To oversee or not to oversee...
Factoid of the day comes from this WaPo piece reporting the alarming realization within the GOP majority in Congress that the Bush administration has run amok.
As to why the Congress has failed to investigate the myriad allegations of questionable conduct by the White House? They don't want to "embarrass the administration." I don't know about you but I'm embarassed to be represented by these fools.
Our legislators are as uninformed as the general public. They don't know what's going on or what they're voting about. They just wait for whoever paid for it to tell them how to vote and then it's off to Scotland for some golf.
Hell of a bad way to run a country if you ask me.
[The House Government Reform Committee] issued 1,052 subpoenas to probe alleged misconduct by the Clinton administration and the Democratic Party between 1997 and 2002, at a cost of more than $35 million. By contrast, the committee under Davis has issued three subpoenas to the Bush administration, two to the Energy Department over nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain, and one last week to the Defense Department over Katrina documents.No surprise there but this explains a lot about our current governmental dysfunction.
Some experts on Congress say that the legislative branch has shed much of its oversight authority because of a combination of aggressive actions by the Bush administration, acquiescence by congressional leaders, and political demands that keep lawmakers out of Washington more than before.Yeah, all those lobbyist funded jaunts and taxpayer funded fundraising trips just eat up the schedule. Who has time for oversight much less informed lawmaking? God forbid they show up to do the work we pay them for.
As to why the Congress has failed to investigate the myriad allegations of questionable conduct by the White House? They don't want to "embarrass the administration." I don't know about you but I'm embarassed to be represented by these fools.
Our legislators are as uninformed as the general public. They don't know what's going on or what they're voting about. They just wait for whoever paid for it to tell them how to vote and then it's off to Scotland for some golf.
Hell of a bad way to run a country if you ask me.
posted by Libby Spencer at 6:26 PM
5 Comments:
Allowing one party to have so much control is a bad idea. I don't care if they gained it legally through the vote or not, one party rule breeds corruption and a lack of oversight. The system needs to changed. I don't know how, but the checks and balances aren't working like they should.
By the way, I loved what Rep. Henry A. Waxman pointed out in the article: "There was nothing too small to be investigated in the Clinton administration and there's nothing so big that it can't be ignored in the Bush administration."
Confederacy of dunces.
I can only hope the moderates have woken up. I emphasize moderates because I live in the state of Senator John Cornyn who drinks the koolaid every day. He was the prime congressional source for the defense of the NSA spying yesterday, for example.
Yeah I loved Waxman's line as well and I also hope somebody is waking up, not only inside the beltway but also among the rank and file Americans that continue to swallow every lie whole, that comes out of this White House.
Don't feel bad Mike, I'm stuck with Liz Dole and some jerk named Burr who apparently dreams of hitting the big time in crony corruption.
The only thing that saves me here is my Rep Price is a pretty good man but it's still kind of shock to have Republican senators after living in Mass for so long.
I call them all the time and it's really interesting to see how rude Dole's staff is. They don't even pretend to write down your opinion and they never ask for contact info. At least Burr's office makes an attempt at civility.
I swear, if things don't balance out better in 06, I'm going to form the Libbytarian party and our slogan will be "throw all the bums out." I'm starting to think term limits and better regulation of pols who would become lobbyists as a possible solution.
My congressman doesn't save me. John Culberson voted for torture and against food stamps. One service ranks him as voting with Delay 97% of the time. I used to have a dem rep, but we were redistricted, you know.
Mike
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