Team Obama fires a warning shot across the bow of congress

Well Team Obama just fired a shot across the bow of congress.

You didn't notice, of course, because it happened a long way from where you live.  And virtually the only media that reported it was the WSJ--which you probably don't read.  But it absolutely did happen.  Here's the story from the WSJ:

WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to enforce subpoenas the agency issued to Congress in a possible insider-trading case, according to people familiar with the matter.

The SEC went to a New York court after the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means refused to comply with the agency’s request for information and testimony in the matter, the people said. 

The court challenge signals a major clash between the branches of government. Under the separation of powers provisions in the U.S. Constitution, Congress has several protections to guard itself from investigations by the SEC and other executive-branch agencies. 

By going to court, the SEC has signaled [!] it disagrees with the reasons that Congress gave for refusing to turn over evidence in the case. 

“It’s not unheard of for an agency to serve a subpoena to Congress, but for an agency to sue is—if not unprecedented—at least very rare,” said Michael Stern, who served as senior counsel to the U.S. House from 1996 to 2004. 

“It shows that there is a serious conflict; the SEC really wants the information and the House really wants it protected,” he said. 

The investigation stems from a 2013 leak of information about a health-care policy change that sent stocks on a tear. Investigators are trying to learn who may have passed along information about the policy change that ended up in the hands of a Washington, D. C., consulting firm, which then zapped the tip to its Wall Street clients.

Didja catch that?  This really is the equivalent of an atomic bomb.  As Stern said, this suit is 'Very rare, if not unprecedented.'  You can be absolutely sure that no agency of the Executive would *ever* do anything this...aggressive, this provocative, this offensive...without the explicit approval of Team Obama, if not their direct order.  And the SEC has absolutely, unequivocally, fired a shot across the bow of congress. 

Gosh, what message do you think they're trying to send?  Y'think it might be "Back off"?

Now, you have to understand the language of politics to know what's really being communicated by this lawsuit.  It doesn't just fire a shot across congresscritters who were involved in insider trading triggered by the passage of Obamacare.  Instead it's a warning to ALL members of congress that "if you press ahead with trying to find out who in the administration told the IRS to delay issuing non-profit status to conservative and Tea Party groups, you may just find yourselves under investigation for...well, anything you may have done that could be either illegal or embarrassing."

This lawsuit is analogous to a couple of beefy guys in dark suits coming into a business in New York or Chicago and saying "Nice business ya got here.  Be a shame if something happened to it."

If you don't understand that, let me know and I'll explain.