Video: Lou Dobbs Interviews Darrell Issa about Fast and Furious

This is a good segment for those who haven't been following the Fast and Furious scandal. You can probably watch this exchange between Lou Dobbs and Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and be brought up to speed on the basics. For those who have been following the developments, it looks like Issa is ratcheting up the pressure on Attorney General Eric Holder by remaining focused on what Holder said to him at a hearing on May 3rd. At that hearing, Holder told Issa that he had only learned about Fast and Furious a 'few weeks' earlier.

Issa has an interesting strategy relative to that assertion. Rather than attack it as the lie it most certainly is, Issa admits that he is willing to take Holder at his word and explore why no one informed him about it prior to that point. This is likely to be an effective strategy because it will turn up the heat on Holder's direct reports. Despite it straining credulity to believe Holder first learned of Fast and Furious in April (few weeks), if it's true, those who didn't tell him should be fired for not doing so. None have been. This tack Issa is taking may just lead to a scenario in which senior DOJ officials crack just like ATF Director Kenneth Melson did.

The question hanging in the air right now is: Are these senior DOJ officials willing to fall on the sword for Holder? If yes, they will be forced to resign and possibly face criminal charges because it will have meant that they either authorized the operation or knew who did and didn't stop it. If no, this scandal gets ratcheted up yet another notch.

Via MediaIte:

Ranking Member of Oversight Committee (Democrat) Pushing for Gun Control

If you watched the June 15th Oversight Committee hearing into the DOJ's role in Fast and Furious, you saw ranking member, Elijah Cummings (D-MD) look the Brian Terry family in the eye and promise to them that he 'will not rest' until those responsible for the Border Patrol agent's murder were brought to justice. Despite overwhelming evidence that those responsible are leaders within the ATF and DOJ who instructed gun dealers to put weapons in the hands of bad buys, Cummings is pursuing gun control legislation while being seemingly disinterested in doing what he promised the Terry family he would do.

Via Townhall:

U.S. Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) will join other members and a leading law enforcement organization for an event Friday, July 15th, 11:00 a.m. at the House Triangle to introduce the “Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act,” which establishes a dedicated firearms trafficking statute to empower law enforcement to keep high-powered firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminals, including Mexican drug cartels.

In the midst of the investigation being spearheaded by Oversight Committee Chairman, Darrell Issa, we continue learning more about what was driving Fast and Furious. Townhall has posted e-mails between ATF leaders that indicate the agency was attempting to exploit the crisis it created by using the guns it mandated dealers sell to bad guys as an excuse to push gun control.

The fact that Cummings and the Democrats are going down this road is not surprising but that doesn't make it any less wicked.

Read it all.

Nothing Good can come of this: Reid and McConnell Working Together on Debt Ceiling 'Backup Plan'

What is it about people like Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell? What about last November do people like him not understand? The elections were about staying away from working together with Democrats. It's being reported that McConnell is now working with none other than corruptocrat Harry Reid on another version of a supposed 'backup plan' if debt ceiling talks go nowhere. The American public voted Republicans in office to DEFEAT Democrats, not work with them. These establishment politicians are really thick.

Via Chicago Tribune:

WASHINGTON — A plan by the Senate's two top leaders to allow President Obama to raise the debt limit without congressional approval is emerging as the most likely strategy to avoid a looming federal default.

The plan being drafted by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada would lock in roughly $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years — a figure considerably smaller than Republican leaders or President Obama had been seeking.

Administration officials have said they still would prefer a more sweeping deal on the deficit, but they signaled the idea would be acceptable to Obama.

$1.5 trillion over ten years is nothing short of kicking the can. This government needs to get its budget balanced and stop spending more than it takes in. Period. Of all the Republican leaders, House majority leader Eric Cantor has been the one who has been presenting the Tea Party stance more than anyone else but it would seem that Boehner, et. al. are roping him back in to the establishment fold.

Conservatives, particularly in the House, seem likely to oppose it. But with efforts to deliver a larger deficit-reduction deal still stalemated, the new plan, which builds on a proposal put forward earlier in the week by McConnell, could provide a way out of a dead end that has become politically and economically perilous.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated such "last-ditch" efforts may become more palatable in the time ahead.

"What may look like something less than optimal today, if we're unable to get to an agreement, might look pretty good," Boehner said.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House majority leader, toned his hard-line stance Thursday, saying, "There is a dose of pragmatism in all that we do."

That is disheartening news. Any time Republicans attempt to work with Harry Reid, there is nothing good that can come out of it. Nothing. Yet, once again, the Republican establishment appears too weak to stand up to their Democrat counterparts.

Disappointing news.

h/t Weasel Zippers