Think Progress has a new report looking at the potential committee and subcommittee chairs should Republicans take the House of Representatives in November. Some highlights:
The potential committee and subcommittee chairmen aren’t your run-of-the-mill House Republicans. Rather, those who could be in charge of our nation’s laws are the GOP’s right-wing extremists. Of the 10 right-wing extremists we profiled, eight have voting scores of 95 percent or higher from the American Conservative Union, seven are stimulus hypocrites, four are members of the Tea Party Caucus, and one is even a birther.
Those would control the House committees and subcommittees also may include:
– A Judiciary chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), who has hinted at impeaching President Obama
– Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who opposes the existence of the global warming committee he would chair
– The subcommittee that controls monetary policy would be headed by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who has called paper money "nothing short of counterfeiting"
– Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who apologized to BP during the oil spill for a $20 billion "shakedown," would control national energy policy
They also note that "eight of the ten committee chairmen we profiled are funded by the right-wing billionaire Koch Brothers." Here's more from the report:
- Joe Barton: "I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case a $20 billion shakedown.... So I apologize [to BP]." [ThinkProgress]
- Darrel Issa, Oversight and Government Reform Committee: "It's very clear that allegation is one that everyone from Arlen Specter to Dick Morris has said is in fact a crime, and could be impeachable." [Fox News] [in re: the Joe Sestak non-scandal]
- Paul Ryan, Budget Committee: Wants to privatize Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Ryan’s budget proposal, "Roadmap for America’s Future," includes such budget overhauls as privatizing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. [The Washington Post]
- Jim Sensenbrenner: On the debunked climategate controversy: "There’s increasing evidence of scientific fascism that’s going on." [CEJournal]
- Rob Bishop (R-UT), Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands: Green jobs "are as real as the Jolly Green Giant: it is a great ad concept, but it doesn’t exist." [Salt Lake Tribune]
- Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security: "We're bringing [immigrants] over here on tourist visas, some illegally, letting them be born here and saying this is an American citizen. So come back in 20, 25 years when you're ready to blow us up." [ThinkProgress]
- Steve King (R-IA), Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law: On immigration: "We have a slow-motion Holocaust on our hands . . . and we can't talk about this because it's not politically correct." [Building Democracy Initiative]
"Subcommittee Chair Steve King" should be the only four words necessary to understand the extent of the debacle a Republican takeover would mean. This would be a worthwhile thing for the traditional media to be exploring more in the next 53 days, not that it'll happen.