Washington – The election is less than a week away. Democratic control of the House is in jeopardy. So it’s not too soon to start worrying about Darrell Issa.
Never heard of him? That’s apt to change soon should Republicans win the House and the hyperkinetic five-term congressman from San Diego assumes the chairmanship of the House oversight committee — and with it the power to scrutinize, and subpoena, the Obama administration.
Issa, a 56-year-old with glossy Jon Hamm looks, was a self-described “rotten young kid” before making a fortune in car alarms and using some of it to run for Congress. (That’s his deep voice warning, “Protected by Viper. Stand Back.”) Since President Obama took office, Issa has reveled in his role as “annoyer in chief,” peppering the administration with hundreds of letters raising the specter of wrongdoing and demanding information.
There are two faces of Issa — Good Darrell and Bad Darrell. Good Darrell sounds responsible, measured, almost statesmanlike. Bad Darrell tosses red meat to a ravenous base.
Good Darrell, writing in USA Today on Oct. 11: “Oversight is not and should not be used as a political weapon against the occupant of the Oval Office. It should not be an instrument of fear or the exclusive domain of the party that controls Congress.”
Bad Darrell, to Rush Limbaugh on Oct. 19: “You know, there will be a certain degree of gridlock as the president adjusts to the fact that he has been one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times.”
If Issa believes this, he is deranged. If he doesn’t and is saying it anyway, he is dangerous. The evidence so far suggests the latter. When Bloomberg’s Al Hunt called Issa on his hyperbole, the congressman hemmed, hawed and brought forth a mouse: in-sourcing.
Seriously. In-sourcing, the practice of shifting work from private contractors to government. “I think the process that we’re dealing with, where in-sourcing, for example … we have every day in the defense and non-defense community, executives of the government tapping people on the shoulder saying, ‘You know, your contract’s not going to be renewed. We’re going to in-source that. You should take this job now for a pay raise,'” Issa said.
Congressional oversight is a crucial function, and having watched a supine Republican-controlled Congress abandon that role during much of the George W. Bush administration, I’d rather have too much than too little.
This is easy to say, of course, if you’re not on the receiving end of subpoenas — and legal bills. Abusive oversight is not the purview of a single party. Power corrupts, but subpoena power tempts. Excesses in the name of oversight can be nearly as damaging to the effective functioning of government as the absence of oversight.
So the question, if Republicans take the House, is whether Good Darrell will triumph over Bad Darrell. Issa’s staff said he was too busy for an interview until after Election Day, but sent a list of inquiries that Issa had championed, including Countrywide’s VIP mortgage program, the Minerals Management Service, the salmonella outbreak.
Legitimate areas for oversight, but Issa’s larger record does not foretell restraint. His modus operandi has too often been to accuse first — and keep accusing even in the absence of supporting evidence.
In Issa’s world, the administration’s dangling of a job offer to Rep. Joe Sestak to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary is “a crime” and an “impeachable” offense, with an ensuing White House “coverup” reminiscent of Watergate.
In Issa’s world, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Goldman Sachs in the midst of congressional debate about financial reform “reeks of a political motive,” as he told CNBC. Issa demanded an investigation and told Don Imus that the SEC’s inspector general launched a probe “because he sees there’s something rotten in how (the SEC) did it and when they did it.”
Five months, a review of 3.4 million e-mails and 32 sworn interviews later, the inspector general found zero evidence of political considerations or collusion. Issa was hardly contrite that his accusations had proved groundless, saying only that “taking some extra time to address questions surrounding the SEC’s decisions is a worthwhile investment.”
Sometimes, certainly, the whiff of smoke exposes fire. Sometimes, too, it’s worth chasing smoke simply to ensure that no fire is smoldering unseen. But Issa, if it comes to that, must keep in mind: The fireman needs to be careful about how he wields the ax.
Ruth Marcus’ e-mail address is ruthmarcus(at symbol)washpost.com.
(c) 2010, Washington Post Writers Group
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.