Corrupt reformers
by digby
Supposing you really hate Democrats right now. I know a lot of you do. But if it ever occurs to you to think that Republicans might actually do a better job at "reforming" the system, consider this:
The House Oversight Committee's investigation into the government commission that was supposed to figure out the cause of the the financial crisis appears to have backfired on the Republicans who lead the committee.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his investigators had been looking into the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission because, Issa said, it went over budget and commissioners and staffers "may have conflicts of interest created by their previous roles in the public and private sectors."
Issa said he was troubled by "extensive ties of some of the senior staff at a putatively bipartisan commission to partisan Democrat politics" and said the FCIC "served as nothing more than a cheering section for the Administration and congressional Democrats in their efforts to defend a partisan and ineffective financial regulatory reform bill."
Instead, the documents reviewed by congressional investigators, according to the Democrats' report on that matter, reveal that Republican commissioners and staffers were improperly sharing the FCIC's work with outside parties. Dems also say that emails show that one Republican commissioner was trying to use his position on the commission to bolster the GOP's chances of repealing financial services reform.
Yes, the Democrats are hardly progressive heroes of principle and integrity, to say the least. But there is nothing more fundamentally bankrupt than the GOP. Only people who are intellectually deficient and/or morally putrid could shamelessly flaunt their corruption the way these people do. It may only be a difference of degree, but it's an important one.
.