Quiet as a mouse.
There certainly have been gaffes, softballs, and missed opportunities. And the most obvious are found in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security—the Senate’s version of Rep. Henry Waxman’s Oversight Committee in the House. Unlike Waxman’s enthusiastic probing, the Senate chair conducted zero proactive investigations into Bush administration malfeasance. It’s chairman? Connecticut’s Joseph Lieberman.
Actually, Lieberman’s committee’s full name is the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and here are their responsibilities:
Jurisdiction
Archives of the United States; budget and accounting measures, other than appropriations, except as provided in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; census and collection of statistics, including economic and social statistics; congressional organization, except for matter amending the Senate”s rules or orders; Federal Civil Service; Government information; intergovernmental relations; municipal affairs of the District of Columbia, except appropriations therefor; organization and management of United States nuclear export policy; organization and reorganization of the executive branch of the Government; Postal Service; status of officers and employees of the United States, including their classification, compensation, and benefits.
The Committee also is to receive and examine reports of the Comptroller General of the United States and submit any desired or necessary recommendations to the Senate in connection with the subject matter of such reports; study the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of all agencies and departments of the Government; evaluate the effects of laws enacted to reorganize the legislative and executive branches of the Government; and study the intergovernmental relationships between the United States and the States and municipalities, and between the United States and international organizations of which it is a member.
In other words, this committee should be investigating a wide range of issues related to the functioning of government. It’s not just a Homeland Security committee. Lieberman is doing nothing.
One of the great political mysteries of our time is Joe. He actually could have done some great things when he was re-elected and dealt his new identity. But those wounded ego blinders enticed him every time.
Who knows, he could have been Cheneyesque as a VP, the one terrible call of Gore’s that I’ll never understand.
quiet as a
rat is more apropos.
far from “doing nothing”, lieberman has been busy making sure that nothing gets done. effectively undermining waxmans’ investigations and carrying BushCo™’s water as well as aipac’s and the reich wing, neoCON Ratpub’s in general.
as steve benen at the carpetbagger wrote yesterday:
given the dismal record of the senate under reids’ leadership [?], it’s time to send lieberman packing. it won’t change a thing and, just maybe, we could get some real action out of the committee in support of waxman’s endeavors.
jezeus, he’s endorsed mccain for christsakes.
it’s past time to shove his gavel where the sun don’t shine, and kick him into the gutter where he belongs. then maybe the good people of connecticut will see fit recall the loathsome s.o.b.
my2¢
lTMF’sA
The only explanation that covers all of Jos’s bases is that he is a Clean Break advocate, hence a Neoconista of the worse kind, a former Democrat, and a Neocon. The most important question facing us today is not Joe’s going-both-ways, or at least trying to, but Hillary’s going-both-ways and denying it.
Nice post Boo. Just one more reason for reid to dump the bastard. I think however that the blame can’t just be focused on liebershit. There are a whole bunch of other Dems on the comittee and They could create enough of a public outcry that some activity might have taken place. Regardless of the power of the chairman of a comittee, the court of public opinion can cause things to happen.
Is this lack of action on the part of the rest of the membership based on their fear that liebershit might just jump to the goopers? If so, then every single Dem should be attacked. Or, maybe we should just let the goopers continue to destroy the constitution!
Yeah, thats what we should.And I see that Obama is one of the stooges. Well, thats enough for me.
And maybe it should be enough for alot of other folks.
Joe has become part and parcel of the crime syndicate that exploits the American people for the benefit of corporations.
There truly is no surprise in his inactions.
Is Lieberman’s permission required for subcommittee chairpeople to do some investigating?
But, of course, the point here is that Holy Joe is doing nothing. But, then, he did get all those donations from the ReThugs….
and rethugs have done nothing and will do nothing. They are the black holes of our current universe!