Does Wally Agree with Issa?

They say the best defense is a good offense...

Almost immediately, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) went on the offense, telling the women, “I don’t think your testimony today is particularly germane to the oversight of this committee.” He added, “One question I have is, the opening statement, who wrote it?”

Nothing like attacking the messenger. Wally, do you agree with your fellow California Representative? Should these widows just keep their mouths shut for another Friedman like Bill Kristol says? Do they hate America? Are they terrorists for speaking out? Should we send them to Gitmo? This may sound like I'm engaging in hyperbole simply for dramatic effect, but when members of Congress play games like this, I ask these questions with 100% sincerity. I (foolishly?) expect more than Fox News tactics from my representatives.

Snubbed on the Phone Call

It looks like Dan didn't get a call either. That makes two of us...I'm sensing a trend. Maybe Wally is just honoring the Do No Call List?

Auction Block

I'm sure this isn't new, but you'll have to forgive me while I play catch-up. The DCCC has a page collecting various votes and money trails.

New Wally Resources

The Washington Post has developed a pretty cool database of what goes on in Congress. Feel free to keep tabs on Wally. You can even get slick RSS feeds of votes. I'll go ahead and add it to the sidebar for easy access.

H.R. 547

Or the "Advanced Fuels Infrastructure Research and Development Act." Wally voted for this, but what is it? Well, from the summary we find that:

Advanced Fuels Infrastructure Research and Development Act - Instructs the Assistant Administrator of the Office of Research and Development of the Environmental Protection Agency (Assistant Administrator) to implement a program of research and development of materials to be added to biofuels to make them more compatible with existing infrastructure used to store and deliver petroleum-based fuels to the point of final sale.

Cites problem areas to be addressed, including microbial contamination.

Directs the Assistant Administrator to: (1) implement a research, development, demonstration program on portable, low-cost, and accurate methods and technologies for testing sulfur content in fuel, including Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel and Low Sulfur Diesel; and (2) begin demonstrations of such technologies within a year after enactment of this Act.

Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop a physical properties data base and standard reference materials for biofuels.

Authorizes appropriations to the Environmental Protection Agency to implement this Act.

Reach Out and Touch...the 2nd District?

Credit due to Wally, he typically isn't afraid to communicate with his constituents. He does make his way around northern California and talks to a lot of people. There were some times when he didn't really want to hear any criticism regarding anything dealing with Iraq, but overall I think he's approachable.

Now it seems Wally is tapping in to some new fun tricks with the phone company. Basically the deal is that your phone rings and you are invited to stay on the line and be connected to a conference call led by Wally. You can get in the queue to ask questions.

What I'm really curious about, which was not address in the article, is who gets called. I'm pretty sure I wasn't on the list. Are only registered Republicans on the initial group of people being called? If so, that would certainly be less than optimal. I'll have to mark this for a follow-up call with Wally's office...or if folks in DC are still following us (yes, we spy on you through the wonders of the internets) they can feel free to answer in the comments.

Blogger Upgrade

Maybe now that I've upgraded to the new Blogger I will post more here.