The Controversial Legacy of Henry Waxman

Rep. Henry Waxman is retiring from Congress, in part, he says, because of the “extremism of the Tea Party Republicans.  I am embarrassed that the greatest legislative body in the world too often operates in a partisan intellectual vacuum.”  Yet the fact is that few members have contributed more to the partisanship, extremism and dysfunction of Congress than Henry Waxman in his four decades of service.

Over those years his attitude toward his political opponents has been not only that they were wrong, but that they are deserving of no respect whatsoever.  That was not how Congress worked when Waxman first arrived, but in no small part thanks to him, it is the norm for Congress today.

Waxman’s first contribution to dysfunctional politics won’t be mentioned in the fawning accounts of his career in the state and national media; his involvement in the arcane world of redistricting.  Waxman was elected to the California Assembly in 1968 and became chair of the redistricting committee in 1971.

Redistricting could be partisan, but at least people were honorable.  Waxman was not.  His main objective in the 1971 redistricting was to create a seat for his fellow Democratic and an old pal, Howard Berman.  That’s fine, but in Waxman’s case he just rolled over the Republican opposition since his scheme required collapsing Republican seats.  This set off a two year long redistricting war the likes of which California had never seen and out of that grew the partisan hatreds that colored life in the California legislature for decades.

Waxman went to Congress in 1974 and was soon joined by Howard Berman.  For years they schemed to make sure they had safe congressional districts for themselves even though that meant denying fair representation to the growing Latino population in the San Fernando Valley.  Waxman’s bleeding heart liberalism never extended to making his own political life uncomfortable.

That attitude finally caught up with Waxman and Berman in 2011 when the Citizens Redistricting Commission added a Latino seat in the Valley and gave both Waxman and Berman very bad districts.  Waxman is not retiring because he is tired of Congress; he is leaving because he no longer has a sweetheart district drawn for him by his friends.

Over his decades in Congress, Waxman was well known for showing utter contempt for his political and policy opponents, never willing to admit that they may have a legitimate argument once in a while.  That attitude led him to reshape the investigating committees which he chaired in the 1990s into star chambers, most notably when he harangued tobacco executives at a famous 1994 hearing.

Via: California Political Review

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[VIDEO] IOWA DEMOCRAT COMPARES OBAMACARE TO WIZARD OF OZ

On Wednesday at a House hearing on the malfunctioning Healthcare.gov website, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) invoked The Wizard of Oz when he told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that she was not in Kansas anymore. 

"There is a famous movie called The Wizard of Oz. There is a great line. Dorothy, at some point in the movie, turns to her little dog Toto and says, 'Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore,'" Barton told Sebelius, the former Kansas governor. "Well Madam Secretary, while you're from Kansas, you're not in Kansas anymore."

Barton then said that "some might actually say we're in Wizard of Oz land" given the "parallel universes we seem to be habitating."

Barton said that that those like Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and most Democrats think things are going "great" with Obamacare and Healthcare.gov. He said though Sebelius did mention the Obamacare rollout was a "debacle," she also seems to think it is "great." 

"Ultimately, the American people will decide," Barton said. 

Later in the hearing, Rep. Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Iowa, also invoked The Wizard of Oz.

“One of the things that keeps coming up in this hearing because you are from Kansas is references to The Wizard of Oz. And people want to see the wizard because of the wonderful things that he did,” Braley said.
“The Affordable Care Act is doing a lot of great things in Iowa, but all of these good things don’t mean anything if we don’t solve these problems.”

Via: Breitbart

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Waxman: I Logged Onto Healthcare.gov on My iPad During Hearing So It’s All Good

The ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee downplayed the mounting concerns about the efficacy and integrity of the Healthcare.gov website because he was able to log on while fiddling around on his mobile device during today’s hearing.

Contractors including CGI Federal appeared before the committee today to answer questions about the failure of the Obamacare exchange website, but no administration officials testified.

“We are disappointed that the system is not in place and running the way we envisioned. But the contractors have given us assurances that they think everything will be every day better to the point where the deadline can be met for people to sign up, choose a health care plan in time for it to go into effect January 1. The absolute deadline for that to happen is December 15th,” the top Democrat on the committee, Henry Waxman (Calif.), told reporters.

“I think we need to keep in mind that many people already have been able to get their health care plan under the exchange — under the marketplace — under the federal and state marketplaces. And that many people are anxious to get health insurance. And we ought to make sure that it’s working, and not take the approach that some of my colleagues have taken: ‘If it’s not working now, we ought to abolish the whole system.’ Of course, they’ve been against it from the very first day, and wanted to abolish it, and even close out the government to try to eliminate the Affordable Health Care plan,” he continued.

“But we got to stay with it and make sure it’s done. And I was encouraged by the testimony that they feel that they can beat this deadline — absolutely deadline in December 15th — and that people can try now. Because many people are getting through.”

Waxman noted that he went on his iPad during the hearing “and I was able to access healthcare.gov.”

“And I told them I wanted to look at the different plans. They asked where I lived, and I said it was in California, so they referred me to Covered California. And I went on that. And in the course of 10 minutes, I was looking at the various health plans that were available to my constituents,” he said.

His experience was brought up by other Democrats in defense of the exchanges.

Via: PJ Media

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[VIDEO] Waxman Claims Private Sector Responsible for Obamacare Glitches

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
October 22, 2013 3:08 pm

Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) blamed the private contractors retained by HHS to build and administer healthcare.gov for the website’s extensive glitches Tuesday on MSNBC.

Waxman said Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius was not aware of all of the “technicalities” pertaining to the Obamacare website and thus should not be held responsible for its failure.

“She’s done a terrific job,” Waxman said, “I have a great deal of confidence in her.”

The private sector, according to Waxman, failed to live up to their contractual obligations “even with all of the money they got.”

The California congressman suggested that if “anyone’s head should roll, it should be the contractors who didn’t live up to their contractual responsibilities”:

KIRSTEN WELKER: Congressman, just very quickly, yes or no, should Secretary Sebelius keep her job?

HENRY WAXMAN: Absolutely. There’s no reason for her not to continue on as secretary. She’s done a terrific job. I have a great deal of confidence in her. She doesn’t know about all technicalities. That was contracted out to the private sector, the private sector with all the money they got couldn’t get it. If anybody’s head should roll, it should be the contractors who didn’t live up to their contractual responsibilities.

However, Waxman failed to mention that HHS selected CGI Federal to produce healthcare.gov and is fully responsible for ensuring the competency of their contractors.

Waxman’s inept attempt to deflect blame from Sebelius comes amid increasing calls for the HHS secretary to resign:

Full interview:

Via: WFB

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Waxman Scolds Cable Lobby for Blasting NBC Obamacare Ads

Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) recently criticized a Time Warner Cable lobbyist for suggesting that NBC is exhibiting bias in its coverage of the Affordable Care Act. However, Waxman failed to disclose his own campaign contributions from Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal.

Waxman, the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote a letter Friday raising concerns about an email he said the lobbyist sent to Republican staffers in the House and Senate. “Next time you think about helping the broadcasters—particularly the networks—read this…,” the email said, followed by a link to the Weekly Standard blog post, “NBC Launches Week of Programming to ‘Help’ Obamacare Succeed.”

The post pertains to an NBC press release announcing the network’s “Ready or Not, the New Healthcare Law” initiative, a series of social media forums, on air reports, and online resources designed “to help shed light on what the health care act means for [consumers] and explain how to enroll.”

“A broadcaster has a public service obligation and should be informing viewers about the new options for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act,” Waxman wrote in his letter to the lobbyist.

“On the other hand, a cable company should not be pandering to the worst instincts of the reckless Republican extremists that seem to be running the House of Representatives.”

Via: WFB

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Congressman Henry Waxman: What Would You Like to Tell Them?

What would you like to tell the doctors, nurses, patients, and health practitioners, Henry?

“Together, those two pension funds lost millions of dollars of their retirement money [for the 2009 auto bailouts], and my question to you as a supporter of the bailouts is What would you like to tell them?” (Congressman Mick Mulvaney)

Congressman Henry Waxman claims to lead the fight for workers, for the poor, of the environment; however, in a 2012 budget committee hearing, he was caught off-guard, first failing to acknowledging (or rather refusing to acknowledge) that General Motors went bankrupt in 2009.

Then he dodged questions about the bailouts which saved the industry in Detroit cost public employees, teachers and police officers in Indiana, hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr. Waxman could only muster: “People get hurt.”

What would you like to tell those retired teachers and police officers, Henry? What about the unions whom you claim to support?

Other constituents have been hurt by Congressman Henry Waxman’s ignorance, lack of oversight, and attention to less pressing matters.

The thousands of homeless veterans in Los Angeles County have languished for decades without proper food, shelter, and medical treatment, all of which should be theirs through the Brentwood Veterans Administration, a property which deeded to the veterans primarily and exclusively.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Has Congress Become Institutionalized??

Definition of institutionalized:  Having become an established custom or an accepted part of the structure of a large organization or society because of having existed for so long.

Now that you know the meaning, we can now all agree that Congress fits in this category. Seven members of Congress that have become institutionalized at different levels need to be shown the door today in order of years in congress are as follows:

1. Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) 14th Congressional District, Elected 1964
2. Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) 13th Congressional District, Elected 1972
3. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) 30th Congressional District, Elected 1975
4. Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-SC) 6th Congressional District Elected 1992
5. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) 10th Congressional District, Elected 1996
6. Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) 6th Congressional District, Elected 1996
7. Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D-CA) 37th Congressional District Elected 2007

We have become so accustomed to electing the same people year after year, that it’s easy to forget that they serve at the pleasure of their constituents. The time has some to clean house and elect representatives that are going to start working for us and not for their own self interests.  The seven have served 182 years of combined service from John Conyers who has served 48 years to Laura Richardson who has only served 5 years.  It does not take a Rhoades Scholar to figure out career politicians should be destined for the scrap pile and this is the year to do it. 

Let’s start with the newest of the seven and that would be Rep. Laura Richardson of California.  She has definitely made a name for herself in five short years in Congress.  Richardson was elected in a special election in 2007 to fill a vacancy resulting from the death of Juanita Millender-McDonald. In 2011 Richardson was named by Judicial Watch as one of the “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians”.  In addition to this she has been accused of numerous ethics violations relating to the use government employees for political purposes when she allegedly ordered aides to work on her campaign on government time. Rep. Richardson has claimed racial bias as a reason for the charges. A change of districts means Richardson is being challenged by new democrat Rep. Janice Hahn, who was elected in a special election in June 2011. 

John Tierney who hails from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has had his share of problems since being elected in 1996, beating two-term Congressman Rep. Peter Torkildsen in a hard fought battle. In 2010 his wife Patrice Tierney was charged in U.S District Court to four counts of “aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns” by her brother, Robert. She pled guilty and was later sentenced to 30 days in prison and five months of house arrest. Even with this black cloud hanging over his head during the 2010 Congressional campaign and a tough challenge from Bill Hudak, the heavily democratic district decided to re-elect Tierney to office for an eighth term. Let’s not see him elected to a ninth term.

Update: On Tuesday March 6, Rep. Dennis Kucinich was voted out in the primary, by  fellow Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur due to redistricting. She will face-off against Republican Samuel (Joe the Plumber) Wurzelbacher in the general election on November 6, 2012.


Since Dennis Kucinich was elected to represent the citizens of Ohio’s10^th Congressional District in 1996 he has been one of the most liberal members of Congress voting along party lines over 90% of the time.    During his challenging years as Mayor of Cleveland from 1977 to 1979, he survived a recall election but was voted out of office by Republican George Voinovich.  In January of this year Kucinich along with four of his democratic colleagues sponsored the “Gas Price Spike Act of 2012”. The tax would be from 50 percent to 100 percent of the “surplus earnings.” It would be administered by another mammoth new government bureaucracy, the Reasonable Profits Board. The issue with this bill is no one knows what “surplus earnings” means.  It is just another tax that would be passed along to consumers by way of higher gas prices.  What we need is less tax and spend, and more fiscal conservatism from Congress and Kucinich is not up this challenge. 

Rep. Jim Clyburn has served the good people of South Carolina for almost 20 years but to what end?  In 2009 when Boeing announced that they would be building a facility to build the new 787 Dreamliner he hailed the news as good for South Carolina. Clyburn said, “Boeing is a game-changer for South Carolina” and praised the move by saying “This program here is to further the top three priorities in the state: jobs, more jobs and many more jobs.”  When the NLRB brought a lawsuit against Boeing for “unfair labor practices” Clyburn was conspicuously absent.  His silence on the issue was deafening, because he neither objected to the NLRB lawsuit nor supported it.  It was all about jobs and he did not want to upset the Obama administration’s anti-job agenda. Jobs are the #1 priority in this country and his time as an effective lawmaker has been overshadowed by his indifference to the people that elected him to serve. 

Rep. Henry Waxman.  What can be said about him that is not already known?  At 72 years old he is one of the senior members serving in Congress since 1974. He also served from 1969 to 1974 in the California State Assembly.  His current district serves a very rich enclave that includes Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood.  With the new congressional districts that have been approved by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission his district now serves an area that spreads from the mountains of Malibu to the beach communities south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. I am sorry to say that I am now located in his district.  He is probably going to win this year again.  The only way that we can stop him in his tracks is to make sure that Congress remains in control of the republicans, therefore rendering him ineffective in his democrat agenda which includes “Cap and Tax. 

Has anyone noticed how angry Rep. Pete Stark gets when he is addressing his constituent?  These are the same people that they have elected him to serve them and not the other way around.  It is profoundly noticeable when he is questioned about his policies and if he does not like the question he deflects to his default position, “anger”.  Having been elected in 1972 which by the way is the same year that Richard Nixon won 49 of the 50 states against George McGovern it is hard to believe that a democrat got elected to anything that year. Since 1998 he has won his district with over 70% of the vote.  He is a tough opponent in a highly democratic district but with right candidate in this volatile climate, he is beatable.  You just have to ask yourself, “Is he the best for the job at hand”?

Detroit has become the poster child for 50 years of democrat control and if Rep. John Conyers has anything to say about it since he got elected in 1964, it will continue its downward spiral to oblivion.  We have seen the demise of the auto industry at the hands of union control.  As for the American dream of raising a family and having to live a good life, it has turned to despair and misery and one can only imagine what the future holds for the good citizens of Michigan. Detroit was considered one of the great manufacturing cities of the world.  The population of Detroit dropped 25% in the last 10 Years (2010 U.S. Census). There are rows upon rows of empty houses.  Neighborhoods have been decimated by the exodus and there is no end in sight.  The good people of Michigan have been ignored all for the good of the unions. Until you decide to wake up and demand accountability from your representative, it will continue with no end in sight.  It’s time to rid this country of career politicians and Rep. Conyers must go.

For those that are represented by this group, you have to ask yourself if they have done the job that they were elected to do.  In most cases the answer will be no, but they still manage to get your vote time after time. We cannot ignore the hypocrisy any longer. We must vote the incumbents out and get new blood and new ideas flowing that will change the dangerous course that this country is on. We must change the institutionalization of Congress. It is now up to you to further your education with respect to your current representation and draw your own conclusions.  It is you and only you that can make a choice, “Vote for more of the same or time for a change”. I vote for “Change”.”.