Posted on 05/23/2007 4:34:33 PM PDT by RWR8189
The new Democratic majority's zeal for congressional investigations goes well beyond Alberto Gonzales and the fired federal prosecutors.
Aided by a new investigative team including a former mob prosecutor and a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Democrats have launched more than three dozen probes of the administration ranging from the White House to obscure agency heads. The House Oversight Committee alone has conducted 20 investigations.
With few legislative accomplishments in hand -- and only a few prospects in the offing -- it seems plain the 110th is shaping up as "The Oversight Congress."
This is troubling news for the Bush White House and Republicans. No fewer than six administration officials have resigned already amid the congressional probes -- and many more are in Democratic sights.
They are targeting a sweep of people and issues. Some are high-profile, such as the leaking of Valerie Plame's CIA identity or the U.S. attorney firings, subjects that make for compelling cable news dramas.
But many more are mundane: inefficiency at the federal crop insurance program or conflicts of interest in FDA contracting. Some are pragmatic, such as an examination of food safety following outbreaks of illness caused by contaminated peanut butter and spinach. Others are tragic: the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman and the misleading information the military provided to his family.
"We're seeing results when we peel away some of the layers in every department," said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. "People felt they could do whatever they wanted for whatever reason."
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Democrats had a mountain of issues to investigate.
"We have a huge backlog, and we'll try to use what we can to get to everything," he said.
The outbreak of investigations represents a significant change in Washington. For the first six years of the Bush presidency, Republicans controlled Congress and largely avoided tough oversight hearings and hard-hitting investigations, especially of the Iraq war and environmental issues.
In the 2006 campaign, Democrats promised change on this front and have delivered in ways most Americans would probably not notice.
Everyone knows about the investigation of the attorney general and his role in the firings of U.S. attorneys. Gonzales, of course, has vowed to stay on despite calls by a few Republicans for him to resign.
But Democrats have three other scalps to claim from that probe and three from others rarely mentioned.
An Interior Department official resigned after an investigation by the House Natural Resources Committee suggested she had edited scientific reports to lessen endangered species protections. The head of the Education Department's student loan program stepped down after complaints from Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee.
And the official heading up the Minerals Management Service quit her job shortly after congressional Democrats held a hearing critical of the agency.
Resignations are not the only measure of a successful investigation. Often the result will be a change in policy.
The administration appointed a "food safety czar" after several congressional committees raised questions about the FDA's ability to protect consumers from food contamination. The Army announced it would not pay $19.6 million to Halliburton subsidiary KBR Inc. after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee examined its arrangements with private security providers.
This has served as a wake-up call to those who might be future targets of the Democratic campaign. Drug companies are hiring additional lobbyists, for instance, as Oversight and Government Reform begins looking at the pricing practices of drug companies. Dingell said he planned to launch a probe of leveraged buyouts.
Democrats, though, have shied away from some sensitive areas of inquiry.
The energy task force led by Vice President Cheney, a frequent target of Democratic attacks, has received little attention this year, in part due to concerns raised by "oil patch Democrats," lawmakers in the South and West who are wary of targeting oil companies with ties to their districts, according to congressional aides.
And some Democrats grumble that House Armed Services Committee and its chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) have not done more to hound the White House on defense spending and contracts.
Still, Democrats are only getting started on the investigation front.
All told, Democrats have held 204 full committee hearings on oversight in the House, according to a tally maintained by the office of House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).
In the process, they have created a new growth market for congressional staffers.
With so many investigations getting underway, some committees have had trouble finding enough capable investigators to meet demand. Some old hands have returned to Capitol Hill, such as John Arlington with the House Energy and Commerce Committee or Geoffrey Bestor, a former assistant U.S. attorney now with the House Veterans Affairs Committee. But in many other cases, Congress has had to train new investigators.
The Project on Government Oversight has been running training sessions for congressional staffers doing investigations. The program, started last fall, has attracted such interest that the project plans to award certificates and magnifying glasses to 20 staffers who have attended five or more of the sessions.
In all, 183 staffers have attended the classes, which are taught by veteran investigators on and off the Hill.
—Harry Reid and Dianne Feinstein are still holding their breath-—
Apparently neither the author nor the dems realize Pres. Bush is in the last two years of his term, is not going to run again, and is not particularly interested in what they think. It would be better called "The Do-Nothing Congress" which, when you look at the defeatist, anti-American, socialist-policy dems, is actually a good thing.
That’s hysterical! LOL funny!
Or care about.
No doubt. 'Pod.
Bush should grow some hair and tell them to stuff it...stonewall (in the best Nixonian tradition) the rest of this administration.
I cannot but wonder how much more it will take before the President starts to fight back and recognize that conservatives, who want our borders protected, are not his enemy, the rinos and d’s are.
I guess these two Dem reporters haven’t noticed that the Democrat Congress is already down to a 35% approval rating. The voters know that nothing is being done but the hounding of Bush administration officials. There might be a tremendous turnover in Congress after the ‘08 election.
Speaking at an abbreviated news conference outside the one-story stone office at his Prairie Chapel Ranch, Bush insisted, as he has since Gonzales found himself at the center of the controversy, that the attorney general had “done nothing wrong.”
Bush added that Gonzales was up against the sort of theatrical behavior that had “caused the American people to lose confidence in how Washington operates.”
“I stand by Al Gonzales and I would hope that people would be more sober in how they address these important issues,” Bush said. “And they ought to get the job done of passing legislation, as opposed to figuring out how to be actors on the political theater stage.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-usattys22may22,1,7752001.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true
OMG! Ramirez’s cartoons are da bomb!
King Jorge is troubled? Breaks my heart.
Probably more trouble for the rat congress whose approval rating is lower then Bushs
He’d know, that sounds exactly like Congress’ attitude.
I’m eagerly awaiting the next round of “job approval” ratings for king jorge and congress. Last I heard, king jorge was at 29% which seems way too high.
and that means congress will be at 19pct
That’s too high too - the two frogs and one chicken that like congress must have been counted more than once.
lol
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