Rep. Darrell Issa Is No Fool

Fresh off yesterday’s Congressional hearings with Toyota’s President Akio Toyoda, Imus spoke with Rep. Darrell Issa today, and expressed a sense of relief at Toyoda having taken responsibility for the safety concerns in a number of his cars.

“Up to that point, I thought it was my fault!” Imus hollered.

Issa believes Toyoda’s mea culpa was symbolic not only to Toyota customers, but to its employees, who will see the head of their company “on the spot” if they don’t aggressively go after safety problems, like sticking accelerator pedals.

Asked what he gleaned from the hearings, Issa, who represents California, said, “We learned that no manufacturer can be 100 percent sure after they apply a fix that they’ve gotten everything,” he said. “That even though clearly they’ve taken care of the carpet entrapment and some of the known problems, they are going to have to be diligent going forward.”

Issa also discovered that the U.S. government doesn’t look at problems certain cars have in other countries, where they may be introduced one or two years earlier than they are here. Changing that policy, he said, would allow the U.S. to address these issues sooner.

A former auto supplier who made millions on his Viper car alarms, Issa took on the I-Man’s question “Do your extensive complicated financial ties to Toyota keep you from asking a more aggressive line of questioning?” like a pro.

“If you’ve ever met anyone, particularly in Detroit, that was a supplier to the automobile companies, we’ve wanted to ask them hard questions and to be in control for a long time,” said Issa. “When you supply them, they’re in charge.”

Issa no longer supplies car companies, receives no revenue from them, and has zero financial connection to any automobile manufacturer. In fact, his experience dealing with the industry served him well in the hearings.

“I want them to be as aggressive going forward with safety as they used to be aggressive with forcing our prices, and making sure that we did our job,” he said. “So, in some ways, Toyoda probably got a harder time by having an automobile supplier sitting up there on that dais saying, ‘Hold it—I’m not letting you off the hook now.’”

Issa applauded Toyoda for not throwing his vendors under the bus. Imus applauded Issa for responding strongly to a question meant purely to annoy him. In fact, Imus was so impressed he suggested Issa run for Senate in California, saying, “Let’s do this!”

“When I see your contribution in the mail, I’ll know your serious,” Issa told Imus, who only contributes to high-minded, purpose-driven, realistic campaigns like those run by Kinky Friedman.

-Julie Kanfer