Waxman Set to Probe Areas of Bush Gov'tBy ERICA WERNER
Associated Press WriterThe Democratic congressman who will investigate the Bush administration's running of the government says there are so many areas of possible wrongdoing, his biggest problem will be deciding which ones to pursue.
There's the response to Hurricane Katrina, government contracting in Iraq and on homeland security, political interference in regulatory decisions by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, and allegations of war profiteering, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., told the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
"I'm going to have an interesting time because the Government Reform Committee has jurisdiction over everything," Waxman said Friday, three days after his party's capture of Congress put him in line to chair the panel. "The most difficult thing will be to pick and choose."
Waxman, who's in his 16th term representing West Los Angeles, had plenty of experience leading congressional investigations before the Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans in 1994.
That was the year when, as chairman of an Energy and Commerce subcommittee, he presided over dramatic hearings he convened where the heads of leading tobacco companies testified that they didn't believe nicotine was addictive.
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Waxman complained that Republicans, while in power, shut Democrats out of decision-making and abdicated oversight responsibilities, focusing only on maintaining their own power.In contrast to the many investigations the GOP launched of the Clinton administration, "when Bush came into power there wasn't a scandal too big for them to ignore," Waxman said.
Among the issues that should have been investigated but weren't, Waxman contended, were the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, the controversy over the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name, and the pre-Iraq war use of intelligence.
He said Congress must restore accountability and function as an independent branch of government. "It's our obligation not to be repeating with the Republicans have done," Waxman said.
The Post endorsement of Tom Davis was testament to its love for good sources and cozy relationships between reporters and politicians. It ignored Davis' inaction on vital issues. Fortunately, voters across the country stripped Davis of much of his power.
Yes, the Post quotes Davis on why Davis made such a crappy showing. WTF is that about? Of course, Davis does not mention how voters might believe he shares accountability for the mess the Republican leadership (Davis included) is in, and how they (Davis included) dragged the country down with them. The Post earlier quoted Davis on why Andy Hurst was running; hmmm, Davis didn't mention Hurst was running because he wanted to unseat the crook that Davis is. Later the POst quoted Davis on what Hurst will do next; Davis speculated Hurst will run for a state seat. I guess getting Hurst's phone number from the phone book and on his web page was too much trouble? Where are the intrepid investigative reporters? (snark)
An in-the-know politician told me as Fairfax chair, Davis required that the planning of the Wilson Bridge and Springfield interchange take into account WaPo's printing plant in Springfield and its truck delivery schedules. Seems like the management there at WaPo is so used to kissing Davis butt they forgot how to stop.
Well, Congress needs to govern and investigate when and where needed. But that problem can be solved with the reasonable work week that Waldo talked about in one of his recent posts on his blog.