Republicans Subpoena The White House Over Solyndra Docs

By Janie Amaya 

A House committee voted Thursday to subpoena the White House for documents regarding the Department of Energy’s $535 million loan to solar manufacturer Solyndra, Inc. 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee initially presented a request for the documents on Sept. 1 in which it asked the White House to produce all documents containing communications between the White House and Solyndra Inc., which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year despite the giant loan it received as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the “stimulus law.”

According to committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the White House Counsel’s office waited until Oct. 14 to tell the committee that it didn’t need to see such documents. However, House Republicans, who believe the White House rushed the loan while ignoring oversight, have forged ahead with their investigation.

During today’s markup of the resolution, which passed 14-9, Upton pointed to a statement from President Obama, who once said “the government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.”  

“At this point in time, I am not confident that we will have a good faith response from the White House without issuing a subpoena,” Upton said.  

However, after meeting with the White House Counsel Wednesday, Democratic members of the committee argued against issuing a subpoena. The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), accused Republicans of using the issue as a political stunt.

“We should not be having this business meeting today,” he said. “A Congressional subpoena to the White House is a serious step. It should be the last resort. It is justified only if an unbridgeable impact between the branches has been reached. None of that is true today.”

White House spokesman Eric Schultz responded by saying the administration has already “cooperated extensively with the committee’s investigation by producing over 85,000 pages of documents, including 20,000 pages produced just yesterday afternoon.”

“We’d like to see as much passion in House Republicans for creating jobs as we see in this investigation,” he added. “We are disappointed that the committee has refused to discuss their requests with us in good faith, and has instead chosen a partisan route, proceeding with subpoenas that are unprecedented and unwarranted.”

Waxman: Republicans Had Their Chance On Health Care Reform

By Sofia Sanchez University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

While some Republicans are still fuming over the passage of health care reform weeks ago, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a key player in the health care debate, said Tuesday that the GOP could have steered the bill toward more conservative principles if they had come to the table instead of working solely to defeat the legislation.

“We could have engaged in the discussion on how to modify it and how to change it, but that’s not what they wanted to do,” said Waxman during a forum held by Atlantic Magazine.

Waxman compared the effort from conservatives to derail health care reform to President Bill Clinton’s attempt to overhaul the health care system during the early days of his administration.

“Their objective was to repeat 1994 ... defeat the bill, then get the Republican party in power,” said Waxman.

Waxman, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, brushed away concerns that the passage of the bill could hurt Democrats in November.

“Victory breeds more victory," said Waxman. "We are not going to lose control in the fall."

Added the 18 term Congressman, “We would if we had failed.”

House Panel Approves Bill Creating Consumer Protection Commission

By Travis Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 33-19 on Thursday to pass H.R. 3126, otherwise known as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009. The legislation would oversee mortgages and other financial products and would strengthen the Federal Trade Commission's role in the financial industry.

Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to make two major changes to the bill. The first amendment, offered by Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), would first rename the agency, as written in the mark, as a new government commission. The amendment also provided a restructured panel of five members to the commission, with a limit of three commissioners from any particular political party. This would give the commission the same structure as the Federal Trade Commission, or Federal Communications Commission.

Several businesses, either in full or in part, would be exempt from the legislation. This list includes auto dealers, credit, mortgage and title insurers, banks with less than $10 billion in assets, and credit unions with less than $1.5 billion in assets.

Waxman acknowledged the long list of exemptions as a possible problem, but said that he would wait to address any issues he had.

"I am concerned that too many exemptions and exclusions were put into the bill... I will want to examine them closely as we move toward consideration on the floor," said Waxman.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) offered numerous amendments that were subsequently shot down after discussion with the panel. However, in a show of bipartisanship, Waxman offered to work with Barton on re-wording the offered amendments so that they could be possibly brought to the floor at a later date for full consideration.

Waxman recognized the original bill's sponsor, House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) for his committee’s work on promoting the expanded authority of the FTC over the financial sector.

“I am pleased that he made many essential changes, particularly in regard to the impact of the FTC, which will preserve the FTC’s authority to provide and aggressively enforce against financial fraud,” said Waxman.