GOLDMAN SACHS OR STRAWMAN SACKED?

Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), ranking Republican of the House Oversight Committee could be battling the White House stonewall again. This time, in the form of a request for any documents related to the Securities and Exchange Commission civil lawsuit filed against Goldman Sachs.

The Wall Street giant is certainly not the symbol of high ethical practices. That is not the potential issue at hand. The timing of the lawsuit coupled with financial regulation legislation being debated in the Senate is what has Issa and at least 8 other Republicans wanting answers, who are demanding transparency from the SEC and the White House because of a coincidence that could be anything but.

POLITICO reports:

Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight committee, is demanding a slew of documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission, asserting that the timing of civil charges against Goldman Sachs raises “serious questions about the commission’s independence and impartiality.”

Issa’s letter, addressed to SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro and signed by eight other House Republicans, asks whether the commission had any contact about the case, prior to its public release, with White House aides, Democratic Party committee officials, or members of Congress or their staff.

“[W]e are concerned that politics have unduly influenced the decision and timing of the commission’s controversial enforcement action against Goldman,” Issa writes.

Issa implied that the timing was a bit too convenient, saying President Barack Obama’s push on Wall Street reform “neatly coincided with the commission’s announcement of the suit.”

CBS also reported on this story. If there ends up being some validity to Issa's concerns, bolstering his cause for skepticism is that such a tactic is vintage Saul Alinsky. If it turns out that the SEC was colluding with the White House, demonizing big bankers is red meat to Obama's base. Rubbing raw the sores of discontent is what it's all about in Community Organizing. The same thing happened in the late 1990's with the Community Reinvestment Act. Community Organizations agitated the base, demonized mortgage lenders, and let that discontent fester to the point of getting the likes of ACORN sending angry members to bankers' homes, demanding whatever form of justice they perceived was owed to them.

As I mentioned, Goldman Sachs certainly doesn't set the standard for ethical practices - which is one of the reasons this tactic would play well - but until more people see big government as multiple times worse, things aren't likely to change.

Check out this video interview between Greta van Susteren and Darrell Issa on the matter:



h/t to Hot Air Pundit