Thursday, June 30, 2011
Radioactive tritium leaked into groundwater, ocean from San Onofre. Darrell Issa still absent.
We already knew about the atrocious recent safety record at San Onofre -- five spills of sulfuric acid and other toxic chemicals in just over two years -- now a new report finds that San Onofre is among at least 48 of 65 American nuclear power plants to have leaked radioactive tritium. In the case of San Onofre, the radioactive form of hydrogen leaked into the local groundwater in 2006 and again showed up in the oceanwater just off the coast from the facility in 2009.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Issa Helps Himself by Helping Goldman Sachs
You may recall that last year the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) filed a civil suit against Goldman Sachs, and that Rep. Darrell Issa tried to thwart the government investigation by sending a letter to Mary Schapiro, chairwoman of SEC. Issa said he was concerned that the lawsuit was timed “to coincide with the Senate’s consideration of financial regulatory legislation.” You may also recall that Issa’s motivations have been called into question in the past, and he’s often been accused of using his political power for his own monetary gain. Well, it appears that there might be more to that than we knew before. Recently, some of Issa’s personal finance disclosures have come to light. ThinkProgress reported:
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Issa stocked up on Goldman Sachs bonds while blocking investigation
Darrell Issa is back in hot water for using his powerful Congressional perch to help his personal investments. A new report out today from Think Progress finds that Issa was busy last year buying up Goldman Sachs High Yield Bonds worth up to $50,000 a pop while pressing strongly to thwart an SEC investigation into potential wrongdoing at Goldman Sachs:
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Issa’s past makes him a natural opponent of legal accountability
As much as it helps Issa's political agenda to try to personalize this, what's at stake is simply whether corporations should be above the law. Most people would say no -- corporations should have to follow the law just like the rest of us. Not only does Issa disagree, he disagrees so strongly that he's trying to ensure that it's impossible for corporations to have their actions questioned in court ever again.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Darrell Issa talks himself in circles on USPS, debt, and pensions
This is territory where Issa gets into a tough spot. Despite recent efforts to backpedal, Issa has been a strong proponent of the Paul Ryan plan to privatize Medicare, and had been a leader in the attack on public employee pensions. Yet despite a long record of advocating pension cuts to balance budgets, he's attacking the USPS for adopting specifically that strategy. Total lack of consistency except that it's another opportunity for Issa to criticize a government agency, which seems to trump any concern for personal credibility.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Issa continues ignoring foreclosure crisis from Mexico
Also for keeping score at home, Last week marked the fourth time that ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings wrote to Issa asking for any attempt to hold major banks accountable for the economic collapse and ongoing foreclosure crisis. In case you've forgotten (as Issa apparently has), Issa's district has been particularly devastated by the foreclosure crisis -- especially the military and veteran families he's supposed to represent.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Issa announces legislation to reform Postal Service
Darrell Issa is very concerned about the fiscal health of the U.S. Postal Service, worrying about the need to "protect taxpayers from an expensive bailout." He's even turned again to the Daily Caller GOP transcription service to announce newly introduced legislation to "prevent the need for a 'taxpayer bailout.'"
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Is Issa bungling Project Gunrunner slam dunk?
The general consensus on Darrell Issa's investigation into Project Gunrunner has been that, while he's been incredibly reckless, there was actual substance to the to the investigation. But this week it's all starting to unravel.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Darrell Issa plan to close the courts to workers
Which is to say, this is an ongoing investigation and court case between the NLRB and Boeing. Darrell Issa has decided to interfere, challenge the legitimacy of an agency that's existed for more than 75 years, and attempt to bully and intimidate participate in an ongoing case. In any other legal setting, that would be a criminal attempt to tamper with the participants in court procedings. Those are the courts that Issa thinks should field the 30,000 complaints that the NLRB receives each year, still more evidence that he doesn't actually want them to be in criminal court -- in criminal court, what he's currently doing would be illegal.
3 comments
posted by Lucas O’Connor at 10:47 am