Who is Sleeping on Oversight Duty: “Two Leading” in the House and the Senate

Who is Watching Man in the Middle: Certainly Not These Two 

Introduction from a fine article in The Hill from Former Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) – very thought provoking – his introduction:

The health of our nation’s political life depends on the Congress — the people’s branch — holding the executive branch to account and exposing malfeasance in the public and private sectors. 

This watchdog role — formally known as oversight — is every bit as important as passing laws in maintaining the checks and balances of our constitutional system.

At its core, vigorous oversight is the way Congress is supposed to keep the president from becoming a monarch.

In practice, it means holding public committee hearings and conducting investigations into everything from a lost Social Security check to whether the country has the proper nuclear posture to deter a military attack.

Done properly, congressional oversight investigations can impact policy and change society for the better.

Examples:

• The congressional 9/11 Commission produced valuable findings on the terrorist attacks and the government response to them.

• Congress investigation into Hurricane Katrina was even-handed and thorough.

• In the 1970s the Church Committee exposed abuses of power at the CIA, FBI, and NSA that led to important new safeguards for American citizens.

• Congress can also be a watchdog on the private sector when executive agencies fail to act.

• The 1994 House hearings on the dangers of tobacco ultimately led to a settlement of more than $200 billion.

• The Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has investigated such scandals as Enron, credit card abuse and secret offshore bank accounts, leading to major legislation and industry reforms.

Where this all GOP-run Congress is remiss today vis-à-vis oversight of the branch under Trump and the very bad deals based on his own decisions like these:

1.  He has backed out of multilateral trade deals.

2.  He is edging us closer to nuclear confrontation with North Korea.

3.  He appointed a Supreme Court Justice (Gorsuch) who thrilled conservatives and is reshaping the judiciary.

3.  He rolled back regulations and has shrunk the federal government.

4.  He has removed millions of acres of wilderness from federal land protection (and we will see more drilling, etc.).

(I note: Trump loyalists right in cue say they love what he is doing).

Now he is tantalizingly close to signing a sweeping tax bill that would touch almost every corner of American life, slashing the corporate tax rate, closing multiple loopholes, ballooning the federal deficit, rattling real estate markets, and undermining Obama­care – and sadly calling it a great, beautiful, wonder, marvelous bill – the best in history.

From other fine report by TIME in their piece about him coming in second place for “Person of the Year” boy I bet he is pissed at that showing – he can’t stand not being #1:

However his own record doesn’t nearly live up to his own hype like when he says: “I am just about the most successful in our country’s history,” (he bragged at the 100-day mark — and that is an open question how permanent his accomplishments will be).

• He has spurned traditional allies and democratic values overseas.

• He carried into office a sprawling business empire and the potential conflicts of interest that come with it.

• He has pitted American corporations against each other in high-profile face-offs.

• He has gleefully gone to war with the press, with leaders of his own party, and with his long defeated political opponents.

The greater impact of Trump’s first year in office is that he has changed the presidency with the passing feuds, the wild accusations, the crude and divisive language — no other Commander in Chief has broadcast his outbursts in such an unfiltered torrent.

As I stated above this all GOP-run Congress is asleep at the switch and shame on them, especially when they screech all the time about our values and freedoms and “working for the American people” in every floor speech.

In a word they are plainly hypocritical.

Thanks for stopping by.