Seems that Darrell Issa's been getting restless holding hearings on Presidential libraries and Freedom of Information Act requests, ducking accusations that he’s used almost a million taxpayer dollars to subsidize his personal investment portfolio, and demanding that the Obama Administration’s unprecedented efforts to improve government transparency be slashed to pay for more tax cuts for billionaires.
Darrell Issa's attempts to escape the consequences of his earmark scandal hasn't been too effective so far. In his hometown North County Times, he's gotten pinged over his personal profits from taxpayer dollars in the letters section, and the San Diego Union-Tribune has put the kibash on Issa's desperate claim that it's not a legitimate story.
Media Matters delves into Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Issa protege and one of Glenn Beck's favorites in Congress. With Glenn Beck set to "transition off," having folks like Chaffetz in Congress to keep pushing crazy conspiracy theories will help maintain Beck's de facto subpoena power.
Meanwhile, in the event of a shutdown "those who choose to come into work" suggests that Issa will declare all of his staff to be "essential employees" based on the definition issued by Rep. Dan Lungren as those "“whose primary job responsibilities are directly related to constitutional responsibilities." In other words, in the name of fiscal discipline, Issa is going to spend money without oversight or constraint that taxpayers will have to cover after the fact -- because he feels like it. Issa is simply going to ignore that he's helped prevent the federal government from functioning and just keep handing out (and personally accepting) money that has not been appropriated, budgeted, or accounted for in any way. This is often known as off-book deficit spending, and Issa is not only unrepentent, he's bragging about it.
As Darrell Issa spends his day criticizing the Obama administration for politicizing the Freedom of Information Act process at the Department of Homeland Security, Lee Fang expands on the brazen, partisan hypocrisy that we touched on yesterday with a rundown of the decidedly different tune Issa was singing during the Bush years
Oversight business will kick off after the recess tomorrow morning with a hearing on whether Dodd-Frank reforms of the financial sector have effectively ended 'too big to fail.' Stirring up the necessary acrimony and controversy, subcommittee chair Patrick McHenry refused to allow Barney Frank -- namesake of the legislation -- to appear at the hearing. McHenry, incidentally, has received major campaign funding from the banking and insurance industries and been called out for conflicts of interest after investigating banker bonuses after accepting contributions from Countrywide.
Since taking the reigns of the Oversight Committee, Darrell Issa has been quick to exercise Congressional jurisdiction over local DC government, fitting well with his proclivity for micromanaging while missing the bigger picture. When reorganizing the Oversight committee, creating new subcommittees and reconsituting others, Issa lumped oversight of DC in with the census, the National Archives, and... health care. In charge of the subcommittee, he chose South Carolina freshman Congressman Trey Gowdy. Gowdy was one of the early success stories of the Tea Party movement in 2010, running far to the right of veteran Republican Bob Inglis, unseating him in a contentious primary challenge.
Darrell Issa has a long history in the tech industry, with close ties that continue today -- and have recently gotten him in some trouble. More personally, he's also a notorious tech junkie, unable to resist fiddling with new gadgets and the tech toys of everyone around him. So if anyone should understand how important net neutrality is, you'd think it would be Darrell Issa. But instead, he's been steadfast in walking the corporate conservative line, adopting the favorite industry astroturf demand that the government not protect equal access.
A joint hearing on Wednesday into TSA screening procedures revealed stunning hypocrisy from Darrell Issa, who was apparently completely unaware or uninterested in how absurd he sounded. During a deservedly critical grilling of TSA officials on invasive screening methods, Issa remarked:
Issa Watch on Hiatus Indefinitely
The Appearance of Impropriety in Darrell Issa’s Office
Issa responds to ethics problems with conspiracy theories
Issa’s requested DoE loan would have benefited major GOP donor
Issa sought funds via “easy way to end up with corruption in government”
Out of excuses, Issa contradicts himself in avoiding NewsCorp
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
1 comments
posted by Lucas O’Connor at 11:50 am