Satire Welfare
Okay, this is just too hilarious not to post. Last week, Republican California Congressman Darrell Issa — who sometimes acts like the last sane man in government — had Bureau of Labor Statistics Acting Commissioner Josh Galvin up for questioning before the House Oversight Committee. At issue: what constitutes a “Green Job.”
Seriously, if you need a laugh, watch my Manhattan Institute video first — it was posted 8 months ago — then read last week’s transcript below. As a conservative, I hate to collect Satire Welfare — free satire from the government. But in all fairness, I got there first!
That’s the video. Here’s the real transcript, cadged from The Daily:
REP. ISSA: You did not want to come here as a witness. You are not a delighted witness. So let’s go through this. I asked you a question. You know the answer. Would you please answer it. If you sweep the floor in a solar panel facility, is that a green job?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: Thank you. If you drive a hybrid bus — public transportation — is that a green job?
MR. GALVIN: According to our definition, yes.
REP. ISSA: Thank you. What if you’re a college professor teaching classes about environmental studies?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: What about just any school bus driver?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: What about the guy who puts gas in the school bus?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: How about employees at a bicycle shop?
MR. GALVIN: I guess I’m not sure about that.
REP. ISSA: The answer is yes, according to your definition. And you’ve got a lot of them. What about a clerk at the bicycle repair shop?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: What about someone who works in an antique dealer?
MR. GALVIN: I’m not sure about that either.
REP. ISSA: The answer is yes. Those are — those are recycled goods. They’re antiques; they’re used. What about someone who works at the Salvation Army in their clothing recycling and furniture?
MR. GALVIN: Right. Because they’re selling recycled goods.
REP. ISSA: OK. What about somebody who opened a store to sell rare manuscripts?
MR. GALVIN: What industry is that?
REP. ISSA: People sell rare books and manuscripts — but they’re rare because they’re old, so they’re used.
MR. GALVIN: OK.
REP. ISSA: What about workers at a consignment shop?
MR. GALVIN: That’s a green job.
REP. ISSA: Does the teenage kid who works full-time at a used record shop count?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: How about somebody who manufacturers railroads rolling stock — basically, train cars?
MR. GALVIN: I don’t think we classified the manufacture of rail cars as —
REP. ISSA: Forty-eight-point-eight percent of jobs in manufacturing, rail cars counted, according to your statistics. About half of the jobs that are being used to build trains. OK. How about — just one more here. What about people who work in a trash disposal yard? Do garbage men have green jobs?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: OK. I apologize. The real last last is, how about an oil lobbyist? Wouldn’t an oil lobbyist count as having a green job if they are engaged in advocacy related to environmental issues?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
You can’t make this stuff up. Oh wait — apparently you can!
Republican California Congressman Darrell Issa – car thief and arsonist, a perfect standard-bearer for the GOP.
I assume that is verifiable rather than just anonymous slander from a ‘friend of a friend who knows a guy’
According to Wikipedia, the car theft thing is semi-legitimate. Admittedly it’s Wikipedia, but given that it’s not likely that they went easy on Issa. According to them, he was *accused* of auto theft twice, while serving as an enlisted man in the Army; in the one instance he told the authorities it was a misunderstanding, in the other he said it was a case of mistaken identity, somehow. No charges were filed in either case. He also was once discovered with a pistol in his glove compartment; this at the time was criminal, wherever he was, and he was arrested. He pled guilty to a lesser charge of possession of an unregistered firearm, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 6 months probation and a fine. He’s said that he thought this charge was later expunged.
He later became an officer in the Army, and cleaned up his act and got high performance reviews. What the arson accusation refers to, I don’t know…
Ah, yes… Wikipedia, that bastion of Truth and Accuracy where anyone can write anything.
Judging by the fact that he’s had a long, successful political career, the probability is that these charges are insignificant. I’m sure a political opponent would have found them long before now.
O/T much? Klavan, can we get this thread deleted, please?
When you can’t win on the facts, attack the character of your opponent. Typical, typical leftists tactic. Truth is truth, whether it comes from the mouth of Mother Theresa or Charles Manson.