White House Feels Waxman's Oversight Gaze

[Lone_Star_Dem]

For months, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House oversight committee, has been threatening, subpoenaing and just plain badgering Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to come before his panel to answer questions about the run-up to the Iraq war, corruption and State Department contracting.

Today, Rice will finally appear. But Waxman (D-Calif.) has not spent the week on a victory lap. He has found time to produce evidence accusing State Department security contractor Blackwater Worldwide of tax evasion, to fire off a letter to Rice demanding information about alleged mismanagement of a $1 billion contract to train Iraqi police, and to hold a hearing on uranium poisoning on Navajo land.

Waxman has become the Bush administration's worst nightmare: a Democrat in the majority with subpoena power and the inclination to overturn rocks. But in Waxman the White House also faces an indefatigable capital veteran -- with a staff renowned for its depth and experience -- who has been waiting for this for 14 years.

These days, the 16-term congressman is always ready with a hearing, a fresh crop of internal administration e-mails or a new explosive report. And he has more than two dozen investigations underway, on such issues as the politicization of the entire federal government, formaldehyde in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, global warming, and safety concerns about the diabetes drug Avandia.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402757.html?nav=rss_print/asection&sid=ST2007102402846

[MADem]

1. Yeah, I'll bet they feel it. I'll bet they feel it in a major way, the bastards! nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

2. Waxman is THE MAN!

I love that guy. I wish there was a Congress full of him.

[Judi Lynn]

3. There's no one in Congress remotely like Henry Waxman. He truly gives the voters

one superior voice, one impressive presence.

He'd better try to avoid small airplanes, himself. Without a doubt he is dispised by the _Bush regime.

[Demeter]

4. K&R for Representative Henry Waxman

who OUGHT to be the Speaker of the House, since he has a lot to say and loves the Constitution and the nation better than those in power today do.

[Bravo Zulu]

5. Waxman's the man!

[cyr330]

6. He embodies what voters want in a Democrat.

But unfortunately he's one of the few.

[Triana]

7. Give 'em Hell, Henry! K & R (n/t)

[Enthusiast]

8. He might have to 'disappear'.......nt

[FSogol]

9. This is the single most important reason to keep the House in Democratic hands

Wish we had more like him.

K&R