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November 3, 2010

The Question Everyone is Asking: Who gets the first subpoena?

By Ed Lasky

There are many reasons to celebrate the Republican takeover of the People's House this morning. One of them will be the ability of Republicans to pull away the curtain and see what the Obama team has really been up to as it bullied Americans over the last two years.

Congressman  Darrell Issa will be very busy as head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, holding hearings and calling in federal officials to testify about a wide variety of actions: the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case being among them. The BP Spill, as the Daily Beast points out, may also be  target for Issa:

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Issa, for his part, has put out a detailed list of the top priorities he believes Democrats have stifled. At the top is the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster and the subsequent oil spill. At the time, Issa accused the White House of putting image over policy in its response, hammering the administration for dispatching a political aide to the scene. A larger investigation would reopen a wound for the White House, which fought off constant criticism during the episode.
The work of Inspectors General -- and how Barack Obama and his team-axed Gerald Walpin for what appears to be partisan reasons to protect an ally of the President -- may also be in Issa's scope.

These investigations can be serially rolled out right up to the campaign season of 2012.

The Republicans won't stop there: Americans want answers to questions about waste and fraud in the stimulus program, recidivism rates among released Gitmo terror suspects, political favors and taxpayers dollars flowing to friends and family of Democratic leaders. The list goes on and on. While Issa denies plans to hold Issa Inquisitions, we can take that with a grain of salt.

From Al Kamen's column in the Washington Post:
The possibilities are numerous. First, of course, might be Attorney General Eric Holder, for wanting to try alleged Sept. 11 terrorists in Manhattan, or for dropping charges against the New Black Panther Party of intimidating white poll-watchers and hypothetical white voters in an all-black Philadelphia precinct.

That could play to the tea party base, but maybe better to go deep on Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, for being mean to polluters and enacting cap-and-trade regulations before Congress actually passes a bill. That would please mining, oil and other heavy polluters.

Then there's former president Bill Clinton -- no executive privilege anymore -- and the White House, for a job offer to Rep. Joe Sestak (D) to get him out of the Pennsylvania primary. That might be immensely satisfying to Issa personally, since he's really steamed about it. (On the other hand, Clinton's polls are up these days, and pursuing this could seem too political and unstatesmanlike.)

Treasury Secretary Tim "Bailout" Geithner is another fine target, if you're looking to rev up anger over the management -- not the actual Bush-signed legislation -- of the TARP billions. Or the Energy or Transportation Departments, for their management of the stimulus money. Good ties to jobs and deficit-cutting in those areas.

For excellent waste, fraud and abuse, Issa might want to subpoena Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and CIA chief Leon Panetta about those pallets of cash shipped to Afghanistan to show Washington's deep respect for certain warlords -- and the presidential palace, where about half the money went.

Then there are issues concerning czars -- given power in a way that circumvented the Senate rules regarding appointments. Subpoenas can also tie up the Consumer Czarina Elizabeth Warren who makes Ralph Nader look like a Robber Baron of old. Subpoenas can also play a role in examining the nuts and bolts of ObamaCare and the process by which rules and regulations will be formulated and waivers granted. Issa's chief of staff has been called the Democrats Worst Nightmare.

Sounds like the Taxpayers' Best Dream to me. Let the subpoenas fly.
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