Cross posted at DailyKos and OpenLeft
So as we’ve established by now, Darrell Issa thinks very little of 9/11 rescue workers and would prefer that the federal government not concern itself with their welfare. Cause according to him, 9/11 is not and presumably was not a national issue. We’ve also established that he has no qualms about throwing federal money around on local pork as long as it benefits him directly. So the next logical question for me is “oh hey, are there any familiar names that don’t mind taking Darrell Issa’s money?” As you may or may not know, Darrell Issa is filthy rich. So he’s spread a lot of money around on Republicans and conservative causes. So as it turns out, there are quite a lot of Republicans currently running around the Capitol funded in part by Darrell Issa (partial list):
Dean Andal (candidate, CA-11)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN-06)
Rep. Brian Bilbray (CA-50)
Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-09)
Rep. Charles Boustany (LA-07)
Sen. Richard Burr (North Carolina)
Rep. John Campbell (CA-48)
Rep. Shelley Moore Captio (WV-02)
Rep. Steve Chabot (OH-01)
Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) [head of NRCC]
Rep. Geoff Davis (KY-04)
Rep. John Doolitte (Retiring, CA-04)
Rep. Thelma Drake (VA-02)
Rep. Tom Feeney (FL-24)
Rep. Mike Ferguson (Retiring, NJ-07)
Rep. Randy Forbes (VA-04)
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01)
Rep. Jim Gerlach (PA-06)
Rep. Phil Gingrey (GA-11)
Rep. Robin Hayes (NC-08)
Rep. Ric Keller (FL-08)
Rep. Mark Kirk (IL-10)
Rep. John Kline (MN-02)
Rep. Joe Knollenberg (MI-09)
Rep. Randy Kuhl (NY-29)
Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-05)
Rep. Tom Latham (IA-04)
Rep. Bob Latta (OH-05)
Fmr. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (What the hell? ha.)
Rep. Candice Miller (MI-10)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (CO-04)
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (TX-19)
Fmr. Rep. Anne Northup (Candidate, KY-03)
Rep. Steve Pearce (Retiring, NM-02; Candidate, NM-SEN)
Rep. Mike Pence (IN-06)
Rep. Ted Poe (TX-02)
Rep. Jon Porter (NV-03)
Rep. Deborah Pryce (Retiring, OH-15)
Rep. Dennis Rehberg (MT-AL)
Rep. Dave Reichert (WA-08)
Rep. Rick Renzi (Retiring [to prison?], AZ-01)
Rep. Mike D. Rogers (AL-03)
Rep. Mike J. Rogers (MI-08)
Rep. Peter Roskam (IL-06)
Fmr. Rep. Jim Ryun (Candidate, KS-02)
Rep. Jean Schmidt (OH-02)
Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (Candidate, TX-22)
Rep. Pete Sessions (TX-32)
Rep. Chris Shays (CT-04)
Rep. John Shimkus (IL-19)
Fmr. Rep. Mike Sodrel (Candidate, IN-09)
Sen. John Sununu (New Hampshire)
Fmr. Rep. Pat Toomey (President, Club for Growth)
Rep. Jim Walsh (Retiring, NY-25)
Rep. Heather Wilson (Retiring, NM-01; Candidate, NM-SEN)
Rep. Rob Wittman (VA-01)
More than 50, and there are a lot of familiar names in there. Swing districts, notorious wingnuts, Senators in tough races. How many of those people agree with Darrell Issa that the welfare of the heroes of 9/11 are no business of the United States government? How many of them really want to be forced to answer such questions? Rep. Issa has, for a number of years, been a bit of a hero in GOP fundraising circles. Do people really want to be associated with his money now? Presumably the answer is “yes” in private and “maybe” in public. If it’s even slightly possible to isolate Issa and his money, in this of all election cycles when the NRCC is desperately poor, it’s worth the effort. Isn’t it time we start finding out how these politicians feel about taking money from just a soulless jerk?