I don't know about you, but I didn't work so hard before Tuesday's elections in order to win the
next election.
To me, Tuesday's elections were about saving the country I love. Right now.
There has been much hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth here the past couple of days, as we have pondered the best use of our newfound powers on Capitol Hill. Many, many commenters and diarists have fretted that for Democrats to jump into an adversarial role too quickly and too emphatically would, while perhaps providing some immediate, visceral gratification, not serve what they portray as the larger and more significant end of maintaining control of the Congress in the 2008 elections.
This belief, if I may say so, is a load of crap. Republican crap, to be precise:
(Also available at My Left Wing)
"What we have to be wary of, and the American public will be wary of, is a subpoena bazaar here on Capitol Hill, and government by investigation by Democrats," said Kevin Madden, a spokesman for House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).
And how about this inanity - reported as fact by the newly-minted mouthpiece Los Angeles Times:
Democrats face a delicate balancing test, mindful of a public backlash if they focus more on investigating than legislating.
Nice Republican talking point there, LA Times. Can you say, "Concern troll"?
We didn't win this election in order to win the next election. We won this election in order to save our country.
So let's set about doing that, shall we?
The greatest damage done to the United States of America during the Republican Reign of the past six years has been a direct result of the total, absolute, unabashed abrogation of the congressional oversight role. Democrats won the elections to set that right. We must not be timid about it. The literal existence of our democracy depends on it.
I don't think there would be any argument among readers of this blog that real congressional oversight has been absolutely nil for the past 12 years. Republicans have made a literal mockery of the oversight role since they took over the House in 1994. That complete abrogation of responsibility is largely what has brought us to the pass we now find ourselves in, and as such is largely what brought the Republicans' resounding defeat at the polls this week.
As Jonathan Alter wrote last week in Newsweek:
When Bill Clinton was president, the GOP House issued more than 1,000 subpoenas investigating Clinton and the Democratic Party. Versus how many under Bush? Try less than a dozen. Even basic hearings to oversee the executive departments have fallen by three quarters in 20 years. If you think Democratic congressmen laid off Democratic presidents in the same way, you're wrong. Think Truman hearings, Fulbright hearings and Speaker Tip O'Neill cracking open Jimmy Carter like a warm peanut.
Let's let the L.A. Times once again jump to Republicans' defense:
Under Republican control, Congress did subpoena baseball players to discuss steroid use and summon oil industry executives to justify record profits at a time of high gasoline prices.
Talk about damning with faint praise.
Let's see what the House of Representatives' own website has to say about oversight:
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT
What is the Basis for Congressional Oversight?
Congressional oversight is one of the most important responsibilities of the United States Congress. Congressional oversight refers to the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs and policy implementation, and it provides the legislative branch with an opportunity to inspect, examine, review and check the executive branch and its agencies. The authority of Congress to do oversight is derived from its implied powers in the U.S. Constitution, various laws, and House rules. In affirming Congress' oversight powers, the Supreme Court in McGrain v. Daugherty stated that "the power of inquiry - with process to enforce it - is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function." In Watkins v. United States the Court described Congress' oversight power by stating that the "power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process. That power is broad." The Supreme Court also observed that "a legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change." The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 mandated that House and Senate committees exercise "continuous watchfulness" of the administration of laws and programs under their jurisdiction. The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 permitted House standing committees to "review and study, on a continuing basis, the application, administration and execution of laws" under its jurisdiction.
Why Does Congress Need to Do Oversight?
· Ensure executive compliance with legislative intent.
· Improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of governmental operations.
· Evaluate program performance.
· Prevent executive encroachment on legislative prerogatives and powers.
· Investigate alleged instances of poor administration, arbitrary and capricious behavior, abuse, waste, dishonesty, and fraud.
· Assess an agency or official's ability to manage and carry out program objectives.
· Review and determine federal financial priorities.
· Ensure that executive policies reflect the public interest.
· Protect individual rights and liberties.
· Review agency rule-making processes.
· Acquire information useful in future policymaking.
Does that bear any resemblance to anything you've seen the past 12 years?
We won Tuesday's election on principles. Well, two principles, actually: honesty and accountability. People voted for Democrats because we repeatedly showed, forcefully and clearly, how Republicans lied, cheated and stole. We told the truth. To paraphrase Joe Biden (although I can't find a link to his quote), Republicans did not do well under a harsh dose of reality, repeatedly administered.
We need to continue that regimen of harsh doses of reality, repeatedly administered. We need to do it through subpoenas and investigations. If anyone reading this thinks that reality and truth will be revealed by Republicans voluntarily, please review the past six years. Any truth that has come out about Republican mendacity and malfeasance during the past six years has come out in spite of Republican efforts, not because of them. It only stands to reason that any misdeeds revealed in the face of such overwhelming Republican resistance to investigation must represent just the tip of the iceberg.
The other day, thereisnospoon brilliantly wrote about the so-called "Overton window," or the way issues are perceived by the public along a continuum stretching from "Unthinkable" to "Policy." I submit that the Overton window will be shifted by Democrats' forward-looking policies and proposals; restoring our democracy, however, is not forward-looking - it is absolutely essential, it is the sine qua non of everything else we do politically. We have been thrown so far into negative territory by Republican malfeasance over the past six years that we have to get back to "zero" in order to advance our progressive agenda.
Truth-telling is not, in the parlance of the Overton window conversation, "unthinkable" - it's just the truth. Most Americans viscerally understand the importance of the Constitution, and understand the need to correct the wrongs that have been done to it by the Republicans in charge these past six years. It is our duty to honor and respect the voice of the voters that spoke so clearly this week, and to get to work RIGHT NOW to restore our democracy, as spelled out in the Constitution. To do anything less would be to spit in the face of the voters who so brilliantly and wisely effected this opportunity to restore American democracy.
Most of the hand-wringing about this issue has had as its basis a fear about the effect aggressive truth-seeking and accountability will have on the 2008 election, and beyond. There has been much talk about "rebuilding the progressive agenda," and high-sounding stuff like that, and about how such rebuilding will take time, and how we therefore must be patient and not precipitous in our actions.
Sure, it might take time to rebuild the progressive agenda - but we haven't got that kind of time to rebuild the American agenda - the one our founding fathers established 230 years ago. That has to come before anything and everything else. We have to ensure fair elections, we have to restore Constitutional rights, we have to reinforce and put into vigorous use the checks and balances spelled out in our founding document.
I will say this: I know for a fact that if we fail to hold Republicans accountable for their manifold misdeeds of the past six years, we will lose big time in 2008. I guarantee it.
We're not far enough ahead in this game to start Playing Not To Lose.
We mustn't start triangulating in preparation for the next election. That way lies madness. That's a fool's errand - which is why the Republicans so desperately, desperately want us to go that way.
We won by telling the truth - over and over and over. Congressional hearings and investigations are all about telling the truth.
This election was about one thing - saving this country. How do we do that? By exercising congressional oversight. Period. That means subpoenas, hearings and investigations. That means finding out and broadcasting the truth.
I and others have said it over and over: The Truth scares the crap out of Republicans - for good reason. When you are as guilty of as many misdeeds as they are, revelation of The Truth can only spell your doom.
That was amply demonstrated on Tuesday. The American people shouted how they felt about finding out The Truth. We must honor their wishes. We must continue, relentlessly, to pursue The Truth.
But let's use Republicans' talking points against them, judo-style. Republicans like to portray themselves as strong on law enforcement. Let us join with them in enforcing the highest law of the land: The Constitution. Let us vigorously prosecute those who may have violated it. "Bipartisanship"? Absolutely! We need to lead a bipartisan campaign to get at The Truth. Certainly no one concerned with the proper functioning of our democracy could have any objection to that.
Any objections, Mr. Minority Leader? Hmm, thought not. Call the first witness!