Thursday, November 4, 2010

House GOP May Investigate Obama


Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) pledged on Wednesday to investigate both Barack Obama and George W. Bush with his newfound subpoena power when he takes over as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“I’m going to be investigating a president of my own party, because many of the issues we’re working on began [with] President Bush or even before, and haven’t been solved,” Issa said during an interview on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown.

Issa made clear that he intends to examine both the Bush and Obama administrations’ handling of the mortgage crisis, as well as problems at the old Mineral Management Service, an arm of the Interior Department reorganized amid reports of corruption.

“When we look at the failures of Freddie [Mac] and Fannie [Mae], the Countrywide scandal, those all began during President Bush’s time,” Issa said. “When we look at Mineral Management Service and the ultimate failure in the Gulf, that began years before.”

“I’m hoping to bridge the multiple administrations in as many places as possible,” Issa pledged. “The enemy is the bureaucracy, not necessarily the current occupant of the White House.”


23 comments:

DaliaMartinez-Marin1 said...

i think it will be a good thing if someone was to investigate why many issues, that have been for such a long stretch of time, hasn't been solved. i agree with his quote at the end...it would be nice if all these issues would be solved, but i doubt that would ever happen

TaylorLiggett5 said...

I think it's a wonderful idea for there to be an investigation of both presidents. His reasoning makes sense, considering the problem did take place while president Bush was in office but it's still taking into account that president Obama has obviously had some dealing with it.

Angelica Ramirez 2nd said...

I am glad this is happening, its about time that someone step up and take responsibility for these problems that seem to be ongoing and not resolved.

NicholasCurry said...

...what is this new investigative power he speaks of?
Is this like judicial review for the president. Cause that'd be kinda neat.
^But since I know nothing about that I'll talk about something slightly relevant.
I have a closeted conspiracy-believe in me. I know it's entirely ridiculous, but sometimes Im terrified that our government is really all cloaks and daggers. I mean, every once and a while a scandal does pop up (ie. watergate) but if only one has been discovered in the near past, does that mean that 5435236235 were successfully hidden?
Again, I know this is totally irrational, but I still wont be having any politicians to my house for dinner any times soon.

Kaylob Aguirre 2nd said...

I believe that it is only fair for the house GOP to investigate president obama and bush if he wants to get the crisis' handled and under control then so be it.

Anonymous said...

Why investigate? What is the Speaker of the House going to do, sue Bush and Obama? This does no good. Instead of pointing fingers, let's spend money on FIXING the problem, rather than blaming the cause. Oh wait, that's our problem, SPENDING.

JessicaKaskie-2 said...

I think it's a good idea for the presidents to be investigated, but that's going to be a real tough job with all the secret service and high security around the president. Plus, I am sure that there are things the government is keeping from itself even, so for one man to bust America's single-highest powered individual...well.....good luck.

Ruth_Long_5 said...

In my opinion, an investigation would only be fair if factual data were told objectively and left to the critics on both sides to judge. However, the greater problem lies not in when it started but how. Furthermore, few answers and solutions will disclose themselves once the reason is known. There are some things that take time and skill to remedy, a poor economy for example. This article may suggest that once the cause of the problems is known the solution will appear but that is not the case and it is not as if the incumbent and former presidents did not work to solve these problems, if not for the country then for their approval rating.

Dakota Limon 2nd said...

I don't really understand this new investigation power he's got going on with him, but it doesn't sound all that bad. It's relieving to know that someone in government wants to improve and take responsibility of their actions for once, though. But it might just all be talk, like everything else is. But if it does work out, its going to be nice to have some issues at least to have the potential to be resolved.

JafferSamad1 said...

Both presidents being investigated is probably the right thing to do. You can't just put all the blame on the previous guy when things haven't been going smoothly at the present moment. While there is speculation that our current problems are happening now because of some past events doesn't necessarily mean that that's the only reason that these problems are happening now. Ofcourse the current guy also isn't at complete fault, these problems may have been caused by other reasons, possibly not because of either of the presidents.

SarahRyburn1 said...

I appreciate that he's not showing an obvious bias toward either party by stating he will be investigating both Bush and Obama's presidencies. I guess it's good of him to investigate but I'm not sure what good that will do us now. If he finds something and corrects it that would be one thing, but the simple act of investigation isn't impressive. And if he doesn't do any sort of good with this, what purpose will it serve to anyone else?

Sara Abdel 1st said...

I think it's a good idea someone is looking into issues that have long been forgotten but still to this day raise contraversey. However those issues can not be expected to be solved overnight considering that they have been an issue for such a long time so it might take a while. But just out of curiousity I am wondering who this guy that is questioning Obama is.

Alex Salazar !st period said...

I think with the new investigations that are about to occur many people will feel some relief. To finally have someone look into the problems that have occured will satisfy the people. If it was never Bush's nor Obama's fault people can settle their curiosity. There is always the possibility though that the issues could never be solved.

Meghan Taraban 1 said...

This is really good to hear. I hope that maybe a closer look into the current situation and what caused it will help leaders figure out how to solve it. And his last statement is definitely something that I think everyone can learn from. I'ts easy to blame whoever is in charge for problems when in reality no situation can be blamed on a single person.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good idea to investigate issues that haven't been solved for quite a while. I'm surprised it's taken this long for someone to finally decide to do it. And it seems only fair that he investigate bot Presidents and not just Obama. :P

TannerNichols2 said...

on the surface this sounds great, what did these two people from different sides of the fence BOTH do wrong? But times change, problems change, they aren't facing the exact same problems. Just because they both face a problem with the war, or poverty, doesn't mean its the exact same problem. If he really does find a problem, hey more power to him, but I just don't see the exact same problem coming up.

Radhika Gandhi said...

I love the fact that there is going to be investigation over both the Bush admin and Obama admin, this guy looks very promising and finally we may reach a good solution to our problems. Finally, Obama's approval ratings may go up taking into account of these problems being around forever! And the many problems created by Bush will be pointed out so maybe people will realize the mess Obama has to clear up. I'm optimistic for the future, I think at least a few problems will be solved with these investigations.

Richard Windisch 2 said...

This seems like a decent idea to me. First off, investigating both old and new issues may shed some light on who's to blame for them. I'm glad he hasn't simply chosen to focus efforts on obama or bush and is making the investigation comprehensive. Good move toward bipartisanship, it's not about political party, it's about actions. Hope it turns up results.

Rachel Naasz 2 said...

It will be intresting to see how this turns out. It sounds like a good idea at first but how will it really turn out. There truly does need to be an investigation of both of these presidencies and I am curious to see how it goes.

Anonymous said...

What do they hope to accomplish from this anyway? The best they could do from what I can tell is compile a list of exactly what each president did wrong. Digging through the past doesn't seem like too much help. Find out what the problems are and solve them; you don't need a big investigation to accomplish that. We have fairly obvious problems.

Samantha Brookes 2nd said...

I'm kinda confused. Is he investigating for any fraudulent or criminal activity surrounding these issues? Cuz if not them why is he "investigating" it. Yes, our country has some issues, and it's not what do I where to prom, or where do I eat tonight. Have people ever considered the fact that some things don't have an easy solution, and that maybe the president (present and past) doesn't know everything. Now he is surrounded by people know a lot about a lot, but that soen't mean he is goning to make the right decision. I'm glad somebody is looking into why we haven't found the right answer yet, but the language their using sounds kind of harsh.

MacyHogue2 said...

I think presidents should be investigated, maybe even on a regular basis. This ensures that they're doing their job, and it could find the solution to many problems that haven't been solved due to inactivity.

Anonymous said...

It is good that someone is willing to look into things to figure out where the problems started and try to fix them. He will also gain more popularity because he is willing to look at his own party and decide if the problems started there.