Research Briefing

New Democrat Strategy Is Locking Out Republicans When They Get In The Way

DEMS LOCK REPUBLICANS OUT OF COMMITTEE OVER COUNTRYWIDE SUBPOENAS OF DEMS

House Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) Has Started Locking Republicans Out Of Committee Hearings. “Government Reform Chairman Ed Towns has figured out a novel way to lock Republicans out in a bitter dispute over a committee hearing. He’s locking them out. Literally.” (Jake Sherman, “Towns Locks Republicans Out, Literally,” Politico, 10/20/09)

Towns Was Angry With Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) After Issa Tried To Force A Vote On The Countrywide Investigation. “Towns (D-N.Y.) is seething mad that the top Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) tried to force a subpoena vote in the committee regarding a Countrwide [sic] Financial investigation, without Towns’ consent.” (Jake Sherman, “Towns Locks Republicans Out, Literally,” Politico, 10/20/09)

Issa Angered Towns When He Posted A Video Of The Democrats Sneaking Out Of The Committee To Avoid The Vote. “Towns got even angrier when Republicans posted a video of Democrats slipping out the side door to avoid that vote last week. That left leave Republicans without the proper committee quorum, but the video did give the GOP fodder to portray Democrats as avoiding a tough vote on documents related Countrywide, which offered VIP mortgages to Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad.” (Jake Sherman, “Towns Locks Republicans Out, Literally,” Politico, 10/20/09)

• Watch The Video Here

Towns: I Locked The Doors Because Republicans “Don’t Know How To Behave.” “Asked why the Democrats changed the locks on committee doors, Towns fessed up. ‘Because they [Republicans] don’t know how to behave,’ Towns said in a statement to POLITICO.” (Jake Sherman, “Towns Locks Republicans Out, Literally,” Politico, 10/20/09)

Towns Admitted Locking Republicans Out Of The Committee Was Retaliation For Posting The Video Of Democrats Sneaking Out During The Countrywide Vote. “And was this retaliation for posting a video of Democrats scooting out the side door? ‘Yes,’ Towns added.” (Jake Sherman, “Towns Locks Republicans Out, Literally,” Politico, 10/20/09)

Towns Has Refused To Subpoena Countrywide Mortgage Documents To Investigate Possible Sweetheart Loans; Towns Received Two Loans From Countrywide. “A powerful House Democrat who has turned down a Republican's call to subpoena records of a mortgage program at Countrywide Financial Corp. received two home loans from the lender. Some information in the lawmaker's mortgage documents raises the possibility they were made through the program, which provided loans to public figures and other favored borrowers often at lower interest rates or with lower origination fees than were available to the general public. The loans were made to Rep. Edolphus Towns of New York, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform committee.” (John R. Emshwiller, “Key Lawmaker Received Countrywide Loans,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/7/09)

The Interest Rates On Towns’ Loans Were Lower Than The National Average At The Time. “The initial interest rates on two five-year, adjustable-rate Countrywide loans Mr. Towns and his wife took in September 2003 were 4.5% and 4.625%, according to the mortgage documents. Around the time of those loans, the average rates nationally on such loans ranged from about 4.7% to about 5.3%, according to HSH Associates, a Pompton Plains, N.J., publisher of mortgage-rate data.” (John R. Emshwiller, “Key Lawmaker Received Countrywide Loans,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/7/09)

TOWNS IS TARGETING REPUBLICANS BECAUSE THEY ARE EXAMINING DEMOCRAT CORRUPTION

Issa Drew The Ire Of Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) After Forcing Him To Disclose Details About His Low Interest Loans From Countrywide. “Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) lashed out at Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) after the Republican congressman pushed the powerful Democratic senator to divulge details about low-interest loans he received from Countrywide Financial.”  (Manu Raju, “Kent Conrad rips Darrell Issa investigation,” Politico, 8/6/09)

“Mr. Issa Wants To Uncover The Full Story On Countrywide's Effort To Influence Washington Policy Makers.” (James Freeman, “The Vote Democrats Don't Want,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/16/09)

• Dodd And Conrad Received Sweetheart Loans From Countrywide. “Recall that, under the ‘Friends of Angelo’ program, named for former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, Democratic Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad received sweetheart deals on home mortgages.” (James Freeman, “The Vote Democrats Don't Want,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/16/09)

Issa Requested That Government Agencies Review Their Ties With ACORN. “The announcement was made in response to a request from Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine -- the ranking Republicans on the House and Senate government oversight committees -- for the Treasury Department and other government agencies to review their ties to ACORN, following undercover videotapes posted at Biggovernment.com showing two young conservative journalists posing as a prostitute and a pimp receiving advice on how to skirt the law from ACORN employees.” (Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe, “Treasury Department Inspector General To Look Into IRS Oversight Of Acorn, Other Groups,” ABC News’ “Political Punch” Blog, 9/24/09)

SIMILARLY, DEMS PLEDGED TO WORK WITH REPUBLICANS ON HEALTH CARE

Candidate Obama Promised Transparency For The Health Care Reform Debate: “We’ll Have The Negotiations Televised On C-SPAN.” “I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies -- they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.” (Barack Obama, Remarks At A Town Hall Meeting, Chester, VA, 8/21/09)

President Obama Promised To Seek Common Ground, Keep His Door Open. “I will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead.  If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen.  My door is always open.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks To A Joint Session Of Congress On Health Care, Washington, DC, 9/9/09)

BUT DEMOCRATS HAVE LOCKED REPUBLICANS OUT OF THE PROCESS DESPITE GOP ATTEMPTS TO FIX HEALTH CARE

When It Passed On A Party-Line Vote And Only 160 Of 721 GOP Amendments Were Accepted. “When the Senate health, education, labor, and pensions committee passed its health care bill Wednesday, the Obama administration hailed it as a ‘bipartisan’ effort. No matter that it passed the panel on a strictly party-line vote, with all 13 Democrats voting for and all 10 Republicans voting against. It was bipartisan, administration officials explained, because it contained 160 Republican amendments. Republican senators said that characterization was absurd. After all, they said, most of the 160 amendments were technical, rather than substantive, changes.” (Christopher Beam, “This Is What ‘Bipartisanship’ Looks Like,” Slate, 7/16/09)

The GOP Hasn’t Been Invited To The White House To Discuss Health Care Since The End Of April, Despite Requests. “Boehner told reporters that the president has not invited House GOP leaders to the White House for meetings on healthcare reform since the end of April. Earlier this year, GOP leaders sent a letter to the president in May stating that they would like to work with the administration to find “common ground” on healthcare reform. But the administration responded with a tersely worded letter indicating that they had healthcare reform under control.” (Molly Hooper, “Boehner: GOP Leaders Haven’t Met Obama For Health Talks Since April,” The Hill’s “Briefing Room” Blog, 9/9/09)

And Now Obama Aides And A Small Group Of Dems Are With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) To Write Final Bill Behind Closed Doors. “It's the invite that every senator with an opinion on health care wants to get: a reserved seat at the conference table where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will merge two competing reform bills. But most of them won't get in. Reid's guest list will be an exclusive one. Reid has decided to keep the group intimate, limiting entree to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.); Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who ushered the bill through the Senate health committee ... The merger, which will unfold across Reid's suite of offices, should take a week, sources said. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, White House Director of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle and perhaps budget director Peter Orszag will represent the president, sources said.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, "Members Jockey For Seat At Reid's Table," Politico, 10/7/09)

Rahm And Reid Are “Huddling Behind Closed Doors” To Plot Their Government-Run Health Care Bill. “White House officials and Senate Democrats are meeting in private to iron out differences on a health care overhaul that could affect every American… The inside game and the outside game are intersecting on Capitol Hill, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid testifying at a public hearing in favor of revoking health insurers' antitrust exemption — then huddling behind closed doors with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and committee chairmen to finalize the bill.” (Erica Werner, “Democrats Work To Finalize Health Legislation,” The Associated Press, 10/15/09)