New GOP chairman of Oversight Committee plans hundreds of hearings into executive branch

[meegbear]

Source: RawStory.com

Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), the next chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is planning to massively expand investigations into the executive branch. Issa plans to hold hundreds of hearings, create new subcommittees, and launch investigations into the bank bailout, the stimulus, and health care reform, according to Politico.

"I want seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks," Issa said.

On Monday, Issa apologized for calling President Barack Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times" on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. "Do I think the president is personally corrupt, no, I should never have implied that or created that in a quick statement on a radio call-in," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Despite lambasting the president on the radio, Issa says he will not use the Oversight Committee to wage partisan attacks against Obama and other Democrats. "My job is not to bring down the president," said Issa. "My job is to make the president a success... I'm going to stick to my knitting, which is waste, fraud and abuse, whenever possible." In October, Al Franken (D-MI) warned that Issa would use his subpoena power to conduct a "witch hunt in an effort to bring down the Obama administration."

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/darrell-issa-hearings-oversight-panel/

[SpiralHawk]

1. Why do Republicons HATE America?

Why have they no interest whatsoever in doing something good and positive for America and Americans?

Why are they going to waste our time and money on a needless WITCH HUNT?

[Steerpike]

2. well

I predicted this would happen.

[Roland99]

3. Liar, Prick, Asshole, Republican....it's all the same.

[ixion]

4. typical rethug behavior... using big government as a cudgel for their foes

and accomplishing nothing but a waste of time for taxpayer's ROI.

[maxrandb]

11. Also typical of these asshats behavior

is making outlandish and inflamatory statements on AM radio to keep the "froth frothing", and then saying; "hey, I shouldn't have been such a prick on the Rush Limbaugh show".

Apparently, our "liberal" MSM is not in the habit of pointing that out, or holding them accountable for the shit they say on AM Hate Radio.

[Cleita]

5. Darryl Issa needs to be investigated himself.

I hope the White House and the Democrats fight back. I hope our new CA Atty General investigates him for corruption not to mention other possible crimes like theft that are alleged against him but that he hasn't been charged with.

[Democat]

7. Wasn't he close friends with well known felon Duke Cunningham?

He's probably just as crooked as Cunningham. If Democrats weren't cowards they'd take him down.

[Cleita]

8. He has ties to Cunningham and here are a couple

of articles from his past that point to his character:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/06/25/ISSA.TMP
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/6/20/877630/-The-Strange-Career-of-Darrell-Issa

If he had the soul of a crook then, for sure he's up to no good now. I also have anecdotal evidence that he cheated in the recall of Grey Davis, but no one who can and has the resources is willing to investigate him.

[ezmerelda39]

22. Thank you

for the links to Issa's pitiful bio. What a guy! This is the kind of sleezebag you get when money buys your votes, sort of a bleeding heart family values kind of guy, a Tom DeLay wannabe.

[Democat]

6. I thought he wanted government to spend less money, not more?

He's already breaking his promise to voters!

[indypaul]

9. Our response to this idiot shoud be to recall history

The last time they held sway over the oversight committee (Dan Burton R-IN) their
idiotic investigations, that went nowhere, only served to create the impression
among the international community that the government was divided and thus weak
and unable to respond to foreign incidents. Remember "Wag the Dog" etc. The
attack on the "aspirin" factory and the rest of the B.S.
Go through this type of folly again the the message will be even more clear to
our enemies abroad. Thus, a clear invitation to once again strike at the
heart of our commercial markets, kill another 3,000 citizens and continue to
hide in the wastelands of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Congressman Issa and the
others will send the same message to Al Quieda that Burton, Hyde and others
sent. That should be our response to Mr. Issa and his group. Investigations
with only political purposes designed to create a political atmoshpere for the
ourpose of preventing reelection of this President will serve to create an
atmosphere of our internal division and weakness to those terrorists groups that intend
us harm. Domestic politics wrecklessly practiced, as in this instance, can and
do influence international policy. We are still fighting two wars created by the
most recent Republican administrations we do not need another on the home front
just to serve their political purposes. Once again our message to Mr. Issa should
be that if he follows this practice he will be doing a huge disservice to this
nation and jeopardizing our security and our lives. Our best advise to him is to STFU.
If he has evidence of wrong-doing that is what grand juries are for, granted he will
not get the spotlight of history but justice will be much better served.

[U of M Dem]

10. Oversight Committee? Sounds more like a Hindsight Committee. N/T

[Historic NY]

12. All they are creating is Republican witch hunt jobs.

[ezmerelda39]

13. Issa will have be be careful

of what he is investigating as the abuses did not begin with this administration. Remember the continuous investigations that went on non stop during the Clinton administration? How much money is wasted with Republican witch hunts. What really needs to be investigated is 9/11 and the Bush Administration war crimes...put it all on the table, that is if the oversight committee is really serious about doing its job. Otherwise it is just another 'now you see it, now you don't' magic act and nothing more than a political game.

[glinda]

14. Using his appointed position strictly for political gain. Wasting taxpayers money.

[txlibdem]

15. Surely I wasn't alone in sending Obama letters warning this will happen

Around April of 2009 I warned him to get control of the message, stop letting Repukes control the public conversation. Over the next year and a half I must have sent him a hundred letters. I begged him to restart the WPA, the Works Progress Administration, to get millions of Americans back to work since the corporations were at that time still making the headlines with how many thousands of jobs they were shedding. I gave him my opinion that the Rethugs were NEVER going to go along with him, that they were playing him for a sucker by claiming they will go along with his legislation only to back out at the last minute -- and he should be pushing congress to immediately REMOVE any and all concessions given to get their support. I suggested he get the fire in his eyes, start pounding people into line to get stuff done, and get Biden sitting in his chair in the Senate every damn day to ram through their legislation and stop the BS going on there in the Senate. Was I alone in this entire F*king country to warn the President that he needs to STOP his idiotic attempts to get Repukes on his side of ANY legislation he's trying to get passed. Was I the only voice stressing to the President that Ken Starr 2.0 will come again and they will make his life (and ours) a living misery.

I don't think I was alone in my tiny little messaging campaign. But after 16 months of dead silence and doggedly staying the Obama course, what was the response to those of us who tried to get the administration to stop bailing out the corporations and start cracking down on them instead, to start bailing out the American workers who are losing their jobs and losing their homes? STFU, you're a F*king Retarg (I won't use that offensive word), quit whining, and basically F*K OFF!

So, here we are. Everything that I suggested was ignored. Everything I warned about has come to pass. The right wing hell that the American workers have been living through is scheduled to be visited on the administration who turned their backs on us.

Now you want me to cry alligator tears for them? Not just "no" but HELL NO!

[fascisthunter]

16. Political Witch Hunt... this WILL Blow Back

it's more obvious now that the GOP goes on political witch hunts... "Clinton"

[Ikonoklast]

18. Issa will punch himself out, find nothing, waste millions of taxpayer money

and the Democrats will use all of that against them.

Republicans just don't get it when Democrats play 'Rope-a-Dope'...they always over-reach and punch themsleves out, and the public gets very weary of it.

All the Republicans did when they tried that tactic before is get Clinton re-elected, handily.

[Politicub]

17. Vomit - all they care about is power for power's sake n/t

[mulsh]

19. How much does each "investigation" cost taxpayers?

It seems to me that if this car thief goes through with his plan a good way to respond is to remind people how much he's spending of taxpayer's money and keep a running tab. The cost should be in the public record we need to amplify it.

I mean his people keep harping on cutting spending and stuff. Wasting lots of time and money on endless investigations is a Repub. tradition.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Investigate the bank bailout, stimulus and health care reform?

Why don't we start with the bank bailout. I'm kind of curious how that went down.

[Joanne98]

21. I can't believe anybody in California votes for him.

[Cleita]

24. Maybe they don't.

Many of us are suspicious of election fixing in the Grey Davis recall. He was backed by the same deep pockets that backed the Swiftboaters. I wouldn't put it past him to do election tampering in his district. Our Secretary of State needs to investigate those districts in southern California and how they process their ballots.

[elleng]

23. HEADLINES and DETAILS ABOUT TIME AND $ TAKEN WITH THESE, PLEASE!

[Whoa_Nelly]

25. If I knew how to do it, and do it well...

Would start a FB group page exposing Issa...Dissa On Issa?...anyway...would probably start with things such as these from this July 2010 article:

http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-7885-issa-issues.html

<snip>
Last summer, Issa went on a property-buying spree. In the span of two months, he bought industrial complexes in Oceanside and Carlsbad and a condo overlooking Oceanside Bay. Even his son picked up a home in Vista.
The Carlsbad complex, however, is at the center of a lawsuit playing out in Los Angeles County Superior Court. A bank lender in Ventura County is accusing a bank of selling Issa the building for at least $3 million less than it should have.
The property is a series of five brand-new buildings near McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. Currently, all but one unit is empty, but they can be rented through Greene Properties, a company that employs Issa’s wife and son. The project was dreamed up by Orange County “new urbanism” developer David Dirienzo, who defaulted on a $36-million construction loan in January 2009.

The main lender, East West Bank, put the property up for auction but decided not to sell, instead filing a $12-million “credit bid” to hang onto it. Two weeks later, the bank sold the property to Issa’s company, DEI LLC, for $8.5 million.

In the complaint, Ventura County Business Bank, a secondary lender with an 8.3-percent interest in the original loan, accuses East West of negligence and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The complaint alleges that East West did not properly market the property and that the bank declined offers to buy the property and loan that were “significantly in excess” of what Issa paid. It specifically states that East West “discouraged” a potential buyer from making an $11.5-million bid on the property, which could have resulted in a $3-million discount for Issa.

This sort of real-estate deal may be familiar to San Diegans. In 2005, Randall “Duke” Cunningham, a former member of Congress representing San Diego County, was caught in a bribery scandal that centered around property bought and sold at abnormal prices.

[cyr330]

26. And what did Dems do to Bush when he was in office?

The biggest criminal in history in the WH-- and what did Dems do? A BIG buch of fucking N-O-T-H-I-N-G. And we let these motherfuckers derail our candidates with their bullshit?

[grahamhgreen]

27. Pelosi: Impeachment is ON the table!

[Iowa]

28. OK... If that's their plan, it's long past time we prosecute Bush & Co. for war crimes.

[The Stranger]

29. Too bad the Nancy Pelosi disaster wouldn't even consider keeping impeachment on the table.

This is what she gets in return.

THANKS, PELOSI DISASTER!

[CBHagman]

33. She had legislation to pass.

Call me when you've been speaker of the House and have passed financial and health care reform with a diverse caucus.

[edbermac]

30. And Harry Reid could have hundreds of hearings as well.

Right, Mr Issa?

[Monk06]

31. Hmmm forty weeks. Just in time for the beginning of Campaign 2012. Nope nothin partisan there

[CBHagman]

32. Contact information for Darrell Issa.

Considering the amount of money this is going to represent, in a time of fiscal strain, and considering what it's going to mean for staff, perhaps we should share our own fiscal perspective. :sarcasm:

E-mail form for Issa (recommended for constituents only):

https://forms.house.gov/issa/webforms/contact.html#

Contact info from Project Vote Smart's website:


https://forms.house.gov/issa/w ...

Campaign Email:
[e-mail]

Campaign Webmail:
http://www.issaforcongress.com ...

Campaign Website:
http://www.darrellissa.com/

Washington, D.C. Address
2347 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0549
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

District Address
1800 Thibodo Road #310
Vista, CA 92081
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

District Address
Phone: [phone]

Campaign Address
Post Office Box 760
Vista, CA 92085

[Turbineguy]

34. Mr. Issa

I apologize for calling you an asshole scumbag. I did not mean to call you an asshole scumbag. And to those who heard me call you an asshole scumbag, I can only say I'm sorry you heard me call Issa an asshole scumbag. Besides, just because I called you an asshole scumbag, does not mean you are an asshole scumbag. It is for others to make up their own minds as to whether or not you are an asshole scumbag. I hope that's clear.

[jwirr]

35. What does a hearing cost? What did the impeachment hearings on

Bill cost? They waste money like they have a lot of it!

[AC_Mem]

36. What a pig.

And what a waste of our tax dollars. I wonder how much money this nasty piece of work is going to spend in manhours and investigation.

WHERE ARE THE FRIGGIN JOBS YOU MORON.

How can this kind of stuff be stopped? It is insanity, just insanity. And the outright disrespect to the President of the United States, awful. It's like they have all lost their minds.

:(

[truthisfreedom]

37. No doubt issa has a lot of skeletons in his closet. Time to start investigating.

Seriously. Whenever one of these pukes starts ranting you know there's some shit going on that needs to be exposed.