Michael Steele thinks Rep. Darrell Issa's attacks on Attorney General Eric Holder are bad politics which have taken the GOP "off track."
"The optics are not good for the GOP, in my estimation," the MSNBC analyst and former Republican Party chair said on NOW with Alex Wagner Wednesday. "They play, actually, quite well into Obama's rant against the House and against the do-nothing Congress."
Steele spoke in the midst of a House Oversight Committee hearing over whether to charge Holder with contempt of Congress. Issa, a California Republican who chairs the committee, has waged an aggressive campaign against the Attorney General over what some Republicans see as Holder's effort to stonewall a congressional investigation of the Justice Department's now-defunct Fast and Furious program.
Steele argued that the contempt hearing was a distraction from the real issues that the Republican Party should be focused on.
"To have this sort of devolve into the political realm and become this sort of hyper-extended conversation that leads to—what?" Steele said. "It just seems to me off track."
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What's Issa's Oversight Committee should really be investigating
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uh ohhhhhh...................chooooooo woooooooooooo.............nothin we didn't already know about the GOP Michael...............
Its Just another diversion from the real problems in Our Country !!! issa can go shove his head into the koch bros. A$$es !! the fast and furious was started by Dubya and he also had 3 similar projects that he did under his own watch - Why is No-One Bitchin' Bout those !!???? TYPICAL - S.O.B.S. !!
"nothin we didn't already know"
#1 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:32 PM EDT
and you PROVE it EVERYTIME you post one of your one-sided ONLY POSTS
President Obama promised on the campaign trail that he would have the most transparent administration in history
Another broken promise you can add to his list of many
‘Operation Wide Receiver’
What’s also fascinating about the documents turned over to investigators is that they reference a little-known ATF operation called “Operation Wide Receiver”, which just like “Fast and Furious,” let guns “walk” to Mexico.
The operation, run by ATF’s Tucson office and the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, started in 2006 — when George W. Bush’s Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was running the show — and ran until the end of 2007. No charges were filed.
Fast forward to 2009, when the Obama administration took over the Justice Department. The former Gang Unit inside DOJ’s Criminal Division (it later merged with the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section) reviewed the case for possible prosecution. At that time, a federal prosecutor in the unit “learned the ATF Arizona had permitted guns to be transferred to suspected gun traffickers and had not interdicted them,” according to a DOJ official.
DOJ eventually issued two indictments that grew out of the Bush-era “Wide Receiver” investigation, which were unsealed towards the end of 2010.
Before the indictments were unsealed, however, deputy assistant attorney general Jason Weinstein raised concerns about investigative methods used in the Wide Receiver case. That’s what comes up in the email.
“Do you think we should try to have Lanny [Breuer] participate in press when Fast and Furious and Laura’s Tucson [the Wide Receiver investigation] are unsealed?” Weinstein wrote in an email. “It’s a tricky case given the number of guns that have walked but is a significant set of prosecutions.”
Deputy Chief of the National Gang Unit James Trusty replied that he wasn’t sure “how much grief we get for ‘guns walking.’ It may be more like, “Finally they’re going after people who sent guns down there.”
The DOJ official said that Weinstein’s reference to the “tricky case” in which the questionable tactics were used referenced the Wide Receiver case, not Fast and Furious. “He mentioned Fast and Furious only because of his belief at the time that the cases would be announced in close proximity,” the official said.
There’s still the question of why — given how “tricky” the “Wide Receiver” case was — DOJ didn’t take any steps to ensure that ATF officials weren’t using the same types of methods. But the Republican contention that Holder or other high-level DOJ officials knew about the controversial tactics being used before the beginning of 2011? That still hasn’t been proven.
Late Update: Issa’s team responded, saying that “throwing out the ‘Bush Administration did it too defense’ reeks of desperation.”
A Justice Department spokeswoman issued a statement calling Holder’s testimony “consistent and truthful.”
ATF, Alberto Gonzales, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Darrell Issa, Eric Holder, George Bush, Justice Department, Lamar Smith, Operation Wide Receiver, Project Gunrunner
AP Exclusive: Second Bush-era gun-smuggling probe
By Associated Press
Published: 10/15/2011 2:14 AM
Last Modified: 10/15/2011 5:43 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) - A second Bush administration gun-trafficking investigation has surfaced using the same controversial tactic for which congressional Republicans have been criticizing the Obama administration.
The tactic, called "gun walking," is already under investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general and by congressional Republicans, who have criticized the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama for letting it happen in an operation called "Fast and Furious."
Emails obtained by The Associated Press show how in a 2007 investigation in Phoenix, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - depending on Mexican authorities to follow up - let guns "walk" across the border in an effort to identify higher-ups in gun networks.
Justice Department policy has long required that illicit arms shipments be intercepted whenever possible.
The 2007 probe operated out of the same ATF office that more recently ran the flawed Operation Fast and Furious. Both probes resulted in weapons disappearing across the border into Mexico, according to the emails. The 2007 probe was relatively small - involving over 200 weapons, just a dozen of which ended up in Mexico as a result of gun-walking. Fast and Furious involved more than 2,000 weapons, some 1,400 of which have not been recovered and an unknown number of which wound up in Mexico.
Earlier this month, it was disclosed that the gun-walking tactic didn't begin under Obama, but was also used in 2006 under his predecessor, George W. Bush.
The probe, Operation Wide Receiver, was carried out by ATF's Tucson, Ariz., office and resulted in hundreds of guns being transferred to suspected arms traffickers.
Original Print Headline: AP: Second Bush-era gun-smuggling probe
By Associated Press
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=6EUR5Dh0zBw&NR=1 == Gun Runner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60QLl4x0MQs& == More about Gunrunner and the NRA !!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gunrunner
http://www.2ndamendmenttv.com/videos/attacks-on-our-rights/revealed-the-doj-suggested-gun-running.html
US: Mexico seized 68,000 guns from US since 2006
Thursday April 26, 2012, 3:06 PM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Associated Press
Print |E-mail
WASHINGTON — The government said Thursday that 68,000 guns recovered by Mexican authorities in the past five years have been traced back to the United States.
The flood of tens of thousands of weapons underscores complaints from Mexico that the U.S. is responsible for arming the drug cartels plaguing its southern neighbor. Six years of violence between warring cartels have killed more than 47,000 people in Mexico.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released its latest data covering 2007 through 2011. According to ATF, many of the guns seized in Mexico and submitted to ATF for tracing were recovered at the scenes of cartel shootings while others were seized in raids on illegal arms caches. All the recovered weapons were suspected of being used in crimes in Mexico.
At an April 2 North American summit in Washington, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the U.S. government has not done enough to stop the flow of assault weapons and other guns from the U.S. to Mexico.
Calderon credited President Barack Obama with making an effort to reduce the gun traffic, but said Obama faces "internal problems ... from a political point of view."
There is Republican opposition in Congress and broad opposition from Republicans and gun-rights advocates elsewhere to a new assault weapons ban or other curbs on gun sales. The Obama administration says it is working to tighten inspections of border checkpoints in the absence of an assault rifle ban that expired before Obama took office.
For more than a year, ATF has been reeling from accusations that some of its agents in Arizona were ordered by superiors to step aside rather than intercept illicit loads of weapons headed for Mexico.
The Justice Department's inspector general and Congress have been looking into the Arizona gun probe, Operation Fast and Furious.
The issue of gun control legislation hasn't been part of the Republican-led probe of Fast and Furious by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The number of all types of ATF-traced firearms manufactured in the U.S. or imported into the U.S. and later recovered in Mexico rose from 11,842 in 2007 to 14,504 in 2011, according to ATF. The figures for U.S.-sourced firearms were 21,035 in 2008; 14,376 for 2009; and 6,404 in 2010. Included in those totals, the number of rifles recovered in Mexico, submitted to ATF for tracing and found to have come from the U.S. rose from 4,885 in 2007 to 8,804 last year.
Mexico has provided ATF information on 99,691 guns. ATF determined that the source for 68,161 of the weapons was the U.S, 68 percent of the total. For the remainder, ATF was unable to determine a U.S. source or was unable to trace the request to a country of origin. The 68 percent figure is down from estimates of 90 percent in years past when Mexico was sharing less information with the U.S.
The controversial tactic of "letting guns walk" out of gun shops in the hands of suspected straw purchasers was used in Operation Fast and Furious at ATF in Phoenix in an effort to track the guns to major weapons traffickers and drug cartels in order to make criminal cases against smuggling kingpins who had eluded prosecution for years. But the tracking of the weapons was faulty, and many of them wound up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S. Two of the guns spotted at one point during Fast and Furious were later discovered at the scene of the killing of U.S. border agent Brian Terry.
Before Fast and Furious, ATF in Arizona had tried the gun-walking tactic in three separate investigations during the George W. Bush administration, with other tracking problems and only limited success.
During the Obama administration, ATF has undergone a management shake-up and Attorney General Eric Holder has called Fast and Furious a flawed operation that must never be repeated.
The period 2007 through 2011 coincides with Calderon's term as president of Mexico. Ineligible to run for re-election, Calderon made a government crackdown on warring drug cartels the hallmark of his six-year term. The election for a replacement is July 1. His center-right party has seen its election chances fall in the face of a wide perception in Mexico that the crackdown has not worked.
In the Obama administration's efforts to slow the illicit trafficking, gun store owners in southwestern border states are suing to overturn a requirement that they report to ATF when customers buy multiple high-powered rifles within a consecutive five-day period. To date, the program has been upheld in one federal court.
Here Again - As Usuall - They Create a Problem and then Point the finger Elsewhere - S.O.B-S. !!!! Just Another Diversionary Tactic on the part of the gop !!!
Give em hell MD. But be careful. They can't handle too much truth and God forbit you give em that many facts. You'll scramble what little brain they have left. lol
This is another Republican jobs bill.
Chris - I think you may have this confused with the 27 jobs bills passed by the House that are currently waiting to be voted on in the Democrat controlled Senate.
Those weren't jobs bills. Those were tax cuts for the so called "job creaters" and deregulation bills. Same sh*t diffreant day.
So they are/were ways to attempt and stimulate the private sector? What a concept!
Just because something is not some bloated tax and spend plan program or a way to get more people on the government payroll does not make it not a "jobs" bill.
No, THIS is what makes them not jobs bills:
The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (H.R. 872)
Arguing clean water permit requirements are burdensome, supporters introduced H.R. 872, Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011, which reduces existing protections under CWA that are intended to prevent water contamination from pesticide use. Currently, under CWA, pesticide use that contaminates water may only be allowed if a state permit is obtained under the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES). This rule is now being challenged in the House of Representatives with H.R. 872 because the pesticide industry and users prefer the lax protection of water resources under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which creates pesticide labels. If left to FIFRA, most pesticide spraying in and over waterways would ensue without oversight because pesticide labels specify how the pesticide should be used, but more often than not are silent on questions of chemical discharge into water. The key here is that FIFRA provides broad guidance while CWA offers more localized control to protect against pesticide contamination of waterways that is occurring across the country. More on this issue from Beyond Pesticides' March 11, 2011 Daily News.
http://deltafarmpress.com/government/hr-872-reducing-regulatory-burdens-act-faces-uphill-battle-senate
The Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910)
The measure, sponsored by Representatives Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan, and Ed Whitfield, Republican of Kentucky, would overturn the E.P.A.’s finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a danger to human health and the environment. That finding, based on a broad scientific consensus, is the basis for pending regulation of carbon emissions from vehicles and large stationary sources like power plants, factories and refineries.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/white-house-promises-veto-of-anti-e-p-a-bill/
The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act (H.R. 2018)
H.R. 2018 could limit efforts to safeguard communities by removing the Federal Government’s authority to take action when State water quality standards are not protective of public health. In addition, it would restrict EPA’s authority to take action when it finds that a State’s CWA permit or permit program is inadequate and would shorten EPA’s review and collaboration with the Army Corps of Engineers on permits for dredged or fill material. All of these changes could result in adverse impacts to human health, the economy, and the environment through increased pollution and degradation of water bodies that serve as venues for recreation and tourism, and that provide drinking water sources and habitat for fish and wildlife.
http://appvoices.org/2011/07/12/expect-the-president-to-veto-h-r-2018-clean-water-cooperative-federalism-act/
The Consumer Financial Protection & Soundness Improvement Act (H.R. 1315)
H.R. 1315 would needlessly delay the transfer of Federal consumer financial protection responsibilities from seven other agencies to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) established by the Dodd-Frank Act, thus continuing to foster a fragmented approach to consumer financial protection. In addition, the bill would seriously weaken the Bureau’s decision-making power by making the head of the CFPB a five-person commission rather than a single Director, significantly limiting the Bureau’s ability to effectively respond to the rapid changes in the dynamic consumer financial products and services market. Finally, H.R. 1315 would compromise the independence of the CFPB by imposing unwarranted restrictions on a Bureau that is already subject to significant oversight. The CFPB is the only banking regulator whose rules can be set aside by a council made up of other Federal agencies. H.R. 1315 would go beyond this already stringent limitation by making it easier for the Financial Stability Oversight Council to set aside CFPB rules and regulations, which would significantly impede the Bureau’s ability to protect American consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices.
http://politisite.com/2011/07/20/statement-of-obama-administration-policy-–-h-r-1315-–-consumer-financial-protection-safety-and-soundness-improvement-act-of-2011/
The Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act (H.R. 1230
H.R. 1230 would undermine the Administration's work to ensure that environmental analysis required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is conducted in a rigorous manner. H.R. 1230 would hastily open areas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic to leasing, including requiring the Department of the Interior (DOI) to hold three lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico using outdated NEPA analysis that was conducted before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Administration has strengthened NEPA analysis in light of lessons learned from the spill. DOI intends to hold all three Gulf of Mexico lease sales referenced in the bill by mid-2012.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/112/saphr1230h_20110505.pdf
The Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act (H.R. 1229)
H.R. 1229 would constrain the ability of DOI to ensure that permits meet safety standards by requiring permitting decisions to be made within 30 days of receiving an application – thereby curtailing the review period. Two 15 day extensions would be possible, though DOI would be required to submit burdensome justifications. The bill would grant permits automatically at the end of this 60 day window, regardless of whether the applicant satisfied safety standards. The Administration believes these statutory time constraints are unwarranted. Fifty-one new shallow water permits have been issued since the Administration’s stronger safety standards were put in place, and deepwater permit applications also are being processed in a timely manner. Since the end of February, when industry first demonstrated to safety regulators the capability to contain a subsea spill, twelve deepwater wells have been permitted.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/112/saphr1230h_20110505.pdf
Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act (H.R. 1231)
H.R. 1231 would force Interior to offer for lease sweeping areas of the outer continental shelf off the east and west coast, in the Arctic and Bristol Bay. It would require a doubling of current production without regard for other ocean values. This would not only open up vast new areas to oil and gas drilling without proper analysis of environmental risks, but again would incentivize production over safety. HR 1231 would also force taxpayers to foot half the bill for certain oil and gas exploration costs.
The Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011 (H.R. 2021)
H.R. 2021 would limit existing EPA authority to protect human health and the environment. The bill would: (1) preclude EPA from requiring offshore sources to demonstrate compliance with health-based air quality standards anywhere but in a single onshore area; (2) reduce the length of time during which exploration platforms and drill ships are emission sources under the CAA, thereby limiting the time when emissions would be controlled; and (3) make it impossible to use the permitting program to set emission control requirements for service vessels associated with offshore sources. These changes could result in increased air pollution from OCS sources, including nitrogen dioxide, particles, and sulfur dioxide.
H.R. 2021 would increase Federal court litigation and deprive citizens of an important avenue for challenging government action that affects local public health. H.R. 2021 would replace a relatively fast, inexpensive process for citizens to challenge government action with a longer, more expensive review process in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/112/saphr2021r_20110621.pdf
The North American-Made Energy Security Act (H.R. 1938)
The Administration opposes H.R. 1938, which would: (1) require a determination on a Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline by November 1, 2011; and (2) limit the discretion of the Department of State in its historic, delegated role as specified in Executive Order 13337, issued by President George W. Bush, to oversee the issuance of permits for such border crossing facilities.
The bill is unnecessary because the Department of State has been working diligently to complete the permit decision process for the Keystone XL pipeline and has publicly committed to reaching a decision before December 31, 2011. Further, the bill conflicts with long-standing Executive branch procedures regarding the authority of the President and the Secretary of State, and could prevent the thorough consideration of complex issues which could have serious security, safety, environmental, and other ramifications.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/112/saphr2021r_20110621.pdf
A Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 (H.Con.Res. 34)
The House-passed budget resolution for fiscal year 2012 (H. Con. Res. 34) claims to strengthen safety net programs, including federal housing assistance, while reducing spending overall. In fact, the budget includes deep funding cuts beginning in fiscal year 2012, and continuing over the coming decade, that would dramatically weaken housing and community development programs.
Under the House Republican plan, the budget category that contains most housing programs would be cut by nearly 12 percent in 2012 and 18 percent by 2021, compared to the 2011 funding level.2 If housing assistance programs received their proportional share of these reductions, they would be cut by $5 billion overall in 2012. Moreover, the cuts would deepen every year over the coming decade, reaching $9 billion in 2021. In total, housing programs would lose $75 billion in funding over the coming decade under the House plan.
Community development programs would be cut even more severely: under the House plan, total funding for community and regional development would be slashed by 22 percent in 2012 and 28 percent by 2021, compared to the level in 2011.
http://www.cbpp.org/files/4-26-11hous-pc.pdf
So, to sum what you posted...the bills are less regulation and less spending. Fantastic, that is exactly what I want...getting the government out of the private sectors way. I do not want more taxing, more spending, and more wasteful, bloated programs.
Government does not create jobs, the private sector does!
Are you at all capable of facing the fact that you just contradicted your own words, twice?
.
Darrell Issa has guts, you have to give him that. For a man with a criminal past like his, you have to wonder how he ever got elected to Congress. Setting a building on fire, carrying a concealed weapon and stealing a Maserati. True, the charges were dropped, but where there's smoke, there's fire.(No pun intended) Congress should be throwing HIS tush in jail.
Same way, Charles Rangel has managed to stay in Congress
What was that Boehner had the nerve to say about BS being BS when the latest jobs numbers coming out, yet in another moronic play on trying to stick it to Obama, Issa is on this stupid witch hunt when House Republicans campaigned on jobs. So Boehner, just like you bitched at President Obama, where are the damn jobs?!?!?
President George W. Bush has transformed an open federal government in Washington into one of “pervasive secrecy,” a distinguished authority on communications and First Amendment rights says.
Since his inauguration, Bush has overseen changes that suggest “a dramatic growth of government secrecy, far beyond the secrecy occurring during the Clinton Administration,” writes Susan Dente Ross, an Associate Professor in the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University at Pullman.
“Through executive agency opinions, executive orders, statutory changes, and aggressive litigation, the Bush Administration has effectively limited the power of FOIA(Freedom of Information Act) and reversed the presumption that government records should be available to the public absent demonstrable proof showing that secrecy is needed,” Ross writes in The Long Term View, a journal of opinion published by the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover.
“The administration’s sweeping expansion of the power of federal government to classify records, and so hide them from public view, increases the range of information that may be classified and extends the lifetime of such secrecy,” Ross says. She noted that:
An INS directive issued promptly after September 11, 2001, mandated absolute closure of all deportation hearings in cases the agency determined to be of “special interest” to the war on terrorism, Ross said. The INS judges could gag aliens from disclosing anything learned in closed proceedings and an INS regulation requires states and localities housing federal detainees to withhold all information about them.
Ross noted, though, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge struck down the INS closures and a U.S. District Court Judge inWashington ordered the Justice Department to disclose the names of more than 1,100 non-U.S. citizens detained at some point in connection with terrorism.
Ross asserts, “Legislation championed as essential to protect the nation against terrorist threats allows the federal government to spy on its citizens, to detain them in secret without charges, to prosecute them based on secret evidence, and to prohibit parties to the trial from discussing related information.”
Ross writes the merest perusal of some Bush initiatives shows it has reversed the presumption of open government: “Although the now prevailing presumption of closed government is masked in subtle nuances of language and interpretive guidelines, we may liken the shift to the sea change that would occur in our criminal justice system if we moved from a presumption of innocent until proven guilty to an assumption of guilty until proven innocent.”
Granting the Bush administration has imposed its sweeping secrecy policies in the name of national security, Ross contends this exchange is “unacceptable.” “The trade-off, secrecy for security, is a sham,” she writes. “The citizenry gives up its vital check on abuse of government power and gains little in return.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8763
President Obama promised on the campaign trail that he would have the most transparent administration in history. As part of this commitment, he said that the public would have five days to look online and find out what was in the bills that came to his desk before he signed them. It was his first broken promise, and it's the promise that keeps on breaking. He has now signed 11 bills into law and gone, at best, 1 for 11 on his five-day posting promise. The Obama administration should deliver on the Web-enabled transparency he promised and post bills for five days before signing.
To the thrill of technology and transparency advocates, candidate Obama promised sunlight before signing: "As president," his campaign website said, "Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days."
But nine days after taking office, he signed a bill into law without posting it on Whitehouse.gov for five days. Since then, 10 more bills have become law over the president's signature, and only one has been posted online for five days - and that was for five days after it cleared Congress, not after formal presentment. Two bills have been held by the White House for five days before signing - but they weren't posted online!
http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2011/01/05/papantonio-and-ed-schultz-discuss-darrell-issas-criminal-record/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/06/26/MN155965.DTL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/24/110124fa_fact_lizza == More on issa
MD/MI~ I listened to the ring of fire one, but did you go on down and click on Jillian Barclay's link? WOW! She has ALL the dirt on Issa. She not only has the tip of the iceberg, she has the whole iceberg! His brother has spent time in jail. Darrell is a little more clever. It is really eye-opening. This guy needs to be kicked out of Congress and would be if everyone knew this stuff. I also read the comments and someone that went to school with both Issas says they were ALWAYS little Sh*ts. It's worth reading!
Wouldn't it be great if the Congress investigated Issa? Now that would be a lot of information!
Rep. Mark Critz, other Dems, to skip convention in favor of campaigning in Pennsylvania
Manchin in 2008 addressed the national convention in Denver, urging Democrats to elect Obama. Then, he was a popular governor seeking re-election. But since winning a special election in November 2010 to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd, Manchin has criticized Obama’s economic and energy policies and hasn’t endorsed Obama for re-election
Obama’s under-performance continued in May primaries in Arkansas, Kentucky and West Virginia. He lost more than 40 percent of the Democratic vote in each of those states, to other candidates or “uncommitted,” and his showing worsened in counties in the heart of coal country
By Emily Friedman
@EmilyABC
Follow on Twitter
Jun 15, 2012 9:59am
Romney Strategist Addresses Transparency Complaints
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BOSTON – A senior Romney strategist offered no apologies this morning on behalf of the candidate who often holds closed-to-press meetings with voters as well as meetings with congressional leaders with which the traveling press is unaware until their conclusion.
Asked why the roundtable conversations Romney has prior to most of his public events with middle-class families or business owners are not open to the media, senior strategist Russ Schriefer responded bluntly, "Because they're private."
"I beg my forgiveness but having the media there doesn't really make it an open and honest conversation," said Schriefer, who held a briefing for the press at the campaign's Boston headquarters before the launch of a five-day, six-state bus tour across the battleground states.
Romney has started weaving the stories of those individuals he meets behind closed doors into his stump speech.
Pressed further on why Romney's meetings in the past few weeks with Speaker of the House John Boehner and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were kept from the press until the politicians' offices on the Hill released details, Schriefer was similarly unapologetic.
"Gov. Romney is going to have a private meeting from time to time," Schriefer, adding that Boehner will join Romney Sunday for burgers at an Ohio campaign stop.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/romney-strategist-addresses-transparency-complaints/
Sen. Jim DeMint won’t endorse Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race but said Thursday he wants to “stop the beating” between the party's four remaining candidates and begin focusing more on President Obama.
The 7 Major Issues Mitt Romney Won’t Take A Position On
By Josh Israel on Jun 18, 2012 at 12:02 pm
In March, Mitt Romney demanded “President Obama needs to level with the American public about his real agenda.” But on numerous topics, Romney has refused to answer basic questions about his views, leaving voters to guess at where he stands on important issues. Romney’s ambiguity appears to be a calculated strategy to avoid alienating the conservative base or moderate swing voters. If he’s successful in avoiding articulating policy positions, he can market himself as the “generic Republican” alternative to President Obama.
Here are seven major issues on which Romney has refused to take a stand:
Whether or not Romney can continue to campaign while avoiding taking a position on so many important issues depends on the how the media reacts. There are dozens of reporters following Romney every day. They can choose to either give him a pass on these important policy issues or continue asking him until he provides an answer.
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/06/18/501218/the-7-major-issues-mitt-romney-wont-take-a-position-on/
Why isn't the Congressional oversight committee investigating Issa for corruption?
All they need to do is look at Issa's real estate questionable dealings in California! This GD crook is enriching himself with taxpayer dollars!
In other words, he's a Republican.
Michael Steele: Can you say uncle Tom? GOP poodle and token person of color!
If you're a black person or poor, or middle class, why would you support or vote for the GOP bigots? Am I missing something here?
yes your a RACIST
No a racist is republicans there are no racists left in the democratic party they all became republicans after 1964.
Michael Steele KNOWS he was thrown under the bus by the Repubs. I heard him say just as much on MSNBC one day and he STILL sticks with them. How stupid is that??
You'll notice, however, he seems to like being on MSNBC, where he's actually treated with respect.
I HAVE noticed that. It must be refreshing for him!
How can anyone stomach, much less support and vote for such hateful intolerant selfish one percent protector, GOP bigots?
It boggles the mind to see that so many gullible Americans are easily fearmongered by these mendacious opportunist human-shaped pieces of swine feces!
Romney, the tergiversator! Totally devoid of any ethical standards! Romney apostatizes on issues with such frequency that it makes your head spin!
The Romney panoply is so impenetrable that even the media cannot break through his protective shield!
Why is Romney being given a free pass to continue unimpeded with his mendaciousness? Why is the media not questioning the lies he spews continuously on a daily basis?
Oh, I know why, because he's white and wealthy, to boot!
Go, Roman!
Many U.S. citizens have resorted to selling guns to the Mexican cartels! It isn't the federal government exclusively that sells arms!
In recent months, people, (average American citizens), in the border region, from Colubus NM, to El Paso, to Laredo TX, have been caught and incarcerated by the feds for selling arms illegally to the cartels!
With easy money to be made, it's not only the government but your average Joe that is making a killing selling arms!
But of course to the GOP this is insignificant and not worthy of being investigated, right Mr. Issa? You'd much rather character assasinate your deocrat opponents to score political points, right? You filthy disgusting republicon crook!
Roman, you've got to stop holding back. Tell us what you really think.
What documents are they asking for that Holder want turn over? When they first stated investgating this Holder denied knowing anything I think it was feb2011 in dec 2011 he admitted that he lied and did actualy know. I think those are the documents hes refusing to turn in internal emails on what story he was going to use for liying to start with. You guys seem to be overlooking the fact that Holder flat out denied it to start with. Nine months later he admitted to liying, they are trying to hide something are he would simply turn over the documents that have been ask for. I d ont know why Obama has step in it because his name has been left out of it up untill now.
The Republicans under Bush started the foolish gun running/Arizona fiasco back in 2006 with another version going on in 2009. The GOP in the Department of Justice have not been subpoenaed the Bush officials who started this ill conceived program that gave automatic firearms to drug gangsters in Mexico! Holder replaced or removed or moved to other jobs most of the officials involved with this Arizona fiasco. Holder has been interviewed by the FBI, 7,000 documents have been turned over, and the program has long since been shut down. There is also an inspector general investigating the whole matter in the DOJ. So what more Attorney General Holder is supposed to do is beyond me. Most reasonable people would say he has done enough and the GOP is out on a fishing expedition.
Issa wants to know certain types of internal memos that could well be against the law to turn over to his committee. Investigations are usually privileged with informers identities being hidden often for their own and their families physical safety. Also if the Justice Department has to turnover all documents made during an investigation to Congress many people who have knowledge about a case will be reluctant to give information in the future because some Congressman will have their name printed in the paper or echoed onTV across the nation for every gunman and gangster to see. The GOP looks like idiots in this whole matter. The conservatives are just upset at Holder because he has stopped them from restricting voter registration drives in key states like Florida. Let the GOP whine and moan, it just makes them look more petty. Besides where are all those GOP jobs bills they were supposed to pass?
Right on Rex. You always cut through the BS!