Bachmann: If GOP wins the House, 'all we should do is issue subpoenas'.
Yesterday, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) spoke to the GOP Youth Convention in Washington. One attendee asked Bachmann about what the Republicans will do if they win back the House:
Yesterday, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) spoke to the GOP Youth Convention in Washington. One attendee asked Bachmann about what the Republicans will do if they win back the House:QUESTION: I might be putting the cart before the horse here, but assuming the Republicans win the House back this next cycle, how do you feel about the chances for a little oversight and a little accountability now that the Republicans would have the subpoena power? How aggressive do you think?Steve Benen, Political Animal: July 23, 2010
BACHMANN: Well I think that’s all we should do. I think all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another and expose all the nonsense that has gone on. And it’s very important when we come back that we have constitutional conservative leadership, because the American people’s patience is about this big. [...]
And this is the year, this is it. All of our chips are on November. If we don’t get it back and then starve the beast, the House – we have the power of the purse – so we can starve Obamacare, we don’t have to fund any of these programs. And that’s exactly what we need to do: defund all of this nonsense and then unwind it.
INVESTIGATING IS EASIER THAN GOVERNING.... The political world may not fully appreciate just how ugly it might be next year.
A Republican House majority in the next Congress would likely take this even further. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has already made clear that he intends to make Burton look like a meek, submissive toady, leaving "corporate America" alone, so he can attack the White House relentlessly.
For that matter, let's also not forget that some Republicans, including two members of Congress, have raised the specter of presidential impeachment once there's a GOP majority. One of them is Bachmann -- who thinks "all" Republicans should do in the next Congress is launch witch hunts.
As Paul Krugman noted recently, "[W]e'll be having hearings over accusations of corruption on the part of Michelle Obama's hairdresser, janitors at the Treasury, and Larry Summers's doctor's dog."
If this seems like a joke, now would be a good time to adjust your expectations.
Are you ready for it? Let's pray the GOP loses in 2010 because it will be a circus, you can bet your bippy it will! Bachmann is not pulling any punches, there will be subpoenas flying around Washington like we have never seen before. It'll make the Clinton impeachment look like a schoolyard prank! We can only hope the republican party destroys itself or we are doomed to repeat the past. There really is no stopping the evil train wreck called the republican party...
To be sure, it was farcical on the Hill in the mid- to late-'90s. Rep. Dan Burton (R) of Indiana and his House committee on administrative oversight launched pointless investigations into every wild-eyed Clinton-related accusation unhinged activists could manufacture.And I mean "every" quite literally. In one instance, Burton held hearings -- for 10 days -- on the Clintons' Christmas card list. In another, Burton fired a bullet into a "head-like object" -- reportedly a melon -- in his backyard to test his conspiracy theories about Vince Foster. Over the last six years of Bill Clinton's presidency, Burton's committee unilaterally issued 1,052 subpoenas -- that's not a typo -- to investigate baseless allegations of misconduct. That translates to an average of a politically-inspired subpoena every other day for six consecutive years, including weekends, holidays, and congressional recesses.
A Republican House majority in the next Congress would likely take this even further. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has already made clear that he intends to make Burton look like a meek, submissive toady, leaving "corporate America" alone, so he can attack the White House relentlessly.
For that matter, let's also not forget that some Republicans, including two members of Congress, have raised the specter of presidential impeachment once there's a GOP majority. One of them is Bachmann -- who thinks "all" Republicans should do in the next Congress is launch witch hunts.
As Paul Krugman noted recently, "[W]e'll be having hearings over accusations of corruption on the part of Michelle Obama's hairdresser, janitors at the Treasury, and Larry Summers's doctor's dog."
If this seems like a joke, now would be a good time to adjust your expectations.
Are you ready for it? Let's pray the GOP loses in 2010 because it will be a circus, you can bet your bippy it will! Bachmann is not pulling any punches, there will be subpoenas flying around Washington like we have never seen before. It'll make the Clinton impeachment look like a schoolyard prank! We can only hope the republican party destroys itself or we are doomed to repeat the past. There really is no stopping the evil train wreck called the republican party...
