Henry Waxman Is Messing With the Wrong Lady
By Bluey Posted in Congress | Featured Stories — Comments (41) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
General Services Administrator Lurita Doan testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this morning, finally getting her chance to face Chairman Henry Waxman (D.-Calif.) about the "allegations of misconduct" he's ginned up in the press.
Doan has put together a comprehensive defense -- her opening statement totals more than 6,000 words -- and has said for weeks she welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight. Having met Doan earlier this month, I think Waxman will have his hands full this morning. This woman means business.
Rep. Tom Davis (R.-Va.), ranking member on the committee, yesterday released a comprehensive report on Waxman's "investigation" into various issues related to the General Services Administration. The committee's Republican staff director, David Marin, told me, "We agree with the majority on one point at least -- that this is an important hearing. It's important because it offers a chance to show the allegations against the administrator are spurious and won't stand up to public scrutiny. The hearing title says it all: 'Allegations of Misconduct at GSA.' Not facts. Not findings. Not even credible complaints."
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Henry Waxman Is Messing With the Wrong Lady 41 Comments (0 topical, 41 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
I didn't get to watch it. But people here seem very confident that it was going to go well for Doan. Well - what happened? On the left-wing blogs they are saying something else. I want an unbiased report!
Now THAT'S funny. Even funnier is the fact that you can't recognize sarcasm. Or, I suspect, irony...
When two Northern Virginians (Doan, and Rep. Davis) decide they intend to buearocratically humiliate you, you are screwed. There is no sensitivity involved, no intimacy, no reassuring phone call the next afternoon. Waxman stepped in it this time.
Kyoto Now! (Because only pollution from the US hurts the planet)
...they'll do so with honeyed tonges, and flowery speech, which will make the cuts bleed even redder (hehe).
who's gonna' know other than the couple of hundred people in the whole da**ed Country that might watch the hearing. The Ds have pronounced Doan corrupt, probably because she cut off some of their clients, and that makes it true; the media will swear to it, and that settles it.
In Vino Veritas
I've known a few 'Southern Belles' in my time. They could verbally emasculate you in seconds, but make it seem like they were graciously inviting you for tea on the veranda. Classic.
married to a Dixie Darlin', I understand that better than most, especially the emasculation part; they don't waste their blows on non-vital areas, might mess up their nails.
In Vino Veritas
My Dad once said the difference between a Yankee and a Southerner is that a Yankee will simply tell you to go to hell, whereas a Southerner will tell you to go to hell and make you glad you're on your way.
I have found both to be true.
to roll over and show their stomachs. The idea is to fight back, tooth and claw. The Dems are so used to submissive, cowering Republicans they take it for granted. The phrase "fight fire with fire" comes to mind, and throw in " the best defense is a good offense". Decency is lost on them, civility unknown, and cooperation they turn into a weapon against you.
Waxman will be in high gear from now to Election Day, either roll over or fight back.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
...and cronyism in government or any other sphere of life is inversely proportionate to his or her IQ." John O
The limit case where we have to apply L'hospital's rule ?
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Picked the wrong time to insult our readers, neighbor.
Blam.
Moe
PS They ask, what doth it profit a man if he gaineth the whole world but loseth his soul - but for spinach subsidies, John?
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
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Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
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George W. Bush: He's A Folder ... Not A Fighter.
She really set the record straight.
How does not being able to remember anything (a growing problem among administration officials) set the record straight?
At least it seems so after viewing the Nancy Pelosi you-tube account C-Span clip posted above.
Does anyone have a link to video or transcript showing Doan's robust defense? The clip above certainly doesn't seem to show anything substantive. I'm hoping there is more available than this.
I love how you throw around words like credibility with little regard for its meaning. Doan was completely weak during the hearing, studdering, saying she does not recall, etc. etc. In other words, she had no credibility. A political movement founded on lies and posturing can never stand. If this is the kind of person you regard as strong, you better give it up because you are heading straight for the trash. This woman's dept. clearly broke the Hatch Act. Yes, the Hatch Act is a "law", you remember those?
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Can't anyone answer anything anymore? Positively Clintonian.
Thanks for the summary of the proceedings.
Earlier, what I was really angling at was this: the initial post was filled with bravado about Doan's ringing defense of her integrity. I was expecting to see a follow-up that was similarly assertive. The silence makes me wonder if Bluey was disappointed. Bluey, I welcome a rejoinder.
A Hatch Act violation - using government facilities to carry out political work - cuts to the heart of whether our government is run by persons of integrity. They unlikelihood (at the time) of experiencing Congressional oversight allowed appointees such as Doan to ask how the GSA could help Republican Congressional candidates without a second thought. The corruption intrinsic to her question is a serious matter. Evidently fear of being caught was very far from the current Administration's collective mind.
Reading the initial post and then watching the posted video clip (any other clips out there besides that one?) makes for an awkward juxtaposition.
Bluey's Townhall.com article is centered around the 20K no-bid "diversity contract" (later cancelled) incident. However the clip shows congress honing in on the alleged Hatch Act violation. Was this line of attack unexpected? Doan appeared to be blindsided, and seemed surprised by the employee statements read to her near the end of the clip.
I'm just wondering if there was a bait & switch done by Waxman on Doan, or if this is old news and Bluey's article and posting was just intentionally taking a more narrow focus.
It looks like a bait and switch to me too. Doan just wasn't expecting the PowerPoint questions, and based on bluey's post and article, he wasn't either.
She held up about as well as wet tissue paper. Bonus points for the sudden outbreak of CRS syndrome ("can't remember sh*t"). Somebody ought to look into a vaccine, it seems to be contagious...
In light of the C-SPAN tape I saw, a 10 year old could've recognized the fake memory lapses, reluctant characterization concessions, and phoniness that she exhibited.
For someone who was "well prepared," I can hardly see how any objective analysis of her testimony could conclude anything other than she's not very bright even if prepared (some kids could study religiously for weeks and still not do well on the test), or she wasn't as prepared as advertised in this hilarious warning for Waxman.
It was bad. I don't think ol' Lurita did much to dissuade anyone from the "incompetence" questions floating around like so many turds in the pool in even Republican circles, if one can believe that hyper-commie-leftie Robert Novak.
John O
I wasn't even the Waxman. She got her ... waxed and then lifelessly handed back to her by a fresh from Iawa freshman, Waxman jr. wannabe Senator ...err, 'Democrat' Congressman. Even Gonzales would have probably performed better under his enquisition.
Putting this lady in charge of GSA, a federal agency that employs over 13,000 public servants and is responsible of doling out "$66 billion of procurement annually and contribut[ing] to the management of about $500 billion in U.S. Federal property,"* is a testament to why government doesn't work.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Services_Administration
In some sense, your response makes my point for me. Considering the content of that PowerPoint file, what reasonably ethical person would think that the file was *not* fair game for questions? It contained a summary of hot Senate races. If the shoe were on the other foot you would not be responding as you are now.
I wasn't even a 'bait and switch.' The Washington Post had informed her of what was coming, with a frontpage story nonetheless:
"Witnesses have told congressional investigators that the chief of the General Services Administration and a deputy in Karl Rove's political affairs office at the White House joined in a videoconference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates. With GSA Administrator Lurita Alexis Doan and up to 40 regional administrators on hand, J. Scott Jennings, the White House's deputy director of political affairs, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Jan. 26 [2007] of polling data about the 2006 elections. When Jennings concluded his presentation to the GSA political appointees, Doan allegedly asked them how they could "help 'our candidates' in the next elections," according to a March 6 letter to Doan from Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Waxman said in the letter that one method suggested was using 'targeted public events, such as the opening of federal facilities around the country.'....
The committee is also expected to question Doan about her attempt to give a no-bid job to a friend and professional associate last summer. In addition, the committee plans to look at Waxman's charge that Doan "intervened" in a troubled technology contract with Sun Microsystems that could cost taxpayers millions more than necessary. In the Senate, Doan is facing a similar line of questioning in letters from Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). Also examining Doan are the GSA's Office of Inspector General and the independent federal Office of Special Counsel, which investigates allegations of Hatch Act violations."[1]"
from ANY legislator or government lawyer shouldn't be a public manager. I didn't watch it, it usually takes getting paid to make me watch a hearing, but I get the sense that Doan isn't going to be riding down Pennsylvania Ave. with someone whispering "Remember, you are mortal" in her ear.
To the main point, a program manager or department head has every advantage in facing the inquiries of Congress or a legislature and usually enjoys a similar advantage in facing a government lawyer. As the manager, you have all the information and any information the person doing the inquiry has either came from you or from someone withing your scope of authority; you may not be able to stop leaks, but you sure should know what's being leaked. If you are surprised and unprepared for a line of inquiry, you have not been doing your job.
Of course, if what they're asking you about is a "bad thing" and you did it, you have a bit of a disadvantage; you have to admit it, try to lie your way out of it, dissemble and obfuscate, or just not "have any specific recollection" - all of which are at best ugly and at worst actionable.
But, if you pick your appointees because they're friends of friends, raised a lot of money for you, you met them on the campaign and they seemed a nice guy, or any of the other reasons not related to competence for which Republicans insist on picking their appointees, bad things can happen. Remember Mike Brown? Yeah, I'm going to keep beating this drum!
In Vino Veritas
What a shellacking she laid on them. After that barrage of "honestly" and "I can't recall" waxman may be forced to resign his house seat.
To insist, after having already sworn an oath, that you're really not lying, seriously not lying, did I mention that I'm not full of sh*t or anything?
now, these dems are predators that want to destroy.
Molon Labe!
Is there going to be any acknowledgment that Miss Doan's testimony was, in fact, an absolute disaster?
Because if you are, we have a fundraising drive on right now for Jeff and Victoria's trip to Iraq; if you need an update badly enough to pay for one, hey, make us an offer.
Moe
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
an old Popeye cartoon, with Waxman as Bluto.