Darrell Issa Sells His Committee To Big Business-- Even Before He Takes Over Officially!

There is some fiercer-than-usual jockeying among our degenerate political class for the limitless bribes Big Business is willing to pay to make sure their interests are well-served. That is the only true and enduring transpartisanship in DC. No one is scratching their head over Obama's apparent decision to name a corrupt Big Business hack like William Daley as his new chief of staff-- the perfect, if tragic, successor to Rahm Emanuel. It's about the benjamins, even more than about specific Chicago inbred politics. Daley was a top corporate bagman Commerce Secretary for Bill Clinton and is now the Midwest chairman of one of Wall Street's most outrageous criminal operations, JPMorgan Chase. Conventional wisdom is that the Big Business absolutist Daley "could help Obama repair frayed relations with the business community in time for 2012 fundraising." Yeah.

When the Democratically controlled House passed a series of outrageous tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires on December 17, 277-148, 139 Democrats-- one more than the 138 Republicans-- voted for the fatal "compromise." Are they all whores? Well... certainly all the Republicans are, and among the Democrats voting for Big Business' #1 priority were standout shills like Travis Childers (MS), Bobby Bright (AL), Melissa Bean (IL), Suzanne Kosmas (FL), Glenn Nye (VA), Chris Carney (PA), Bill Foster (IL), Lincoln Davis (TN), John Adler (NJ), Jim Marshall (GA), John Boccieri (OH), Baron Hill (IN), Artur Davis (AL), Walt Minnick (ID), Frank Kratovil (MD), Brad Ellsworth (IN), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Ike Skelton (MO), Harry Mitchell (AZ)... all of whom had already been defeated by the voters.

Of course, it's hardly only Obama and the Democrats who are up Wall Street's ass for campaign cash. The Republicans are fighting for every dime, and now that they're in power, lobbyists are once again in complete control of the House of Representatives. This week one of the GOP's biggest corporate whores-- himself the richest Member of the House-- signaled loud and clear that Big Business is getting the keys to the car back. Yes, I'm talking about the one and only Darrell Issa, one of the few Members of Congress to have been arrested, serially, for car thefts. (Interestingly, he purged his Wikipedia site of all references to his criminal activities this week.) 

Issa, now the chair of the House Oversight Committee, "wants the oil industry, drug manufacturers and other trade groups and companies to tell him which Obama administration regulations to target this year." He sent letters to more than 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks last month-- including Duke Energy, the Association of American Railroads, FMC Corp., Toyota, Bayer, the American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association-- requesting a list of existing and proposed regulations that in right-wing parlance for pro-consumer/pro-environment legislation "would harm job growth."

Issa is getting his cue from and a voice to a chorus of largely disgruntled industry groups and companies that have collectively groaned about regulations in the pipeline and on the books.

"I believe for the last couple of years that we were honestly shut out of this debate at least on the House side," NPRA President Charles Drevna said. "Our policy positions haven't changed one iota. [But] is there a better chance of what I would consider a more fair hearing? Absolutely." Drevna received a letter from Issa late last month.

Issa has no qualms about giving Drevna and other administration critics a louder mouthpiece.

"As a trade organization with members that must comply with the regulatory state, I ask for your assistance in identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively impacted job growth in your members' industry," Issa wrote in a Dec. 8 letter to NAM. "Additionally, suggestions on reforming identified regulations and the rulemaking process would be appreciated."

The letter to NAM is a template for ones Issa sent other groups over the course of last month. In the NAM letter, Issa notes that federal agencies in fiscal year 2010 "promulgated 43 new regulations" ranging from new limits on "effluent" discharges from construction sites to rules for Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations. The "effluent" rule, Issa charged, will cost $810.8 million annually, resulting in the closure of 147 construction firms and the loss of 7,257 jobs.

The list of regulatory grievances appears wide-ranging.

Rosario Palmieri, NAM’s vice president for regulatory policy, and Drevna both highlighted EPA greenhouse gas controls for major emitters that went into effect Sunday.

Palmieri said the group also highlighted in their response to Issa upcoming EPA decisions over whether to tighten limits on ground-level ozone and controlling hazardous air pollutants from incinerators and boilers.

Many Democrats and the environmental community certainly would push back on efforts to rein in EPA greenhouse and other controls simply in the name of preserving jobs. "The Clean Air Act is one of job creation, not job destruction, plain and simple," said Tony Kreindler, a spokesman for the Environmental Defense Fund. These controls give companies "the lead time and certainty to invest and bring products to the market and actually create jobs."

NAM's "high-priority" regulatory list also includes OSHA consultation, noise and other policies, upcoming Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission controls regarding over-the-counter derivatives, Transportation Department limits on hours of service for truck drivers, and implementing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act signed into law in 2008 by President George W. Bush.

"These are all high-priority regulations that can cost manufacturing jobs and will if implemented the wrong way or will as currently proposed or finalized," Palmieri said. "We're anxious for some oversight of these programs."

It's always useful to follow the money. Public Campaign did, and here's part of a memo they sent me yesterday about one of Congress' most egregious crooks:



Ahhh... Keith Dealt With Issa Last Night

And Jillian Barclay has moved to remedy the situation of the larcenous congressman who believes in rewriting history by deleting it from Wikipedia pages. In fact, she's been even more thorough than Wikipedia:

Of all the lies reportedly told by Darrell Issa, maybe the worst is that he guarded then President Nixon during the 1971 World Series Games. According to the Nixon Library, Nixon did not attend the World Series that year. To couple America's Greatest Pastime with a lie is unforgivable, but with Issa, that lie is the tip of the iceberg! In 1971, Issa was a 17 year old high school dropout who had enlisted in the Army. Records show that while in the Army, he did serve in an exclusive unit for less than six months, but that he was cited for bad conduct, suffered a demotion and accused of auto theft. The San Francisco Examiner ran a scathing article in May of 1998 which helped to derail Issa's then bid for Senate. The article researched Issa's actual military record and compared that to Issa's accounts of his military service and the results were devastating for Mr. Issa. The above allegations were a part of that article.

Further, Andy Cohen, writing for the San Diego News Network, reported on June 4, 2010 that Issa spent six months on a bomb disposal team while in a college ROTC program, which hardly qualified him for elite status.

Lies, open support of Hezbollah, multiple arrests for auto theft and weapons, shady land deals, suspicion of arson, alleged partner shakedowns and firing employees while toting a gun are enough to question the fitness of this Congressman! There is, sadly, for Mr. Issa, more. Mr. Issa made his millions from ownership of Directed Electronics, the largest car security company in the world. The famous Viper alarm carries Issa's own voice. The manner in which Issa obtained the company has been questioned as less than ethical.

Issa reportedly invested $7000.00 in a company called AC Custom, which was owned by Joseph Adkins. Mr. Adkins reports that the company had several millions of dollars in sales yearly. Adkins borrowed $60,000.00 dollars from Issa and used his company as collateral for the loan. When he was late on the repayment of the loan, he says that he asked Issa for an extension and Issa agreed. But a few days after that conversation, Issa appeared in an Ohio court and asked for a judgment of default against Adkins. Issa took advantage of a law in Ohio that allowed a creditor to come into court without notifying the debtor and in that way, obtained the judgment. According to Adkins, Issa then phoned him and told him that he was now the boss. Adkins was shocked and to this day, claims Issa is a thief who cheated him out of his business.

Shortly after assuming ownership of AC Electronics is when the suspicious fire took place, but not before Issa quadrupled the insurance coverage and removed blueprints and a computer from the premises. The fire was determined to be arson and Darrell Issa is still considered a suspect. It was reported in the Daily Kos that one of Issa's brothers who helped in the clean-up of the fire showed up with the hair singed off one of his arms. For more on Issa and arson, link to: http://dailykos.com/story/2005/1/14/145836/417.