Hit The Road Jack

Guest Post By C.L. Smith

C.L. Smith aka “Leonidas” is a frequent, right of center commenter on The Moderate Voice and has been invited as a Guest Voice.

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Remember the Democratic Oversight that was promised, and Nancy Pelosi’s claim that Democrats would “drain the swamp”? Well seems like they are falling short of these pledges once again.

Via The Hill:

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) locked Republicans out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee room to keep them from meeting when Democrats aren’t present.

Towns’ action came after repeated public ridicule from the leading Republican on the committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), over Towns’s failure to launch an investigation into Countrywide Mortgage’s reported sweetheart deals to VIPs.

For months Towns has refused Republican requests to subpoena records in the case. Last Thursday Committee Republicans, led by Issa, were poised to force an open vote on the subpoenas at a Committee mark-up meeting. The mark-up was abruptly canceled. Only Republicans showed up while Democrats chairs remained empty.

So where were the Democrats?

A GOP committee staffer captured video of Democrats leaving their separate meeting in private chambers after the mark-up was supposed to have begun. He spliced the video to other footage of the Democrats’ empty chairs at the hearing room, set it to the tune of “Hit the Road, Jack” and posted it on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s minority webpage, where it remained as of press time.

Video here:

Congressional Democrats Run Away From Countrywide Subpoena Vote

After this embarrassment you would think the Democrats might actually hold the vote wouldn’t you? They didn’t, but to show they are serious about “draining the swamp” they took dramatic action. They changed the lock. You just can’t make this up.

Towns’ staffers told Republicans they were not happy about the presence of the video camera in the hearing room when they were not present. Issa’s spokesman said the Democrats readily acknowledged to Republicans that they changed the locks in retaliation to the videotape of the Democrats’ absence from the business meeting even though committee rules allow meetings to be taped.

Of course Republicans in power were guilty of similar items, and the article goes on to give a good example back from 2003. But isn’t this the type of thing that Democrats were supposed to change once in power? As a moderate right Republican who disapproved of the Bush administration, it was with some relief that I saw Democrats take Congress in 2006 thinking it would provide a balance. By 2009 it is obvious that they are doing no better than their predecessors. Once again I’m reminded of The Who song, “We Won’t Get Fooled Again”, especially this line: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”.

Time to tell all these Congressional children of both parties to “Hit The Road Jack”. Elect moderates, not the children who are on the far wings of both parties. RINOs and Blue Dogs for real leadership.