Issa’s witch hunt flops – demand accountabi​lity …Ben Betz, People For the American Way

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Darrel Issa has led one partisan witch hunt after another since his party became the majority and he became committee chair. But his latest grasping-at-straws attempt to shame Democrats has blown up in his face.

Rep. Issa accused Democratic appointees on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) — the independent commission established in 2009 to investigate the causes of the financial crisis — of financial mismanagement, disclosing confidential information, conflicts of interest and unethically pursuing a partisan agenda. But the documents produced in this investigation not only failed to substantiate these claims, they actually demonstrated improprieties by some of the Republicans on the Commission.

Now, Chairman Issa wants to brush it all under the rug and look the other way. We can’t let him!

Join PFAW‘s petition to the Government Reform and Oversight Committee now demanding that they investigate improprieties by Republican members of the FCIC.

Outrageously, upon canceling a committee hearing on the FCIC accusations, an Issa staffer was quoted as saying, “they had found some documents at the last minute that didn’t fit the narrative.” A report by committee Democrats, based on 400,000 internal FCIC emails, memos and other documents, shows that those documents didn’t just “not fit” Issa’s narrative, they outright refuted them!

Issa’s allegations of financial mismanagement, inappropriate disclosure and partisan conflicts of interest on the part of Democratic commissioners all turned out to be bogus — frivolous charges not based on evidence of any impropriety. HOWEVER, the same could not be said of Republican members of the Commission.

There is evidence that Republican FCIC Commissioners Peter Wallison and Bill Thomas violated ethics guidelines and shared confidential information about the commission’s work with political insiders and Republican consultants. And contrary to the FCIC’s mission, Republican Commissioner Wallison repeatedly urged his GOP colleagues on the FCIC to use their positions on the Commission to help Republicans in their efforts to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.

Don’t let Chairman Darrel Issa get away with this blatant hypocrisy. His witch hunt failed, but now he, and his committee, MUST investigate evidence of improprieties and conflicts of interest by Republicans on the FCIC.

Thanks for standing up for justice and accountability — the American Way.

– Ben Betz, Online Strategy Manager

P.S. It’s hardly a surprise that partisan and corporate conflicts of interest have been found among Republican FCIC members — these are the same people who insisted on issuing a minority report of the Commission’s findings that whitewashed the findings of phrases like “Wall Street” and “deregulation” in an attempt to rewrite the history of the financial meltdown. But Chairman Issa decided to open this can of worms with his own ideologically driven attacks on the Commission’s Democratic members. Now, it’s his responsibility to do the right thing and hold the real culprits accountable.

Think Fast … thinkprogress.org

President Obama urged Americans to “win the future” in his State of the Union address last night, through both increased government investment in key areas, along with some fiscal restraint measures. “Sustaining the American dream has never been about standing pat,” Obama said. “It has required each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age. Now it’s our turn.”

In his State of the Union address last night, Obama proposed a five-year discretionary spending freeze, building on his earlier call for a two-year spending freeze. The spending freeze exempts entitlements and the military.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) warned earlier this month that President Obama would spew “venom ” during his State of the Union Address, but it was Broun whose rhetoric turned toxic on his Twitter feed during the speech. ” Mr. President, you don’t believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism ,” the congressman told his 3,000 followers.

Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) conceded last night that Senate reformers will be unable to successfully change the filibuster. “We didn’t have the votes,” he told Politico. “But what we’ve achieved is a lot. We’re going to put in place a number of agreements, but we’re going to have a number of votes to see how strong we are on reform.”

The 2008 financial crisis that crippled global economies was avoidable, according to the conclusions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Its report blamed a wide array of regulators and elected leaders, including the Bush administra tion, which the report criticized for having an “inconsistent response” to the crisis.

Senior White House adviser David Plouffe promised yesterday that President Obama will address gun control at a “different venue, different speech, later date.” Plouffe said that while Obama “has been clear about his position” on certain gun issues, he didn’t mention guns in last night’s address because people were more “worried now about the economy” and “how to win the future for America.”

Thousands of protesters in Egypt crowded into Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday calling for President Hosni Mubarak to end his 30-year rule — “a cry inspired by the fall of an Arab dictator in Tunisia.” But at around 1 a.m. local time today, security forces moved in, arresting some people, beating others, and filling the square with tear gas.

Pentagon data show s that the number of U.S. troops killed by IEDs in Afghanistan soared by 60 percent last year, while the number of those wounded tripled. Officials said the increased attacks were expected given the surge of troops but “the spike comes despite a fresh wave of war-zone countermeasures.”

Last night, Texas Senate Republicans passed a bill requiring Texans to show photo ID to vote, hailing it as “a safeguard to eliminate voter fraud and ensure integrity of the ballot box.” But Democrats voted unanimously against the bill, joining the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Texas, and other advocacy groups in believing that the measure “could disenfranchise minorities, the working poor and students.”

And finally: The top leaders of all three branches of the U.S. government gathered at the House of Representatives last night to hear the president’s State of the Union Address, but Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was instead locked in a secret bunker somewhere to serve as the “desi gnated survivor” in case of catastrophe at the Capitol so he could assume the presidency. Salazar’s first act as president if the unthinkable should occur? Bolo ties and cowboy hats for all.

Newser Nine at Nine …9@9

 Obama ‘Won the Center’

(Newser) – President Obama’s second State of the Union address probably won’t win over many critics from the left or right, but he did an impressive—at times even Reaganesque—job of pitching to the center, pundits say. “The point wasn’t soaring rhetoric or soothing the nation,” notes Joshua Green… More »
http://www.newser.com/story/110571/obama-won-the-center.html?utm_source=9at9&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20110126

Inquiry Concludes: Financial Crisis Was Avoidable

(Newser) – Corporate mismanagement, excessive risk-taking by Wall Street, and inadequate government regulation caused the 2008 financial crisis, according to a 576-page report by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, due to be released today. The report blames policies by both the Clinton and Bush administrations, Fed chairmen Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke,… More »
http://www.newser.com/story/110576/inquiry-financial-crisis-was-avoidable.html?utm_source=9at9&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20110126

Toyota Recalling 1.7M Vehicles

(AP) - Toyota is recalling nearly 1.7 million vehicles around the world for various defects that may cause fuel leakage—the latest in quality control woes for the Japanese automaker. The company says it is recalling a wide range of models, including the IS and GS Lexus luxury models in North… More »
http://www.newser.com/story/110579/toyota-recalling-17m-vehicles.html?utm_source=9at9&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20110126

Google to Hire More Than 6,200 Workers This Year

(Newser) – Now here’s a Google search that should make President Obama happy: “jobs.” Google says it will hire more than 6,200 workers this year—25% of its work force—in the online giant’s biggest hiring spree yet. Some Wall Street analysts complain that Google is quickly becoming too… More »
http://www.newser.com/story/110567/google-to-hire-more-than-6200-workers-this-year.html?utm_source=9at9&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20110126

Think Fast … thinkprogress.org

President Obama, on his way home from Hawaii, offered an assessment of how Republicans will act in the opening months of 2011, saying he expects they will “play to their base for a certain period of time.” He still retained some optimism, however. “My expectation, my hope is that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell will realize that there will be plenty of time to campaign for 2012 in 2012.”

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) yesterday, Senate Democratic leadership said “we will block” any attempt by the House to “move forward with a repeal of the health care law.” Particularly concerned over the elimination of the “donut hole” Medicare fix, Democrats said the law “is too important to be treated as collateral damage in a partisan mission.”

House Republicans, led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), have announced a list of investigations they hope “could embarrass the Obama administration.” Over the next three months, Issa plans six investigations: the WikiLeaks scandal; recalls at the Food and Drug Administration; the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis; the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission‘s failure to identify the origins of the meltdown; and corruption in Afghanistan.

Obama’s advisers are debating whether he should use his executive authority to issue a signing statement that would allow him to bypass new restrictions on the transfer of Guantánamo detainees. Congress included the restrictions — which would make it harder to close the detention facility — in a defense bill it passed last month and the President is expected to act on the measure this week.

Republican military expert John Wheeler, 66, was found dead in a Delaware landfill Monday. A former aide in the Reagan and both Bush administrations and a veteran of the Vietnam War, Wheeler’s “death has been ruled a homicide.”

“A band of Senate Democrats signaled on Monday that it would press forward when Congress convenes this week with a proposal to curtail filibusters and other methods of slowing the chamber’s work.” Democrats will likely use some “procedural sleight-of-hand” to buy time for negotiations with Republicans over rule changes, delaying implementation for a few weeks.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) plans to reach out to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to craft a bipartisan immigration reform bill in the new Congress, but it is unclear if Graham will respond favorably to Menendez’s outreach. Otherwise, Menendez said he will introduce his own bill. “If there’s nothing to have hearings about, nothing to debate over, you will never move forward,” he said last month.

And finally: While debating the authenticity of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) new tan, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough wondered if the senator was attempting to mimic pop star David Bowie’s space-traveling alter ego. “Did you follow David Bowie through the Ziggy Stardust years? He had more makeup than Bowie did,” Scarborough said of Graham. “I think the senator was just out in the sun over the holidays,” replied co-host Willie Geist.