In a maneuver that's happenened so many times by now it's almost not news anymore, conservatives are moving the goalposts at the last second on the tax reform deal. A wide range of usual suspects are lining up against the extremely conservative deal, including tea party activists, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Erick Erickson. After Congressional Republicans won major concessions from the White House on tax cuts for the rich and the compromise overwhelmingly won cloture in the Senate, right on cue the conservative base demands even more.

 

It's just how the process works these days. So it should come as no surprise that Darrell Issa can be added to the list of partisan conservatives who are balking at the last minute. He calls the deal "an incomplete effort that fails to create a permanent tax structure giving businesses the kind of long-term predictability needed to support investment, economic growth and job creation." He goes on to take partisan jabs at Nancy Pelosi that have nothing to do with the actual content or impact of the legislation.

 

In other words, after voting against tax cuts for the middle class because it didn't include enough for the rich, Issa had his demands met and still is unsatisfied. This has nothing to do with principle or content of policy. Rather, it has everything to do with Issa's understanding that the most effective tactic for moving the country as far to the right as possible is to be relentlessly dissatisfied. Always insist that your opponent compromise, but never accept such a compromise if you can think of anything else to demand.

 

Put another way: there's no winning in a concrete sense, only the other side continuing to lose.

 

This reflects the true nature of Issa's career and the future of the Oversight Committee. All the time he's spent trying to sound reasonable will go out the window when he's finally let loose next month. The results, such as they may be, are incidental. The point is to never stop pushing, never stop badgering- to keep up a relentless attack on not just the Obama Administration, but the fundamental function of the federal government. It's going to be a heck of a ride.