In 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from California’s 49th District, Darrell Issa, who remains the wealthiest man in all of Congress. Issa’s past includes being arrested for stealing a car, and investigated for potential arson in an insurance fraud scheme, and after throwing millions of dollars at a couple unsuccessful Congressional campaigns in the late nineties, he finally found his way to Washington, D.C. in the 2000 election.
Issa made a name for himself during his tenure for several years as the Chairman of the House Oversight committee, where he set records for the number of subpoenas he issued to people while leading witch hunts whenever a “scandal” broke in the conservative news media. Sadly, in calling hearings over Solyndra, the IRS investigations into 501c4 groups, Wikileaks, and double-digit investigations into Benghazi… in all those Congressional hearings, exactly zero convictions or criminal charges were filed, and a small fortune in taxpayer dollars have been wasted in his mad quest to root out corruption that doesn’t exist. Rep. Issa himself bragged in 2010 that under his watch, the House Oversight Committee would hold hearings “seven hearings a week for 40 weeks”. He issued my subpoenas during his tenure than his three predecessors combined. In 2016, he called for the Republican Party to have another government shutdown to protest if Hillary Clinton was not charged with a crime for using a private e-mail server while serving as Secretary of State, because that’s not an unreasonable demand. You’d think with all the s*** the man threw at the wall over a seven-year tenure in that position, he could have managed to find something that would stick, but all it did at best was hurt the poll numbers of whomever he was attacking at the time.
Now, what’s new with Rep. Issa is rather timely. Back on June 28th, 2017, he went to speak before the Federation for American Immigration Reform, aka FAIR, aka an honest-to-not-goodness hate group whose founder likes to talk a lot about the white race being superior because eugenics prove it. And after the Neo-Nazis were marching through Charlottesville and carried out a terror attack, suddenly Issa wanted hearings on white supremacy in Congress. Hey, Darrell? Maybe you should go back through your day planner and invite some of your pals, y’know?
Surviving until 2018 In a California swing district, after nine terms in office, Issa had drawn the ire of his constituents, so much so that he was seen standing on the roof of his office in his home district to avoid them, and went out of his way to plan a “town hall” where he had a special invitation list of people who were conservative, so he wouldn’t have any confrontations with people who actually disagree with them. After record Democratic voter registration, and record Latino voter registration started to be reported throughout most of California, including Darrell Issa’s district, It became official on January 10th, 2018… Darrell supposedly retired from office after 9 terms in Congress…
However, Darrell Issa launched a carpet-bagging campaign to try to run for the seat in California’s 50th Congressional District instead, and narrowly won with 54% of the vote. He has quickly returned to being a partisan s***heel, almost immediately starting pretending that Donald Trump actually completed a full border wall on the U.S./Mexico border, and that somehow “gaps” in it were created by President Joe Biden in his first few months in office.
- January 6th, 2021: Darrell Issa votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
- January 13th, 2021: Rep. Issa votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
- February 4th, 2021: Darrell Issa votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
- February 25th, 2021: Issa votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
- March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Issa votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
- March 3rd, 2021: Darrell Issa votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
- March 10th, 2021: Issa votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
- March 17th, 2021: Rep. Issa votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
- May 19th, 2021: Darrell Issa votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
- November 5th, 2021: Darrell Issa votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
- March 31st, 2022: Issa votes against HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 and make sure no diabetic was priced out of surviving their condition. Darrell Issa would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
- May 18th, 2022: Darrell Issa is one of 192 Republicans who vote against HR 7790, to create supplemental funding for infant formula (while claiming to be pro- life).
- May 18th, 2022: Rep. Issa votes against HR 350, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, because these days, a plank of the Republican Party is ostensibly domestic terror.
- May 19th, 2022: Issa votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.
- July 15th, 2022: Darrell Issa votes against House Amendment 262, which would require the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary of Defense to publish a report on the infiltration of American law enforcment by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, offer measures to be taken to remove them from their ranks, and prevent further infiltration by others.
- July 21st, 2022: Issa is one of 195 Republicans who vote against the Right to Contraception Act, which codified the right of Americans to have access to birth control.
We really wish he’d f***ed off into retirement, but if it means we get to see him get his ass kicked out of office in a second district two years later, we’ll be alright with it. Because at the moment, his re-election strategy seems to be “peddling Hunter Biden conspiracy theories on Twitter”, because that’s the closest thing to GOP policy these days. Of course, you’d expect someone to do everything they can to distract their constituents from the fact that they might be implicated in some kind of scandal over illegal campaign donations.
In 2022, Issa has responded to redistricting by running along to the new California’s 48th Congressional District to try to win re-election, eyeing the +9 Republican lean it has in the Cook Partisan Voting Index as an acceptable advantage to continue his second-chance Congressional career that should have never been. His Democratic opponent is Stephen Houlahan, a former nurse who we’re hoping not only seeks to rough up Issa over his many, many attacks on the Affordable Care Act, but also his party’s crusade to get rid of Medicare and Social Security if they retake the House, as well as Issa’s bizarre refusal to vote for the Right to Contraception Act, given that California supports women’s right to birth control even more than the average state in the country.
Whether it’s a criminal charge or just getting voters putting the boots to them, we could go for another dose of Darrell Issa being sent packing.
One Year Ago, August 29th, 2021: Darrell Issa (CA)… 2021 Update
Two Years Ago, August 29th, 2020: Darrell Issa (CA)… 2020 Update
Three Years Ago, August 29th, 2019: Gina Sosa (FL)
Four Years Ago, August 29th, 2018: Darrell Issa (CA)… 2018 Update
Five Years Ago, August 29th, 2017: Darrell Issa (CA) … 2017 Update
Six Years Ago, August 29th, 2016: Darrell Issa (CA)… 2016 Update
Seven Years Ago, August 29th, 2015: Darrell Issa (CA)…2015 Update
Eight Years Ago, August 29th, 2014: Darrell Issa (CA)…Original Profile