Darrell Issa Goes On A Quest To Find An Obama Scandal

[babylonsister]

Kind of a shame this clown can't find anything worthwhile to do. :eyes:

No Let Up: Darrell Issa's Tireless Quest For Scandal
Zachary Roth | April 23, 2010, 8:35AM


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.

• Did the administration condition its bailout of the auto industry on their support for tougher fuel economy standards? Just yesterday, Issa fired off another letter, this one to nine auto CEOs suggesting that the Obama-ites may have used "leverage created by the possibility of a taxpayer bailout" to get the automakers to go along with tougher standards.

• And another alleged quid pro quo: Did the White House offer an administration job to Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) if he'd get out of the Pennsylvania Senate race, as Sestak has claimed? Issa called yesterday for a special prosecutor on that one.

more...

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/no_let_up_darrell_issas_tireless_quest_for_scandal.php?ref=fpb

[truebrit71]

1. Darell Issa = Criminal Douchebag..

..

[sabra]

2. Rep. Issa Crusades Against Unpaid White House Internships, While Not Paying Many Of His Own Interns

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/19/unpaid-internships-issa/

Upset over the news that the Obama administration’s Labor Department may decide to crack down on the proliferation of illegal unpaid internships, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has sent a letter to the White House asking how many unpaid interns it keeps on:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is questioning the logic behind the White House’s unpaid internships and volunteer positions. As the Obama administration gears up to fight private companies on those jobs, some of which the Department of Labor could soon declare illegal, Issa expressed concern over the weekend that the White House offers those positions without pay too. <...>

“If the government can’t do it, certainly it’s not fair to ask the private sector to do it in this case,” the congressman told Fox News in the article to which his tweet links. His remarks arrive days after he sent a letter to the White House, asking federal officials to list how many unpaid positions they staff each year.

While Issa is complaining about the White House’s unpaid internships, he doesn’t mention that his own office doesn’t pay its own interns. (Unpaid internships are customary for most offices on the Hill). A Spring 2010 listing clearly states that an internship with Issa’s D.C. office is “unpaid”:

[babylonsister]

3. Snap! sabra! Good find. nt

[Cha]

9. Of course, he's a member of the Hypo party..in

good standing..because you can't be too perverted for the Hypos.

[theothersnippywshrub]

4. He is laying the groundwork for when he becomes chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Official investigations of the Obama administration will be endless.

[Arkana]

5. Sorry, but as far as personal scandals Obama's the most squeaky-clean guy in that chair we've had

since probably James Polk.

[babylonsister]

6. Ha! Yea, James was a proper fellow.

Before my time. :P

[Arkana]

7. You could eat off of Obama he's so squeaky-clean.

[Cha]

8. Poor darrell issa..the only thing

he's good for..coming up empty handed.