Issa wants to go subpoena crazy

[Bgno64]

...If Republicans retake the House

Rep. Darrell Issa, the conservative firebrand whose specialty is lobbing corruption allegations at the Obama White House, is making plans to hire dozens of subpoena-wielding investigators if Republicans win the House this fall.

The California Republican’s daily denunciations draw cheers from partisans and bookings from cable TV producers. He even bought his own earphone for live shots. But his bombastic style and attention-seeking investigations draw eye rolls from other quarters. Now, he’s making clear he won’t be so easy to shrug off if he becomes chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in 2011.

Issa has told Republican leadership that if he becomes chairman, he wants to roughly double his staff from 40 to between 70 and 80. And he is not subtle about what that means for President Barack Obama.

At a recent speech to Pennsylvania Republicans here, he boasted about what would happen if the GOP wins 39 seats, and he gets the power to subpoena.

“That will make all the difference in the world,” he told 400 applauding party members during a dinner at the chocolate-themed Hershey Lodge. “I won’t use it to have corporate America live in fear that we’re going to subpoena everything. I will use it to get the very information that today the White House is either shredding or not producing.”

In other words, Issa wants to be to the Obama administration what Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) was to the Clinton administration — a subpoena machine in search of White House scandals.

Democrats, of course, would never do such a thing.

Which is why Democrats keep getting smacked around.

[blogslut]

1. Darrel Issa can bite me

And the Politico is right-wing bird cage liner.

[Richardo]

2. Democrats don't do any such thing because they take elections and governing much more seriously...

...and I hope they never sink to this level.

Anyway, this illustrates why Blue Dog Democrats from conservative districts are preferable to the alternative: Republicans from conservative districts.

[kenfrequed]

4. err

Blue dogs are weak enablers that often fail or get knocked out of office fairly easily. If they don't they have to constantly prove some delusional loyalty and many of these bastards are the very jerks that went along with the repukes time and time again.

Failing to be bold and failing to distinguish yourself from republicans corrodes and devalues the democratic "brand" which reduces the chances voters everywhere will vote Democrat and increases the power and legitimacy of the republican party.

[Richardo]

10. Sell that in Montana...

...or South Dakota, or anywhere in rural America. As you know, the House is designed to represent small constituencies so the characteristics of that district have to be taken into consideration. You run a pro-labor, gun-control, social safety-net candidate in those district and you'll lose the vast majority of the time. National or even state-wide calculus does not apply.

Your choice in these districts is: do you want a conservative with an (R) or a slightly less conservative with a (D)?


Sorry, seat count trumps ideology. I'll take the Blue Dog over a the most liberal Republican.

[kenfrequed]

14. Uhm

Who the hell said anything about gun control?

I think you can be an economic pro labor progressive and not give a damned about gun control. Some of the phoney DLC liberals are the loudest voices about gun control as it is supposedly one of the ways you can appear sort of neo liberal.

If you ran hard on economically progressive, anti nafta, pro labor, pro civil liberties I think you would do a hell of a lot better than a Democrat that sounds like a republican but who conservatives don't trust.

And if seat count trumps ideology, how the hell do you explain a MORE conservative democrat like lincoln trailing her republican opposition by twice what her more economically progressive primary challenger in the polls. But I suppose pragamtism is only the religion if it is DLC corporate scum that get to pretend to be in a delusional center whose existence is mostly a bad fiction.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. You might want to read up on some of that before you make such claims

Waxman and others are cases in point.

[tanyev]

3. Calfornia dreamin', Darrell.

GO(B)P is not going to retake the House.

[Joanne98]

5. I wish we could get rid of him.

[kenfrequed]

6. I seriously doubt he will get the opportunity.

Like the DLC/blue dog democrats he is constantly reliving 1994. Sorry guy, its over. There will be no more Gingriches for another generation or so.

[Hawkeye-X]

12. Forever.

The only thing that'll come close to being a chairman is when the chairman instructs him to sniff his seat to see if he farted.

[spanone]

7. eat shit issa

[Lasher]

8. Ken Starr wannabe

That's actually what the birthers are all about.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. "Democrats, of course, would never do such a thing. Which is why Democrats keep getting smacked aro"

That is so ABSOLUTELY correct. We keep trying to make friends with them and they keep kicking our ass.

More to the point, there are WARRANTED investigations that remain undone. War March, Energy Meetings, Torture, just to name three. We KNOW there are criminals running free because they're members of the repubican party.

This is a BIG reason why I am so often disgusted with how my party's leadership operates.

[SoCalDem]

11. Darrel Issa is an odious little toad.. It WAS funny as hell though

when the repubes used him to fire up the Davis Recall.. He was SO sure HE would be the next governor..and then at the 11th hour, they slid their own guy in...the Gropernator:puke:..Darrel cried real tears:)

[Lint Head]

13. Issa is crazy.

[WeDidIt]

15. And I've been ridiculed on DU for saying they WILL impeahc Obama

:shrug:

[Hubert Flottz]

16. Can a car thief do that?

[Hawkeye-X]

19. Nope, and if San Diego would get their shit together, they ought to throw Issa out

and into prison where he really belongs.

[Juneboarder]

21. San Diego

This county is so heavily conservative, that will never happen.

[Winterblues]

18. Karl Rove proved suboenas don't matter.

Just as "Reagan proved Deficits don't matter"

[FBI_Un_Sub]

20. That whole Issa Organized Crime Family

in North eastern Ohio should be investigated.