What was the dust-up over?
The issue: the nation’s top environmental regulator refused to say whether he had spoken with President Bush before deciding on a host of environmental policies. Waxman, a Democrat, wanted an answer. Issa, a Republican, had been cutting him off, insisting that lawmakers were supposed to take turns speaking, rotating from a member of one party to a member of the other.Waxman's argument is, of course, that the overreaching evilness of the Bush administration is doing its dastardly deeds in the EPA and deigning to have influence on decisions made by an agency headed up by an administration appointee. Egads! It doesn't sound like much of a controversy to me.
Issa's argument:
Issa said that White House involvement in EPA activities was nothing new and happened in the Clinton administration, according to The Associated Press. Furthermore, said Issa, such involvement "is allowed" under the law.Here's the video. It gets good around 2:15. Gotta love CSPAN!