Darrell Issa is underscoring just how quickly he can turn around a series of hearings this week, scheduling his second hearing from the Solyndra issue in eight days. Thursday's hearing is quite clearly titled "How Obama's Green Energy Agenda Is Killing Jobs," and again highlighting a number of the major issues still awaiting attention.

 

While Issa continues to rail against green energy, it's perhaps a good time for a trip down memory lane. For starters, let's keep in mind that he's spent months trying to divert resources as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to one of Issa's pet political squabbles while major safety concerns continue to pile up -- particularly including in his own district. Conveniently for Issa though, the majority owner of the San Onofre facility in his district -- the one with the "deficient safety culture" -- is also one of the most generous source of Issa's campaign funds throughout his career.

 

But it isn't just the nuclear industry that's been generous with the campaign funds while getting legislative help from Darrell Issa. Back in May, Darrell Issa brought his Big Oil Road Show to Bakersfield, stacking a hearing with representatives of oil companies that have been bankrolling him and his fellow committee members for years. It's the same bunch that dumped millions into the effort to pass California's "Dirty Energy Proposition" last year by suspending environmental protections.

 

But Issa's priorities remain clear. Solyndra represents about 1% of the Department of Energy loan gaurantee program, the entire scope of which is $40 billion. Meanwhile, we've known since the beginning of the year that tens of billions have disappeared to contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq. More recent studies have found that 10 to 20 percent of of spending in Afghanistan has been lost to waste, another 5 to 9 percent to fraud. That's as much as $60 billion -- one and a half times the size of the entire DOE loan program. Darrell Issa completely ignored the issue until a subcommittee hearing late last week, but he's been getting generous checks recently from some of the most problematic contractors.

 

The Green Jobs sector has consistently shown strong growth through the recent economic turmoil, at nearly twice the rate of the economy overall. By all accounts, it should be exactly the sort of success that anyone serious about more job creation would want to foster. But for Darrell Issa -- whose jobs platform costs the country millions of jobs, and the regulations he's been battling for his entire tenure? Well, they spur innovation, turn a profit, and help strengthen the economy. The agenda is increasingly clear.