ISSA PLEDGING SUBPOENAS IF CHAIRMAN

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is currently the ranking Republican member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and has become the face of Republican opposition to the Sestak / Abramoff stonewalling by the Obama administration. He's now making it very clear that he will use subpoena power if he becomes chairman of that commmittee as a result of the upcoming November elections.

POLTICO is reporting, with dripping liberal bias, on what Issa's plans are:

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.

Politico is known for its liberal bent already but I found this article particularly angry. This tells me that despite the left's attempts to downplay bribes as something that should be excused as business as usual, they're getting quite concerned about Issa's pledged aggressiveness and preparedness for a big showdown.

If the House gets a majority in November's elections and Obama's numbers continue tanking, Issa very well may get some serious political momentum behind him. As Politico reports, he's preparing for such a scenario right now.

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.

This story has definitely got the attention of the Democrats and you can tell by how Politico goes after Issa in this article.

Read it all.

VIDEO: JOE BARTON'S JOE WILSON MOMENT

Not only do Representative's Joe Barton (R-TX) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) share the same first name but they also now share something else in common. Both were chastised by leaders within their own party for speaking the truth. In the case of Wilson, one might argue that whether he was right or not, calling the president a liar during a joint session of congress was over the line and a breech of protocol. I guess we're supposed to ignore the fact that Wilson was proven right countless times since and consequently, his two words - 'you lie' - have been aging like a fine.

At a House Committee hearing on June 17th designed to give BP Executive Tony Hayward a political flogging while simultaneously giving U.S. Representatives the opportunity to grandstand as oil continues spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, Barton seemed to channel Wilson, stating the uncomfortable truth. He called the $20 Billion escrow fund BP was ordered by Barack Obama to create a "shakedown" and "slush fund". He also apologized to Hayward for it. The Democrats immediately went into shrill-mode, decrying Barton's comments.

Now, House Minority leader John Boehner is leading the charge of Republican House leaders in doing to Barton what John McCain and other Republicans did to Joe Wilson - turning on him for speaking the truth and forcing Barton to apologize.

Via Politico:

Showing just how involved Republican leadership was in damage control over Barton’s comments today, the retraction was forwarded to the media by House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office. Moments after Boehner’s office publicized Barton’s retraction, Boehner, Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) sent out a statement condemning Barton.

“Congressman Barton’s statements this morning were wrong,” the GOP leadership trio said in a rare joint statement. “BP itself has acknowledged that responsibility for the economic damages lies with them and has offered an initial pledge of $20 billion dollars for that purpose. The families and businesspeople in the Gulf region want leadership, accountability and action from BP and the Administration.”

These are the same leaders who've no doubt seen what this administration has done with money it has control over. Boehner himself once said, "Oh, my God" in reference to a previous shakedown.

Republican leadership once again shows that when forced to play a game of chicken with Democrats, it always bows out. Here are Barton's comments.



h/t to Big Journalism for the video

VIDEO: LOUISIANA GOVERNOR'S CLEAN UP EFFORTS SHUT DOWN

We could be witnessing bureaucracy's waterloo here. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has exhibited leadership in response to the oil disaster in the Gulf almost in direct proportion to how Barack Obama has exhibited a lack of it. Jindal has been out in the water helping to lead the effort to use vacuums to suck up oil. Then the Coast Guard shut him down and forced 16 barges carrying massive vacuums to sit idle for 24 hours.

The most damaging aspect to this report from ABC - in addition to the 24 hour ban - was the oil that could have been picked up but wasn't. You'll get a quick math lesson that shows 96 thousand gallons of oil could have been retrieved by the barges but weren't.

As the president gives speeches about the need for cap and trade legislation designed to prevent this crisis from going to waste, he's actually preventing the oil from being extracted from the Gulf by not exhibiting strong leadership with clear, articulate priorities.

via ABC News: