Karmic Payback Of EPIC Proportions: Anti-Clinton Hatred About To Blowback On GOP & W

And considering how hard the GOP & President Bush Jr catered to the Taliban Wannabe's making up a large part of the GOP's base, it's perfectly fitting to label their irrational hatred of Bill Clinton as a Disaster Of Truly Biblical Proportions

Found this letter from 4 Dem House Representatives the rules changes in the letter are a matter of record and fact, not conjecture in the least, especially the most interesting changes the GOP made at the time

And now, in what must be the most horrible of ironies to those who both despise Clinton and idolize Bush Jr, Henry Waxman is the beneficiary of that previous anti-Clinton hysteria & venom

Waxman will run the House Government Reform Committee, a committee that, at the height of the GOP's "Search and Destroy" mission regarding any & all things Clinton related, was run by Rep Dan Burton

And in Burton's desire to hurt President Clinton, he and the GOP changed quite a few rules for certain House Committee's and Select Committee's

In particular, and sure to absolutely PLAQUE the GOP and Bush Jr Administration, the rules as they relate to issuing of subpoenas

There are a number of unilateral authorities granted to the chairman of the Select Committee by this resolution that cause us concern. The most important concerns are the provisions of section 9(b) of the resolution which grant the chairman, `upon consultation with the ranking minority member,' the authority to authorize and issue subpoenas. This unilateral subpoena authority is problematic in that merely requiring the chairman to consult with the ranking minority member before authorizing or issuing subpoenas does not require the chairman to include the minority in the investigative process. At the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Chairman Burton unilaterally issued over 1000 information requests, including subpoenas, depositions, and document requests with neither a vote of the committee nor the concurrence of the ranking minority member.

TRANSLATED

Thanks to the precedent set down by the GOP to hurt President Clinton, the incoming Chairman can issue any and all the subpoenas he wants of the GOP and Bush Jr Administration, and all he has to do to hold up the "consult with the minority" requirement is to tell any GOP member of the committee that he's issuing subpoenas then & there-there's NO requirement that advance notice be given when issuing subpoenas

Even more horribly ironic, the minority party does NOT have to be included in the investigation process either, that's up to the Committee's majority party membership

And in perhaps the most horribly ironic touch for those who back the President's Warrantless Spying/Information Gathering on US citizens is this-ANY databases/information developed during a Committee investigation does NOT have to be shared with the Committee's minority membership

In each and every instance above, the rights of the Committee's minority membership is COMPLETELY dependent upon the good will of the Committee's majority membership

Those 2nd Amendment groups and zealots that may have previously praised these types of actions that diminished the Democrats ability to exercise any kind of legislative branch oversight of the GOP and Current Administration should really take note here

Section 11 of the resolution grants the chairman the authority to impose a `gag rule' on individuals associated with the investigation, including witnesses and their attorneys. The numerous abuses of witnesses before the Government Reform Committee are well documented. It is extremely perilous to allow staff, in a closed session, to have virtually unlimited questioning of a witness with little or no rights given to the individual being deposed. There is ample opportunity for staff to intimidate and harass witnesses. These interrogatory sessions are not trials or courts of law and do not afford the same protections. If individuals giving depositions are deprived of the protections that are generally available to those giving statements under oath and are treated unfairly, these individuals, along with their counsels, would be prevented by these `gag rules' from coming forward to report such abuses or other inappropriate actions taken by the Select Committee or its staff.

For reasons discussed in This Post, this Means we could see the Gun Industry executives hauled in front of numerous Committees and publicly investigated over the more squalid aspects of their industry, yet at the same time, having themselves and their attorneys gagged from giving their side of the story publicly


What's this, even MORE irony?

Yep, turns out the GOP never did get around to changing those rules neutering the opposition, even when it became apparent that an electoral cataclysm was heading it's way-Stupid move, as if the GOP had changed the rules to their Pre-Clinton Witch Hunt status, they'd be able to make a smashing case of the Dems practicing petty, revenge politics if the Dems had tried to change the rules back to their benefit

Thanks to the irrational hatred of Bill Clinton, and compounded by a further desire to kill as many investigations into the Bush Jr Administration as possible, the GOP is about to realize that treating the minority opposition as shabbily and wretchedly as it did with the Dems is about to reap a Karmic Payback Of Truly Immense Proportions

And before any cries of "petty political payback", ALL taxpayers please note one other rule the GOP put into play when trying to hound President Clinton from office

Section 10 of the resolution grants the Select Committee the authority to receive and examine any tax return related to individuals and entities named by the Select Committee as possible participants, beneficiaries, or intermediaries in the transactions under investigation. Virtually unfettered access to the tax records of individuals and others is a very risky venture and must be pursued with the utmost responsibility and respect for the privacy of those individuals. We urge the Select Committee to use the greatest of care in exercising this authority. We support the inclusion of language in the report that directs the Select Committee to vote to obtain these records.

TRANSLATED:

The Chairman of the Committee can legally obtain YOUR tax records without any vote of the full Committee needed, the Chairman doesn't even need the support of a majority of the Committee's majority party membership

And how do we know that the GOP did NOT just throw names out during these investigations, names of troublesome political opponents, YOUR names?

And that's not just overwrought hysteria, how would anyone know their tax records are being looked at by politicians if the taxpayer isn't required to be aware of it?

The rules have to be changed back, so these kinds of power plays to avoid any Congressional oversight can never occur again, not considering the state our country, military and foreign policy are all in presently

BUT.....

The Dems MUST rub the GOP's nose in it, so to speak, the GOP must learn the hard way just why it shouldn't pull these stunts in the first place, and it has to leave such a revolting taste in the GOP's political mouth that it never even thinks of cutting out the opposition ever again

I say pour it on the GOP for one year, then change the rules back to a minority-inclusive procedure on the Congressional Committees

Now that the Dems will be able to practice the same policies of information gathering & distribution as the Administration does-with as few bureaucratic impediments as possible-there's absolutely no way that those backing the Administration's warrantless spying/information gathering can complain without being complete and total hypocrites of the most base, hollow and opportunistic type