Progress Illinois

U.S. Rep. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee, thinks something fishy is up with the takeover of Broadway Bank. This afternoon, the congressman sent a letter to FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair questioning whether regulators gave Alexi Giannoulias' family bank additional time to try to raise $85 million in new capital -- and avoid a politically toxic bank failure.

Given the local media's interest in Broadway Bank, Issa's query will probably drum up some attention. But the source of this letter is just as important as its contents. TPM Muckracker's Zach Roth wrote late last week that Issa, from his position on the oversight committee, has been "tireless in his efforts to find something -- anything! -- that will stick to the Obama-ites." Click here to read an exhaustive list of potential scandals Issa has pursued ... unsuccessfully.

The headline on today's Tribune story about Alexi Giannoulias and Broadway Bank is a strange one: "Bank failure a nail in Giannoulias campaign."  So are they likening his campaign to a coffin? Seriously?  Ellen Beth Gill Carl Nyberg noticed it as well:

If the Trib isn't referring to the idiom "a nail in the coffin" then perhaps they can explain how referring to a nail in the campaign makes sense. Normally when a carpenter puts a nail in a roof or some other project it represents forward progress, right?

By the way, for all its attention on Broadway Bank, the Tribune still hasn't reported on Mark Kirk's health care "repeal" flip-flop.