If nothing else, Tuesday's recall election in Wisconsin showcased the triumph of deep pockets and short memories. But while Republicans tried to downplay their side's 8-to-1 cash advantage, they and their right-wing water carriers loudly denounced the recall effort itself. They weren't alone. While 60 percent of Badger State voters said recall elections are only appropriate in response to misconduct in office, the Daily Show mocked Democrats for pursuing it at all.
Of course, when the shoe was on the other foot, conservatives had total recall. In 2010, Tea Party members tried -and failed - to force New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez back to the polls with two years left in his term. That same fall, social conservatives removed three justices of the Iowa Supreme Court over their votes to recognize marriage equality. And most striking of all, in 2003 the GOP engineered the recall replacement of Democratic Governor Gray Davis by Arnold Schwarzenegger in response to the California energy crisis manufactured by the likes of Enron and only made possible by Golden State Republicans.

Only with the release of the Enron tapes in 2007 did Americans fully come to appreciate the manipulation of the California energy market. As it turned out, Enron traders not only joked about breaking the law ("I'm just trying to be an honest camper so I only go to jail once") and cheating consumers ("All the money you guys stole from those poor grandmothers in California"), but looked forward to George W. Bush in the White House:

EMPLOYEE #1: It'd be great. I'd love to see Ken Lay Secretary of Energy.
EMPLOYEE #2: When this election comes Bush will f------g whack this s--t, man. He won't play this price-cap b------t.

Their confidence was rewarded. On May 29th, 2001, now President George W. Bush defiantly declared, "We will not take any action that makes California's problems worse and that's why I oppose price caps."
To fully appreciate the spring 2001 response by Bush and his Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a little history is in order. In 1996, Davis' Republican predecessor Pete Wilson signed into law energy deregulation passed by the GOP controlled legislature. Under the legislation, California's state regulated power utilities (such as PSE&G) would sell off their production capacity, and instead purchase energy at the lowest price from competing providers including Enron, Duke, El Paso, and others. Unfortunately, the new laws would force California to buy energy on a short-term "spot" market, rather than lock in long-term contracts at lower rates.
The result (as documented by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights) was the manipulation by Enron and others that led to massive price increases for ratepayers, led to rolling blackouts, decimated the California economy and ruined the state's finances. By January 2001, the average market price of electricity in California soared to nearly 26 cents per kilowatt-hour - more than 10 times the average rate paid only 10 months earlier. Unable to pass on all of the increases to consumers, California's utilities faced bankruptcy. Governor Davis moved to arrange a bailout, a step that combined with the tech sector bust ultimately destroyed the state budget and his own tenure in office.
Davis along with Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer practically begged the federal government to impose a ceiling on the wholesale price of electricity once Bush took office. (Both Senators also accused Enron and other providers, rightly as we now know, of illegal market manipulation.) Davis delivered to Bush and Congressional GOP leaders a letter signed by 10 leading economists - including James Bushnell, director of research for the University of California Energy Institute - urging the administration to impose rates based on the suppliers' costs of production.
The White House predictably and stridently refused any federal intervention. Bush stated flatly, "For those struggling to pay high energy bills, price caps may sound appealing. But their result will ultimately be more serious shortages and, therefore, even higher prices."

FERC belatedly ignored the President, voting 2-1 to impose limited price caps. These were ended in October 2002. But by then, the damage was done. The Republican recall effort unseated Gray Davis a year later.

As it turned out, it was current House Government Oversight and Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa who led the Republican recall charge. But part two of the Issa plan - to capture the Governor's office for himself - abruptly ran aground when Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to get in the race.
On August 7, 2003, Issa shocked supporters and announced he would not continue his candidacy after the Terminator jumped in. Comically claiming, "It had nothing to do with Schwarzenegger's decision," Issa at times wept uncontrollably as he made his premature withdrawal. This video shows Issa's pathetic performance as he concluded his gubernatorial ambitions had been terminated. The water works start around the 7:30 mark.
Now, of course, it's the Democrats and their labor allies who are crying after Scott Walker's victory in Wisconsin. As for Republicans who cried foul over the recall itself, their memories are short, indeed.