Costa Mesa’s congressman takes shuttle-probe reigns

Paul Clinton

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher kicked off what are sure to be closely watched

subcommittee hearings Wednesday as the chairman of the panel

investigating the Columbia shuttle disaster.

Rohrabacher, who represents Costa Mesa, holds the chairmanship of

the House’s Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. Before the

commencements of the hearings on Wednesday, Rohrabacher said there

are still many unanswered questions about the Feb. 1 explosion of the

Columbia and the loss of its seven crew members.

“Many of the questions that need to be answered transcend the

immediate technical and managerial problems of this tragedy,”

Rohrabacher said. “The lack of long-term goals or a unifying vision

for America’s space effort, for example, needs to be addressed.”

Rohrabacher, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain and

House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert are leading the

congressional investigation into the disaster.

NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe appeared as the hearing’s sole

witness.

Late last week, Rohrabacher secured special permission to remain

as the committee chairman when the House Republican Steering

Committee on Thursday overrode the six-year limit on chairmanships.

Rohrabacher obtained a special waiver, since he had served as the

committee’s head since 1997. He was elected to the House in 1988.

COX’S ALTERNATIVE-FUEL BILL IS READY TO HIT THE ROAD

Rep. Chris Cox and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) unveiled legislation

on Tuesday that would provide tax incentives for companies that build

filling stations and other infrastructure for hydrogen fuel-cell

vehicles.

Cox said they introduced the bill as a way to decrease the

country’s “dependence on foreign oil.”

“Commercially available hydrogen-powered cars will soon be a

reality, but consumers will not buy them until they are confident

that they can refuel on America’s road and highways,” Cox said. “It’s

the classic ‘chicken and egg’ problem. The automakers have ...

expressed no interest in the hydrogen business. But without widely

available refueling stations, no one will buy hydrogen-fuelled cars.”

The bill is known as the Hydrogen Transportation Wins Over Growing

Reliance on Oil or, the H2GROW Act, for short.

STATE SEN. JOHNSON UNCAPS PEN TO CRITIQUE GOV. GRAY DAVIS

State Sen. Ross Johnson has launched what he says will be a

periodic memorandum to voters about government largess and

ineptitude.

Johnson, who represents Newport-Mesa, is calling his memo the “Red

Ink Diaries.”

Deriving its name from the title of the 1992 made-for-TV psychological drama “The Red Shoes Diaries,” Johnson’s memo, he says,

is designed to “shine a light on waste, inefficiency and outright

fraud in government.”

In his inaugural issue, dated Feb. 5, Johnson takes aim at Davis’

proposal to hike taxes as a way to reduce an approximately

$30-billion deficit. Johnson attacks the state’s Department of Food

and Agriculture’s decision to move its employees twice during the

renovation of that department’s offices, which could cost as much at

$900,000 more.

Johnson also includes a factoid that state spending, since 1998,

has increased 36%, while revenue have only grown 28%.

CAMPBELL FORMS TAXPAYER ADVOCACY GROUP

Assemblyman John Campbell and a colleague have formed a group for

legislators to fight pending tax hikes.

Campbell, who represents Newport Beach, locked arms with

Assemblyman Ray Haynes, who is also a Republican, to form a

California branch of Americans for Tax Reform.

Campbell and Haynes are inviting other legislators to join the

caucus, as long as they sign a pledge to “oppose any and all efforts

to increase taxes.”

The group, based in Washington, D.C., lobbies nationwide against

increases in taxes and levies.

“Protecting taxpayers should be the first priority of any

legislator,” said Grover Norquist, the group’s leader. “Campbell and

Haynes have shown bold leadership in fighting against hikes in

California, and taxpayers all across the state owe them a debt of

gratitude.”