Congressman Issa Wins 92% of the Vote

Poll results are in. The overwhelming favorite is none other than Congressman Darrell Issa who received 92% of the vote. No, this is not the election for District 49. Instead, it is the public opinion survey begun Oct. 2 on how to name the nuclear waste dump at San Onofre. The poll results change daily, and anyone can go on line to vote. No one can manipulate the poll, and no one can vote twice. Follow this link to vote and see the results:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/S3WJDK2

The fact that we have become a nuclear waste dump and that people want it named The Darrell Issa Nuclear Waste Dump is not hard to understand. There were other candidates, but they failed miserably. One failed candidate was The San Clemente Nuclear Waste Dump (because the dump shares the same Zip Code 92672 with downtown San Clemente). But San Clemente received only 3% of the vote. Slightly more popular was the Camp Pendleton Nuclear Waste Dump (5% of the vote) since it is located at the marine base on land owned by the U.S. Navy.

Although SONGS has been generating nuclear waste since 1968, it is only recently that it suddenly became a long-term nuclear waste dump. Edison and the U.S. Government have been telling southern California residents for years (decades, actually) that all the nuclear waste will be removed when the plant closes. Now they have reversed this promise. The Darrell Issa Nuclear Waste Dump will be an ugly addition to our landscape at least until mid-century and possibly into the 22nd century.

What is alarming to southern California is the fact that the Issa Waste Dump will be located in the middle of two large metropolitan areas, thus endangering upward of 8.4 million people. The waste will be situated in an earthquake and tsunami zone a few hundred feet from I-5 on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. The NRC does not require that the plant be defended against land, sea, or air attacks by terrorists using high explosives, missiles, or energy weapons. Nuclear power plants (and especially fuel storage facilities) were never designed to withstand such attacks. The National Academy of Sciences has studied the security of fuel pools and dry storage casks and concluded that they are indeed vulnerable to terrorist attacks. (See http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11263&page=R9)

The site currently houses several thousand tons of uranium and plutonium, enough for 2,000 nuclear weapons. Dr. Allison Macfarlane of the NRC says that there is more potential radiation release here than at Chernobyl. The National Academy of Sciences stated that accidents could cause radioactive plumes extending hundreds of miles. The radioactive releases at Chernobyl resulted in the contamination of 1,000 square miles. This area is now called a Zone of Exclusion where all towns are now ghost towns. Could that happen here?

In addition to the extremely dangerous location is the uncertain and unproved technology for storing it. The stainless steel canisters are only 5/8 inch thick, and it is known that salt air can corrode them and cause cracks and stress fractures. There is no way to monitor the radioactivity inside the casks. The casks are welded shut and here is no technology to fix leaks if they appear. Any leaking gamma radiation would make it too dangerous for anyone to get near the casks. The casks are licensed for only 20 years and no one knows how long they will last even under perfect conditions. There are safer casks made in Germany, but Edison does not want to use them because they cost more. The position of the NRC is that they hope to find some solutions before they start to leak. In the mean time, the “solution” to nuclear waste is to change the name of the casks from short-term temporary casks to long-term interim casks. The general strategy is always the same: create major problems, pass the risks and costs on to the public, figure out the solutions later, and collect the cash in the meantime.

The Darrell Issa Nuclear Waste Dump

Why was Congressman Issa such a popular choice for this disaster waiting to happen? A reasonable person might think that the Congressman would be upset about having a nuclear waste dump located squarely in the middle of his District 49. But this assumes that Mr. Issa is actually interested in his district, or at least paying attention to what is going on at home. Could it be that Congressman Issa has other interests, mainly in Washington, perhaps wheeling and dealing to promote himself and make himself even more rich? Does anyone see the Congressman roaming his district responding to the citizens who elected him? Ask anyone in Washington and they will tell you that Congressman Issa is mainly known for his partisan grandstanding and for being the richest member of the U.S. Congress. When it comes to San Onofre, the Congressman knows nothing, says nothing, and does nothing. He is completely detached, uninformed, and uncaring about what is probably the biggest issue in his district.

If you look on his website, the Congressman has said nothing about San Onofre in the last 12 years except to say that closing the plant was a big mistake because lack of electricity will cause severe health and safety issues for the community. He prefers to keep it humming and glowing and producing even more nuclear waste. As for his predictions of dire consequences, they never happened. Almost three years after producing its last power, no one has noticed even a blip in power. This shows how out of touch he is with reality. If you search for his press releases regarding San Onofre, the results come back no results.

It is hard to discuss this with the Congressman because he is almost never in his home district. He has become a dedicated Washington insider and comes home mainly to raise funds for himself. I do know of one person who was able to corner him at a country club fund raiser and ask him about San Onofre. I was told that Congressman Issa was completely ignorant of all the issues related to San Onofre. No wonder. Neither he nor his staff has attended any of the dozens of large scale public hearings conducted in his district by the NRC, Edison, and many city town councils.

Is he responsive to residents in his district? Try writing to him. Unless you are praising him or donating money, chances are that he will not answer. He has ignored all of my letters with the exception of one form letter from a staff member which clearly indicated that he has no understanding of what is going on at San Onofre. Others have reported the same experience. How can a member of Congress be so detached that they don’t even respond to their own constituents?

After I received no response from an August 2014 letter, I went to his local office and talked with Amy Walker, Deputy District Director. She could not find any statement by the Congressman about San Onofre and could not remember anything he had ever said on the subject. She assured me that he was on top of every issue, and that his staff experts in Washington would respond to me right away. No response ever came. Then I learned of 4 other people who went to his office asking about San Onofre. Same response, same run-around. The congressman doesn’t know and doesn’t care. Why should he care about his district? It has been gerrymandered so he is in a safe district which insures that Republicans will re-elected him automatically no matter how bad his performance.

Just what does Congressman Issa care about? He may not care about his own district, but he does care deeply about Benghazi, a topic he uses ad nauseum to attack the President. He insulted Sandra Fluke and refused to let her speak about women’s health care. He regularly abuses his committee chair powers and silences those he disagrees with. He has been criticized by the San Diego State Watchdog Institute for packing his house oversight committee with insiders of the very industries that benefit from his “investigations.” He has accused President Obama of being “one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times” and he continues to attack the IRA for its “abuse of power” in investigating campaign financing frauds. It is actually Issa himself who is the poster boy of the misuse of government power to harass and intimidate.

Issa’s wealth and theatrics have provoked an unusual amount of investigative reporting. If you want to know how he became so rich, read the long New York Times piece entitled “A Businessman in Congress Helps His District and Himself.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/us/politics/15issa.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=eric%20lichtblau%20issa&st=cse

According to the Times, Issa pushed through numerous earmarks which just happened to be within 5 miles of properties he owns. In one case, he obtained $800,000 in earmarks for a road project near the medical plaza he owned, thus increasing its value by 60%. This is a familiar tale, a politician making himself rich using taxpayer dollars. Issa is also a big backer of Merrill Lynch, the Wall Street financial giant heavily disgraced by the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Issa has done over a billion dollars in transactions there. In return, Merrill Lynch provided Issa with personal loans of $75 million.

If you want to know more about his shady past, read, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/01/24/dont-look-back-3?currentPage=all

This expose provides details about how he was arrested and indicted for stealing cars and carrying concealed weapons. Read how he received unsatisfactory conduct ratings while in the Army. It is amazing that he ever got elected to anything, and even more amazing that he keeps getting re-elected. Is it because Republicans hold their nose and vote for him or that people in District 49 don’t really care who represents them in Congress? Or perhaps he has so much money he can pretty much buy his way out of anything?

It is hard to call his current election contest a “race” when Issa has $3,575,409 cash on hand for the election compared to only $13,844 for his opponent Dave Peiser (according to OpenSecrets.Org). Unlike his opponent, Dave Peiser does campaign and does meet with voters and does care about District 49. Peiser even showed up at the big NRC meeting in Carlsbad last week and told the officials that they have to come up with a safer plan than the one they propose. (Peiser had nothing to do with the poll.)

Let’s face it, Darrell Issa is the poster boy for misuse of government power. He is the poster boy for what’s wrong with Congress. It is time to retire him.