What’s This? A Circus?

With more than a half-dozen videos surfacing in which MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber bragged about fooling the public about Obamacare, today he faces the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  The hearing begins at 9:30 AM ET on C-SPAN 3.

Many have characterized his remarks about the purposeful lack of transparency and the “stupidity of the American voter” as gaffes.  His remarks may prove to be a fatal blunder that exposes just how bad the law is and may ultimately cause the damn thing to unravel.  It has most assuredly raised the public’s suspicions about the law and generated a palpable anger over the arrogance of this Administration.

Gruber is political poison. 

Democrats have distanced themselves from Gruber since the release of the videos. The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer referred to him as “some adviser who never worked on our staff” who “expressed an opinion that I completely disagree with,” and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who was House speaker when the ACA passed, said she didn’t know who he was, despite having praised his work in 2009.

Jim Esquea, assistant secretary for legislation at HHS, wrote a letter begging to have Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner seated separately from Gruber.  Esquea is scared silly that photographs taken of the two seated together would be a public relations nightmare for the regime.  O RLY?

Gruber, the self-described “ivory tower guy” had laid low since the videos became a flashpoint claiming, “Anything I say will just feed the haters.”

The Daily Caller is reporting that Tea Party Patriots will be handing out 250 t-shirts with Gruber’s likeness with the words “I’m With Stupid” to remind everyone why he will be at the hearing.

Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin told The Daily Caller, “With all that’s going on in the Capitol, we didn’t want Mr. Gruber’s curtain call to go unnoticed. We commemorated his appearance, and in the spirit of the Season, we’d like to offer the Obamacare architect a dozen. He can use them as stocking stuffers for the economically unsophisticated.”

Is 9:30 in the morning too early for popcorn?

There Is Nothing More Frightful Than Ignorance In Action

On Friday July 25, 2014 the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved a resolution to reject White House assertions of “absolute immunity” for David Simas, who has failed to appear under subpoena before the Committee on two separate occasions.

Simas, who is currently Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach, was previously Director of Opinion Research for Obama for America and served as an aide to Senior Advisors David Plouffe and David Axelrod.

Why is the committee so interested in Simas’ testimony?  The White House reopened the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach in January.  It must be noted that the Bush Administration repeatedly violated the Hatch Act.  The Hatch Act prohibits most high-level executive branch officials from engaging in partisan political activities in their official capacities.

Following Simas’ failure to appear under subpoena before the committee, Chairman Issa played an audio tape of former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis making illegal campaign solicitations.

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel believes Simas is immune from congressional compulsion to testify on matters relating to his official duties but Issa has rejected that assertion by jogging the memory of Democrats serving on the committee that a 2008 federal court case, Judiciary v. Miers, found that senior advisors are “not absolutely immune from congressional process.”  The case was brought by Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).  Although Issa hasn’t alleged any actual misconduct by Simas, that particular office has a history of Hatch Act violations.

During Friday’s hearings, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-District of Columbia) demonstrated her adroit unawareness lack of knowledge ignorance of Supreme Court rulings on the subject of Congressional investigatory power.

In Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 187 (1957), Chief Justice Warren did not question the basic power. “The power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process. That power is broad. It encompasses inquiries concerning the administration of existing laws as well as proposed or possibly needed statutes. It includes surveys of defects in our social, economic or political system for the purpose of enabling the Congress to remedy them. It comprehends probes into departments of the Federal Government to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste.”

She called Issa's subpoena a "showcase fishing expedition."  She went on to argue "You don't have a right to know everything in a separation-of-powers government, my friend. That is the difference between a parliamentary government and a separation-of-powers government.”

After showcasing her anger and her stupidity, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said, “I associate myself with your comments.”

Those two made it clear they believe the American public has no right whatsover to know what’s going on inside the White House.  Hmmm.

Livestreaming House Oversight Committee DOJ Testimony In Lost IRS Emails

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

This hearing has concluded.

The Art Of Deceit And The Paid Liar

There was an interesting exchange between House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and CNN’s R2DoubleD2 today on the cable new channel’s “State of the Union” program.

Issa’s bluntness was uplifting.  The scandal surrounding the IRS’s decision to target Tea Party groups was, he believes, “mostly likely the employees in the Cincinnati IRS offices were acting on orders from Washington, DC.

Issa said, “The administration is still—their paid liar, their spokesperson, picture behind, he’s still making up things about what happen[ed] and calling this local rogue.” [Emphasis mine.]

“The reason that Lois Lerner tried to take the Fifth [Amendment] is not because there’s a rogue in Cincinnati,” he added. “It’s because this is a problem that was coordinated. in all likelihood, right out of Washington headquarters.”

On May 21, Carney said: “I think that the tenor of the president’s public comments about it, both in his statement Tuesday night and his public comments the next day reflect his feelings upon learning about the apparent conduct by our IRS officials in Cincinnati.” A day earlier, Carney discussed “matters involving the office in Cincinnati” in an exchange about when the White House learned of the episode.

IRS officials in Washington and at least two other offices were involved with investigating conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. So, the effort reached well beyond the branch in Cincinnati, where IRS official Lois Lerner initially said actions were undertaken by “front-line people.”

An IRS employee was asked if the scandal could be the work of a few local rogue agents. "It's impossible," the employee said. "As an agent we are controlled by many, many people. We have to submit many, many reports. So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen."

The interrogator then asked: "With respect to the particular scrutiny that was given to Tea Party applications, those directions emanated from Washington, is that right?"

"I believe so," the IRS employee said.

See also:  A smoking gun on IRS scandal? An IRS takeover of health care?

Rumpswab Who Is Not Good At Math Also Not Good At Law

On Friday, May 10, 2013 Lois Lerner, head of the IRS Tax-Exempt Unit, apologized for targeting conservative groups by improperly delaying and scrutinizing their applications for tax-exempt status at a conference held by the American Bar Association.

The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty and Zachary Goldfarb noted, “The IRS’s subsequent conference call with reporters was clumsily handled. At one point, Lerner attempted to do arithmetic on the phone and blurted out: ‘I’m not good at math.’”

The following Wednesday, Lerner gave an opening statement before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in which she lied about lying about having done nothing wrong.

 

“I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws, I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee,” Lerner said.

Upon the advice of her attorney she then invoked her constitutional right to plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination and declined to testify.

Trey Gowdy, who sits on committee dealing with the IRS scandal objected saying, “Mr. Issa, Mr. Cummings just said we should run this like a courtroom, and I agree with him. She just testified. She just waived her Fifth Amendment right to privilege. You don't get to tell your side of the story and then not be subjected to cross examination. That's not the way it works. She waived her Fifth Amendment privilege by issuing an open statement. She ought to stand here and answer our questions.”

The fact that she restated some of the same answers she gave the inspector general during his investigation prompted the panel’s chairman Darrell Issa to remark, “At this point, I believe you have not asserted your rights, but have effectively waived your rights.”

And the stench we are smelling is from the collective pants-shitting of the regime.

On next year's 1040, I'm gonna scrawl "I'M ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE" in crayon.
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 23, 2013