If Darrell Issa Is So Rich, Why Doesn't He Get His Teeth Whitened?

On Saturday I asserted that Darrell Issa should be a top priority target for the DCCC, rather than just another vile Republican committee chairman who gets a free reelection pass from Steve Israel, like he did last year. Issa's San Diego/Orange County district has a PVI of R+4, a district that can be won and a district worth fighting for-- at least in terms of building an infrastructure to win in 2016.

But the DCCC isn't doing anything about recruiting a viable candidate against Issa. Steve Israel prefers spending his time and resources against backbenchers no one has ever heard about or cares about. Issa is all over the media and every time he makes an appearance the Democratic base is filled with loathing. I don't expect Steve Israel has ever met anyone from the Democratic base though.

Maybe after Issa's fumbled appearance on CNN yesterday, Israel will sense an opportunity... although that isn't likely. Issa made a blanket statement about political officials in the Obama administration orchestrating the IRS probe into teabaggers groups who were, after all, trying to claim they should get classified as non-profits because they're not political-- even though they are political. But Issa is vowing his witch-hunt will continue until he finds evidence to prove what he believes-- no matter how off base that is.

"You don’t have that direct link," Crowley continued. "You have the frontline agents going, yeah, we figured it was from Washington or I believe it was, but as of yet you don’t have that definitive, yeah, this guy called me and said, people, go look for tea party and patriot applications." Issa claimed his investigation would eventually turn up direct evidence of his charges and described White House Press Secretary Jay Carney as a "paid liar" for claiming that Washington officials did not direct IRS agents.

The Inspector General's report into the matter concluded that the IRS relied on "inappropriate criteria” while vetting groups applying for nonprofit status by using a BOLO-- "Be On the Look Out"-- list and blamed IRS officials in Washington, DC, for "insufficient oversight" of lower-level staffers. However, it specifically concluded that "All of these officials stated that the criteria were not influenced by any individual or organization outside the IRS."