The

Boston Globe hit a home run today. In an article titled “Congress Reduces
Its Oversight Role” they highlight how Republicans in Congress ignore their very
duty as given to them in our constitution.

WASHINGTON — Back in the mid-1990s, the Republican-controlled House of
Representatives, aggressively delving into alleged misconduct by the Clinton
administration, logged 140 hours of sworn testimony into whether former
president Bill Clinton had used the White House Christmas card list to
identify potential Democratic donors.

In the past two years, a House committee has managed to take only 12
hours of sworn testimony about the abuse of prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib
prison.

The jarring comparison reflects the way Congress has conducted its
oversight role during the GOP’s era of one-party rule in Washington.

While congressional committees once were leaders in investigating the
executive branch and powerful industries, the current Congress has largely
spared major corporations and has done only minimal oversight of the
Republican administration, according to a review of congressional documents
by The Boston Globe.

An examination of committees’ own reports found that the House Government
Reform Committee held just 37 hearings described as ”oversight” or
investigative in nature during the last Congress, down from 135 such
hearings held by its predecessor, the House Government Operations Committee,
in 1993-94, the last year the Democrats controlled the chamber.

Party loyalty does not account for the difference: In 1993-94, the
Democrats were investigating a Democratic administration

Article continues

here.

So to our Republican leaders, Christmas cards of greater importance to our
nation than war crimes. With this lack of duty on their part there is no
wondering why the American people are tired of them. They voted themselves a
$3,100 a year raise last week and refuse to do their job. What makes it worse is
when someone does try to do the most basic job of oversight they get attacked.
This is a further sign of changes needed in Congress. At least Democrats have
the decency to enforce oversight when it is their own in the White House.
Republicans can’t even do that!