An Obama ScandalNo Let Up: Darrell Issa's Tireless Quest For Scandal
Remember the 1990s, when Newt Gingrich, Dan Burton and co. managed to create a steady stream of outrage by playing up every Clinton administration "scandal," no matter how minor? Or how about the last years of the Bush administration, when Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) seemed to function as a one-man investigative machine, making sure that no Bush administration wrong-doing went unexamined?
Today that role is being played by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the House Oversight committee. But despite the steady stream of made-to-order conspiracy theories coming from Fox News and the Tea Party crowd, it's a much harder job. That's largely because Issa's party is in the minority, so he doesn't have the power to compel testimony or subpoena documents. And it's perhaps also because, though the Obama administration is far from squeaky clean, Issa just hasn't had the kind of material to work with that his predecessors did.
Still, you've got to hand it to Issa for giving it the old college try. In fact, though many of his investigations have flown under the national radar, he's been tireless in his efforts to find something -- anything! -- that will stick to the Obama-ites.
In just the last couple days, Issa has been pushing at least three different potential scandals:
• Did the White House have prior knowledge of the lawsuit filed last week by the SEC against Goldman Sachs, Issa wants to know. He noted in a letter to SEC chair Mary Schapiro that the agency's action "neatly coincided" with the White House's push for financial reform -- currently its top political goal. There's no evidence of co-ordination, but it's hard to blame Issa for jumping on that one. He may have gone too far, though, when he cited a Google ad buy made by the DNC as part of the conspiracy. The ad, which slammed "Wall Street greed" and touted financial reform, was seen by people who searched the terms "Goldman Sachs" and "SEC." But the DNC quickly said it hadn't bought the ad until hours after the lawsuit was made public -- and Google confirmed that was the case. LinkHere
Today that role is being played by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the House Oversight committee. But despite the steady stream of made-to-order conspiracy theories coming from Fox News and the Tea Party crowd, it's a much harder job. That's largely because Issa's party is in the minority, so he doesn't have the power to compel testimony or subpoena documents. And it's perhaps also because, though the Obama administration is far from squeaky clean, Issa just hasn't had the kind of material to work with that his predecessors did.
Still, you've got to hand it to Issa for giving it the old college try. In fact, though many of his investigations have flown under the national radar, he's been tireless in his efforts to find something -- anything! -- that will stick to the Obama-ites.
In just the last couple days, Issa has been pushing at least three different potential scandals:
• Did the White House have prior knowledge of the lawsuit filed last week by the SEC against Goldman Sachs, Issa wants to know. He noted in a letter to SEC chair Mary Schapiro that the agency's action "neatly coincided" with the White House's push for financial reform -- currently its top political goal. There's no evidence of co-ordination, but it's hard to blame Issa for jumping on that one. He may have gone too far, though, when he cited a Google ad buy made by the DNC as part of the conspiracy. The ad, which slammed "Wall Street greed" and touted financial reform, was seen by people who searched the terms "Goldman Sachs" and "SEC." But the DNC quickly said it hadn't bought the ad until hours after the lawsuit was made public -- and Google confirmed that was the case. LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 1:58 AM
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