NYC's Own Ed Towns Will Chair Oversight Cmte

It was a great victory for those interested in changing the direction of the country when Congressman Waxman was selected to chair the Energy and Commerce Committee. He'll make a huge difference by replacing John Dingell, but the only problem is who will fill in for him at the Government Oversight and Reform Committee. The rules of seniority will apply here and the next Democrat (INO) in-line is straight from Brooklyn K Street.

From TPM:

We've now learned that Rep. Ed Towns of New York is the favorite to take over the House Oversight Committee chairmanship, as a potential rival has indicated he won't oppose Towns.

This is a sign that the new Dem-controlled government is taking shape in a mostly smooth fashion, sparing the House Dems another brutal internal fight after current Oversight chairman Henry Waxman ousted John Dingell from the Energy and Commerce Committee.

There had been press coverage and rumors that Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland might have run against Towns for the now-vacant chairmanship, but it looks like Cummings won't oppose Towns, after all.

And as TPM points out as well, my Congresswoman (Carolyn Maloney) won't challenge him either, so the job is as good as his. I understand that the Democratic caucus wants to stop the internal fighting over committee assignments but that doesn't mean Towns' selection isn't a disappointment. Philip at TAP knows exactly how he'll run the committee, just as well as he's conducted himself as a Congressman for the last quarter-century. Sure, Towns is on the right side of a lot of issues, but he also knows who butters his bread.

It was a shame that we didn't have a candidate stronger than Powell who could knock Towns off. Hopefully we'll get more competition for the Democratic primary in 2010 and a challenger who can unify the district to effect change in that part of Brooklyn. Meanwhile, the Government Oversight and Reform Committee will just have to languish until Elijah Cummings won't have to go up against the strict seniority system.

Waxman Is A Wise Choice Over Dingell

No one can deny that this year is a year for change. Americans desired it and they voted for it, overwhelmingly, with more than twenty additional seats going to Democrats in the House and between six and nine in the Senate. Oh and then there's the next President on top of that. Looking below those numbers though, it is important to see which Democrats won over incumbents and in bad news for those believers that America is "center-right," huge gains were made specifically for the progressive caucus. So what does that mean for the House, well for starters lets take a look at the contest for Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee between the liberal Henry Waxman and the more centrist John Dingell.

From RawStory:

Henry Waxman, a long-serving, outspoken, progressive California Democrat, has launched a bid to take control of perhaps the most powerful committee in the House of Representatives.

The move has many moderate Democrats worried about what they see as a takeover from the party's left flank.

What worries the moderates is their positions of authority in the House. Many conservative and blue-dog Democrats would rather hold onto their small feudal plots of power than try to enact the change everyone wants to see. The problem has been an aversion to progressive legislation that may anger certain elected officials' favorite industries.

Dingell's sympathy for the auto industry has contributed to a lack of action on climate change legislation, frustrating environmentalists.

President-elect Barack Obama said during the campaign that he wanted quick action on legislation to cap carbon emissions and require polluters to purchase emission credits on an open market. The Senate failed to pass a cap and trade bill over the summer, and Dingell belatedly introduced his own cap and trade proposal last month.

Environmentalists believe Waxman would be more aggressive in pursuing such legislation.

Waxman's history in the House has shown his tenacity but for a long time the gruesome hearings he holds do not carry past a largely apathetic Congress, unwilling to strike at hearts of Corporate America. As Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, he would have great reign to enact the environmental standards that the auto industry among others have been slow to adhere to. The truth is Dingell is too attached to the old Detroit, while Waxman is ready to remake the Motor City into a 21st century center for green technology and a leader in clean energy.

Waxman Wants To Eliminate The Next Karl Rove

The current Karl Rove has already done irreparable damage to the American political debate and the Constitution by his sinister and illegal actions. He has already left the current White House, escaping from justice with the help of the unconstitutional actions of George Bush such as floating above the law with a Congress too inept to do its part to stop him. Despite the shamefulness of many invertebrates on the Hill, there is hope for the future from one Representative who walks with his shoulders back and his head held high.

From The Hill:

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who has primary jurisdiction over the executive branch, is considering legislation to eliminate Karl Rove-type advisers in future administrations.

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hints broadly that such a bill could ban the use of federal funds to finance such a politically partisan office.

“Why should we be using taxpayer dollars to have a person solely in charge of politics in the White House?” Waxman said in an interview. “Can you imagine the reaction if each member of Congress had a campaign person paid for with taxpayer dollars?”

Congressional oversight of its members can be stringent at times when it comes to mixing politics and government business, at least superficially. Seriously though, the White House has no business employing Karl Rove or anyone else like him in a political role. For the past seven and a half years George Bush has treated the White House as a never ending political tool to extend power as far as he can possibly reach for. Having Karl Rove around for the majority of that time was a huge asset in that regard. Now in 2009 as we try to return to a more democratic country, ridding ourselves of a political office in the White House is smart idea, though still far short of holding Karl Rove and the rest of Bush's cronies responsible for their heinous crimes.

Another Reason On Why Its Good To Have The Dems Control Congress

Pelosi and Reid aren't perfect but watching Congressman Waxman chair a committee meeting is truly something to behold. Watch as he shuts down the other member of the committee so he can try and get an answer out of one of Bush's cronies:

Congressional Priorities

As I was sitting at lunch in the pizza parlor across the street, the TV was on NY1 as usual. Instead of hearing the local news in background, what I heard was members of Congress questioning Roger Clemons and his former trainer on the issue of whether or not they used/administered the steroid HGH. Trust me folks, I'd much rather hear about the weather. I did hear one Congresswoman say that it was ridiculous they were wasting the Congress' time by doing this....and I completely agree with that conservative on this. Why does Congress care about a Major League Baseball incident? Are they just looking to increase C-Span's ratings?

Instead of that crap, we could have heard about how the Democratic Congress is finally going to stop bending over for the White House and execute the contempt of Congress against Josh Bolten and Harriet Miers. Why did we not? Well, because the Nancy Pelosi-led Democrats are going to cave because they fear the courts will reject them. Aww, boo f**kin hoo. Pelosi can't even set a date for the hearings after stalling on this for months. I want to see some action damnit! I want these crooks to be held accountable. Our democracy will cease to exist unless EVERYONE is held to the same standards of law. Just because you work at the White House does not mean you get to commit crimes against Congress.

Seriously if I was Roger Clemons or Brian McNamee I wouldn't have bothered to show up. Why should they if members of the White House staff won't? Screw that. The Congress has better matters to attend to, and they better start doing it before they lose all of their legitimacy.

Emails? What Emails? I Don't Know Bout' No Stinkin Emails

Sometimes the amount of news out there can be overwhelming. Election news, national news and of course all the scandals that surround the Bush Administration just barrel out of the Internets at an incredible pace. It is such a deluge that from time to time you can forget certain things that have gone on in the last few years. You know, things like millions of missing emails at the White House. And I couldn't even imagine (or stomach) working there, poor Tony Fratto forgets about the scandals too, even when he's talking about them to the press.

From The White House:

Q Tony, on the subject, could you address the missing White House emails and the law suit? It is a subject of reports this morning. Are there in fact the emails missing? What's the likelihood of their recovery versus the --

MR. FRATTO: I think our review of this, and you saw the court filing on this, and our declaration in response to the judge's questions -- I think to the best of what all the analysis we've been able to do, we have absolutely no reason to believe that any emails are missing; there's no evidence of that. There's no -- we tried to reconstruct some of the work that went into a chart that was entered into court records and could not replicate that or could not authenticate the correctness of the data in that chart. And from everything that we can tell, our analysis of our backup systems, we have no reason to believe that any email at all are missing.

Q So where are they?

MR. FRATTO: Where are what?

Classic.

Thankfully there are competent people in government, people like Rep. Henry Waxman (my old Congressman!) who is still up on the case and is going to start hearings again into "Email-Gate" in the middle of next month. You know it is a bad sign when White House employees tell you one thing in September and what Tony Fratto said yesterday is a completely different story.

It is way past time to get the truth out of people like Fratto.

Condi Hearts Murderers Of Civilians

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote a letter to Rice yesterday to stop interfering with his work and that of Congress. Specifically she is hindering the investigations into Iraqi government corruption and the infamous Blackwater USA.

In case you don't know, Blackwater was almost thrown out of Iraq a few days back for an unprovoked attack on civilians, killing several. The Iraqi people are furious, but the U.S. (i.e. Condoleezza Rice) is pressuring them not to expel Blackwater from their large mercenary contracts. Blackwater is one of many "contractors" that make up an international force that outnumbers our troops in Iraq (roughly 180,000).

Rice does not want all this business to end, draining our treasury seems to be a prerogative of hers. Not only that, but many day to day operations would cease to exist because Blackwater does so many jobs. So she must have to work pretty hard with that political savvy of her in order to trick Congressman Waxman. So how is that going?

From The Washington Post:

"The scope of this prohibition is breathtaking," Waxman wrote to Rice, describing yesterday's staff interview with Vincent Foulk of the State Department's Office of Accountability and Transparency as "virtually worthless." The committee has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow on Iraqi government corruption.

A separate hearing, on Blackwater, is scheduled for next Tuesday. After reports last week that Blackwater employees guarding a U.S. diplomatic convoy in Baghdad had killed 11 Iraqi civilians, the committee asked the company for documents and requested the testimony of Erik Prince, chairman of Blackwater's parent company.

In a Monday letter, Blackwater attorney Stephen M. Ryan told the committee that the State Department had directed the company "not to disclose any information" regarding its Iraq security contract without prior department authorization in writing. "This contractual direction from the DOS is unambiguous," Ryan wrote.

Ryan enclosed a Sept. 20 State Department letter to Blackwater reminding that "all documents and information generated in the course of performance" of its contract "are fully subject to the control of the State Department."

Calling the department's position "wholly inappropriate," Waxman wrote that "unless the President is prepared to make an assertion of executive privilege over the Blackwater documents, the State Department has no authority to prevent their transmission to Congress."

Well technically thats true. Rice has no authority to pull this shit. Nevertheless, we don't really live in a democracy anymore. No matter how much kvetching Henry does, I doubt Condi or the White House will ever let him see the documents he (and the American people) desire.

FEMA Trailers: Killing Them With Kindness

FEMA's response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has already been proven as a disaster to compliment the destruction of Mother Nature. Now Congress is examining one such example where the trailers that were brought in to house refugees were contaminated with high levels of cancer causing formaldehyde. Just one more disgrace after another for the Bush Administration and its agencies that are supposed to help people.

From The Gavel:

At 10:00 a.m. the Oversight Committee will hold a hearing, “FEMA’s Response to Reports of Toxic Trailers.” The Committee will hold a hearing investigating formaldehyde levels in FEMA trailers provided for victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes and FEMA’s response to these reports. The Committee will hear from current residents occupying FEMA trailers, experts who are familiar with the health impact of formaldehyde, and from FEMA Administrator Paulison. Formaldehyde is a chemical used in paint and adhesives, and is classified as a “known carcinogen” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Reports of high formaldehyde levels found in FEMA issued trailers and FEMA’s response raise serious public health concerns.

Chairman Waxman:
“Another FEMA official wrote, the office of general counsel has advised ‘We do not do testing, because it would imply FEMA’s ownership of this issue.’ Early in the process, due to the perseverance of a pregnant mother with a four month old child, FEMA did test one occupied trailer. The results showed that their trailer had formaldehyde levels 75 times higher than the maximum workplace exposure levels recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The mother evacuated the trailer. FEMA then stopped testing other trailers.”

If only we had oversight like this with the Republican Congress before the disaster ever happened. Perhaps then those trailers wouldn't have been introduced in the first place. FEMA used to be such an amazing agency and now its a national and international disgrace. One of the reasons America became so great was that the government took care of its citizens and helped them to achieve a better life. Now they help poison them with carcinogens, how wonderful.

Doan And Waxman Spar Over Words, Henry Has The Last Laugh

It's another day for Chairman Waxman and his investigation of Lurita Doan and her violation of the 1939 Hatch Act. Last time she was on the witness stand she couldn't recall anything (that might implicate her). Now that Henry uses the words "pick on me" Lurita gets extremely defensive and her powers of recollection suddenly sharpens. Waxman definitely picked up on that memory improvement.

Charlie Rangel Slams George Tenet

Congressman Charlie Rangel called out the obvious on George Tenet yesterday with Bob Schieffer. He said the former CIA chief has no credibility and should be investigated. I couldn't agree more. Tenet takes no responsibility for his actions in the book, and the stuff he does mention about the Bush Administration.....why the hell didn't he say something before we went into Iraq? That makes him complicit with George Bush and Dick Cheney et al. crime of starting an illegal war. So go get em' Charlie!

From RawStory:

On CBS' Face The Nation Sunday morning, after a discussion of the impasse between the Democratic controlled Congress and president over the war funding bill, host Bob Schieffer asked the House Ways and Means Committee chairman if he could "switch to George Tenet, the former CIA director whose book came out this week."

"Sometime back, he got the Medal of Freedom," Schieffer continued. "I believe you were quoted somewhere along the way as saying that rather than the Medal of Freedom, he should be looked at by the Justice Department. What do you think about these allegations that he's making now that he was misunderstood when he said it was a slam dunk, that the administration had already made up its mind to go to war? Does he have credibility with you, Mr. Chairman?"

"No," Rangel responded, "I don't think he has credibility with anyone in the United States."

Rangel continued, "For him to have had the information that he had and to tell the president that it was a slam dunk. For the president to mislead the people in the United States in believing that there was weapons of mass destruction, that Saddam Hussein was involved in the attack in 9/11, that he was part of al Qaeda. And for him to have done what he did to my friend, Colin Powell, to have him sitting in the United Nations proclaiming the connection between the two, knowing in his heart that the evidence did not go in that direction. And to accept a medal and then to put out a book -- God knows what he got in terms of an advance -- to me, this warrants an investigation."

If you know that a murder is going to take place and you do nothing to stop it, you are essentially an accessory to murder. If you know that a disastrous war is about to take place, costing thousands upon thousands of lives and the pretenses for it are blatantly false....well then you are guilty of a lot more than just one murder.

As Rangel calls for an investigation, Congressman Henry Waxman has already invited the ex-CIA chief over to the Hill to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform later this week. As Tenet sells books and makes his trip around the country promoting it, it is more than fair for him to pay a visit to Congress and answer a few important questions.

Congressman Dan Burton The Hypocrite

Republicans are widely known to have done certain things while Bill Clinton was President. Things like subpoenas issued over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, pursuing impeachment and generally abusing their powers from 1995 to 2000. Then when Bush came in Congress became a giant rubber stamp for their new Commander in Chief. Now that the Democratic party is in power Congress is beginning to clean up the gigantic mess that the previous sessions ( 104-109th) left in their wake.

Of course there are still roughly 200 Republican congressman are left and plenty are complaining about the new style of governing. Issues such as oversight, working longer hours and passing legislation for the people over the corporations are stressing the Republicans and they are starting to whine over it. Dan Burton is the latest crybaby, particularly about Henry Waxman who replaced him as Chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Check this out from Roll Call via Crooks and Liars:

Rep. Dan Burton — the Indiana Republican who showered subpoenas on the Clinton White House as chairman of the House Government Reform Committee — is joining other Republicans in warning that the committee under its new Democratic leadership may be abusing its subpoena powers.

At the end of March … Burton, along with committee ranking member Tom Davis (R-Va.) and most of the other Republican members warned that the Democrats are straying close to the line of what is appropriate in oversight.

“Effective, constructive oversight is much more a matter of due diligence and digging than depositions and sensational disclosures,” the Republicans wrote.

Awww isn't that cute. Dan Burton thinks he can forget about his past transgressions, namely the 141 subpoenas he issued to the Clintons (guess how many went to the Bush Administration) on anything he could think of. He even subpoenaed the wrong guy because of a similar name situation. Dan really should just shut the hell up, he has absolutely no authority or high ground to stand on to preach about abusing subpoena powers.

EmailGate?

It takes an army these days to keep track of all the scandals emanating from the White House. Prosecutor-gate, GSA-gate, NSA-gate, illegal war-gate and so much more continuously makes the news because of the corrupt Bush Administration. Well now there is yet another potential abuse of power perpetrated by George's merry men.

From The LA Times:

Waxman told the Los Angeles Times in a statement that a separate "e-mail system for high-ranking White House officials would raise serious questions about violations of the Presidential Records Act," which requires the preservation and ultimate disclosure of e-mails about official government business.

Waxman's initial request to the RNC seeks e-mails relating to the presentation of campaign polling and strategy information to Cabinet agency appointees. He is also expected to ask for e-mails relating to Abramoff's activities, which Waxman is also investigating.

The Senate and House Judiciary Committees are also expected to formally request e-mail records from the RNC that relate to last year's firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

The private e-mail system came to light in the U.S. attorney controversy because one of Rove's deputies used an RNC-maintained e-mail domain — gwb43.com — to communicate with the Justice Department about replacing one of those prosecutors.

So from the prosecutor purge debacle this new potential scandal is coming to light. Using back-channel emails in this manner may violate the Presidential Records Act because of the White House's desire for ultimate secrecy. That hush-hush attitude has gotten the Administration in hot water already and this can just add more fuel to the fire.

Republicans are visibly worried over this latest request for information by Congressman Waxman because of the damning material that may be in those emails. Using the government for political maneuvering in this manner is a serious no-no and it doesn't seem that the White House really cared to follow those rules. Republican officials say that they created the email system to avoid troubles that arose in the Clinton years, but as the Republican and former Asst. Press Secretary Adam Levine said: "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Condi Willfully Ignored The Truth About Niger

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) ripped into Condoleeza Rice this morning, demanding she respond to Congressional inquiries about the run-up to the war, warning Dr. Rice 'that a failure to respond to his committee's inquiries undermined Constitutional governance'.

Condi has let 16 requests for information fall off her desk and into the proverbial wastebasket, clearly not interested in respecting the checks and balances of our consitution. Now times are changing and the Democratic party has subpoena power, one of the perks of having majority status. Mr. Waxman should and probably will use these powers to hold Condi and the White House accountable for the false information that was distributed to justify the war in Iraq.

From RawStory:

"Refusing to allow officials to testify before Congress...or ignoring congressional requests for information, as you apparently ignored my inquiries, are not consistent with our constitutional system of government," said the Committee's Chairman in a letter released today.

Waxman's letter stated that he was seeking to learn more about a variety of issues from the Secretary of State, including her "role in the President's false assertion that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger."

The California Democrat also explained that he had sent Dr. Rice 16 inquiries since 2003. But only 5 of the letters that were also signed by committee Republicans had received responses because "Under the Bush Administration, several agencies followed a policy of not responding to minority party requests," he stated.

Waxman was particularly concerned with the false claim made by President George W. Bush in the 2003 State of the Union address concerning Iraq's efforts to acquire uranium from Africa, as well as other supporting statements by administration officials.

Dr. Rice can try and throw out these requests from Congress but she will be doggedly followed by the Congressman from California. Much like how a credit card company tracks down deliquent bill-payers, she will be held accountable for her actions that have led to the tremendous financial and human debt that her and the Adminstration has caused.

Valerie Plame Will Testify In Front Of Congress

Now that Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff is a convicted felon, Congress is finally looking into the details of Plamegate and the treasonous activites that the White House (allegedly) committed in order to silence their critics about the war. Of course Fitzgerald did not charge anyone in the Bush Adminstration with a crime in regards to outing covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame, but lying under oath about the matter is still a serious offense. Serious enough that now Libby is looking at up to 25 years in federal prison.

Henry Waxman (D-CA) is beginning hearings to investigate the matter and pull the facts out that have seemed pretty damn visible to the public for quite sometime. As the Chairman for the Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, Waxman is ready to get to the bottom of the matter. That tenacity Waxman is known for in the past 30 years will come out in the following weeks.

From Rawstory:

Rep. Henry Waxman will lead a hearing of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform on "whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson," according to a statement at the committee's website. Plame Wilson will be one of the witnesses.

The notice also states that other expert witnesses will be joining the former CIA officer and discussing "the disclosure and internal White House security procedures for protecting her identity from disclosure and responding to the leak after it occurred."

Waxman's office also posted a letter in which he praised Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who successfully prosecuted top White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and asked him to appear before the committee.

"Congress has a responsibility to examine the policy and accountability questions that your investigation has raised. As a result of your investigation, you have a singular understanding of the facts and their implications that bear directly on the issues before Congress," Waxman wrote.

Waxman also intends to question Patrick Fitzgerald on what he learned about the matter while prosecuting Libby. In a very diplomatic tone, the Special Prosecutor said this about testifying in front of Congress, "We will do what's appropriate." What is appropriate is the American people see justice about the matter, just as Scooter got his.

Where Did All That Money Go?

Jon Stewart dissects former CPA boss Paul Bremer's testimony on the hill this week.