We've been saying all along that if the Republicans take back the House in 2010, then crazy Michele Bachmann will lead the subpoena parade against the Obama White House to uncover ACORN's secret meetings with Obama where they plotted to steal the 2008 election. And she'll look to find every paperclip and rubber band that went unaccounted for and then call for impeachment proceedings. Well, now it seems that the Toyota corporate hack, Darrell Issa from the great state of California wants to take a similar position, only he'll shield Big Business and try to uncover other super secrets Obama is hiding. You may have forgotten that Issa receives plenty of "car bucks" from the auto industry and about his starring role when Toyota had a few brake issues:
The National Auto Dealers Association was one of Issa's biggest contributors when he first ran for his seat, and the auto industry as a whole is listed as one of his biggest donors.
You can expect Issa to try and uncover why Obama went to a baseball game when he pledged to plug that BP oil leak. You know, stupid stuff that bloggers like Gateway Pundit are concerned with.
Greg Sargent is on the job and acts like a real journalist:
The quote is buried in a Politico article about a recent speech Issa gave, in which he revealed he's planning to hire reams of subpoena-wielding investigators as chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee if Republicans take back the House:
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."
While that quote stops short of a full-fledged promise to never probe anything corporate America does, it's nonetheless an extraordinary statement: It sounds like a pledge to go easier on big corporations.
He's sending out his coded messages to Big Business that's slightly different than the Southern Strategy, which capitalizes on the racism in people. It appeals to the "free marketeers," the true religion of the conservative movement. He's telling them to fund all Republican races so he can be another Gingrich and protect their interests. Oh and remember, Barton's use of the word "shakedown" was no accident.
Digby always spots the unspottable:
Issa's making a big move to become a national GOP leader. And he's doing it by promising to let loose the hounds of hell on the White House if he gets his grubby hands on subpoena power. OK fine, GOP SOP, to be expected. But this is a new twist. He's openly promising to go easy on corporations at the same time.
Issa is an interesting character. He reminds me a lot of Newtie, without all the cheap imitation professorial posing. At heart he's an opportunistic backstabber with a boatload of ambition and a malfunctioning filter. He's basically a McCarthyite, just like Gingrich
Remember his protection of Blackwater? The free marketeers wanted to privatize everything including a militia force capable of securing their vision of "freedom" so real armies need not get involved. And they succeeded. Do you think he'd lead a hearing to hold Erik Prince accountable for anything? Issa's lackey responded to Sargent's post by trying to deny what Issa said in his speech.
Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella emails that Issa "never said he wouldn't subpoena corporations." "For anyone to try and push a narrative that Issa, as a Chairman, wouldn't pursue legitimate investigations that involve any company defies an already established record," Bardella says.
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All that Issa was talking about was not using his authority to go on fishing expeditions targeting corporate America as was the case under Waxman. Just look at Issa's record so far. He has been very aggressive investigating cases where there is evidence of something to investigate."
Right. Nice try, you hack. Issa and his pals will bow down to the alter of Big Business and we know it. If there's a hint of corruption, he would ignore it. He'll act like Don Quixote looking for windmills.
