Without a doubt!
Posted on 12/27/2006 6:02:04 AM PST by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON — Bald, mustachioed, 5-foot-5, the Hollywood congressman who'd rather watch the Academy Awards at home than mingle with the stars, Henry Waxman is hardly a fearsome or famous figure to most of America.
But Time magazine recently dubbed the California Democrat "The Scariest Guy in Town."
With his political party taking control of Congress, the incoming chairman of the House Government Reform Committee has subpoena power to probe the Bush administration or just about anything else that strikes his investigative fancy.
The soft-spoken son of a Jewish grocer, Waxman grew up over the family store in Watts. During more than three decades in Congress, he has relished putting powerful people — from baseball sluggers accused of taking steroids to tobacco company officials who claimed nicotine wasn't addictive — on the committee witness chair.
He has been called "the Eliot Ness of the Democrats" by Nation magazine, and aims to go after the Republican administration with zeal over the coming two years.
"The most difficult thing will be to pick and choose" what to investigate, Waxman told reporters after the November elections.
"He's got a very long list," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional analyst with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank. "I'm sure he's going back to the contracting mess (in Iraq and Afghanistan and post-Katrina), Halliburton and others. And not just contractors."
Waxman also will be examining the role of the federal government, from the Defense Department to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and grilling the officials who greased the deals with contractors, Ornstein predicted.
"Henry is not afraid to go after anyone," said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., his predecessor as chairman of the committee. "He's going to be very aggressive."
When one party controls the House and the other controls the executive branch, the Government Reform Committee is historically more eager to exercise its oversight powers, Davis said.
When Indiana Republican Dan Burton was chairman, for instance, the committee was relentless in its investigations of the Clinton administration.
But Waxman's successful relationship with Davis shows that neither is as partisan as often painted, said Ornstein.
"Does Henry have strong liberal views? Yes. Can he be a tough-as-nails partisan? Absolutely," said Ornstein. "But I don't think he's going to come in as some sort of avenging angel taking a meat ax to his political adversaries."
The district also holds California's largest Jewish community. Re-elections have come easily for an unabashedly liberal congressman who keeps kosher.
Despite long fundraising ties with the entertainment industry, glitzy he is not. Waxman takes pride in having never attended the Academy Awards. At first he wasn't invited, but now it is part of his shtick.
"It's such a long night," he told Time. "When I watch it on TV, I can get a snack."
Without a doubt!
--I sincerely hope the Demotraitors can't get "anything done"--anything they plan to "do" is bad---
If Waxman does this it will mire them down in the mud for at least 2 years. The American people will get tired and disgusted with them and vote them out of office in 2008.
--hopefully--and then there are John Conyers and John Dingell, also looking for a piece of the pie--
Then, Mr. Ornstein, you are more ignorant than you are naive.
Oh yes! Conyers is going to do the same thing.
They sort of left out the fact that the Clintons were committing crime after crime after treason...
Mornin' 51,
Whacksman is like a cobra ready to strike. The poor, constipated bas*ard recoiled for years waiting to unleash his sh!t!
Good Morning to you too! Waxman, Conyers and Reid have been waiting for this opportunity. They should be careful what they wish for. I hope they screw it up for the Demorats in 2008.
Don't you worry! They will. As I always said: the RATS lost the '06 election by winning!
I am glad Waxman understands his role as head of the Government Reform Committee is to use it for partisan attacks. It is amazing how open Democrats are when they abuse the power of government and the media does not call them on it.
I suspect this is why Rumsfeld resigned.
There is reportedly $2B in waste in Katreina relief, that alone is enough to hang half the cabinet and possibly Bush.
They will go after Bush if they find something. It's what the opposition party does.
I see, Burton evil partisan, Waxman non-partisan.....oh, no bias here.
From where in the Constitution is this power derived? Are those subpoenaed compelled to appear?
If you think Rumsfeld resigned over a Katrina relief scandal, or any other scandal, you should sign up for Waxman's staff.
You've got mail :-)
Mr Waxman will find that merely keeping kosher while supporting infanticide and the radical homosexual agenda, and appeasing the enemies of Israel will not sit well with the Lord when his time comes.
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