And they’re calling it #Trainwreck
Based on the itinerary Speaker Boehner unveiled today, Darrell Issa is going to be a very busy man this week.
Using a hashtag to troll for horror stories and bad news is part of the Republicans’ grand strategy to use social media to do just that: solicit horror stories and bad news. Because there’s no news like bad news, right?
This strategy was described at length by the New York Times last week, and if you weren’t aware of their plans, the above list of events shared by the Speaker’s office would make it appear that multiple committess are acting independently to investigate Obamacare.
That is not the case.
The effort has its roots in a strategy developed last spring, when House Republican leaders — plagued by party divisions that were thwarting legislative accomplishments — refocused the House’s committees on oversight rather than on the development of new policies.
Rob Borden, a general counsel to Representative Darrell Issa of California, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, moved to a newly created position that reported jointly to Speaker John A. Boehner and Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader. Mr. Borden’s task was to coordinate and monitor oversight activities across separate committees to make sure they are not overlapping or undercutting one another.
Given the near-certainty that this strategy will prove to be yet another failure on the part of Republicans, Democrats have very little to worry about. Darrell Issa is 0 for 4 on fake scandals and there’s every indication that he’s poised to go 0 for 5. He’s out of the playoff picture.
The bottom line is Republicans in the House are using their authority as committee chairmen to steer the debate in a certain direction for political gain. No other purpose is being served. They have no intention of amending the Affordable Care Act in good faith. This is a political campaign being waged in the name of the American people, and on the taxpayer dime, whether they like it or not.
The next chairman of the Oversight Committee should investigate that.
