Proctological Exam .... Billmon

[RedEarth]

Proctological Exam
It looks like the folks at Halliburton better get ready to bend over and drop them:

Rep. Ike Skelton knows what he will do in one of his first acts as chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the Democratic-led House: resurrect the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.
The panel was disbanded by the Republicans after they won control of Congress in 1994. Now, Skelton (D-Mo.) intends to use it as a forum to probe Pentagon spending and the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war.

Skelton: (pulls on rubber glove) This is going to hurt -- a lot.

Of course, as far as I'm concerrned, the Dems could shove it in so deep they're tickling the Cheney Adminstration's adnoids. But politically, they're probably better off directing their initial attentions at the Rovian machine's enablers -- the corporations and their K Street errand boys.

This would have two useful purposes: It would force the Republicans to defend a bunch of corporate crooks and sleazy lobbyists, instead of the dignity and majesty of the imperial presidency, and it would also put some muscle behind the Dems' efforts to break up what's left of DeLay's K Street Project and replace it with their own political extortion racket.

After all, K Street is never going to play ball because it likes the Democrats, the way it got all dreamy and creamy about the Republican revolution. So the Dems are going to have to rely on a healthy dose of the stick to go with the carrots. And the last six years of Republican sleaze have certainly left plenty of sticks lying around.

Time to shove a few of them up some well-paid assholes.

http://billmon.org/archives/002957.html

here's the LATimes article....

Democrats are set to subpoena
WASHINGTON — Rep. Ike Skelton knows what he will do in one of his first acts as chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the Democratic-led House: resurrect the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

The panel was disbanded by the Republicans after they won control of Congress in 1994. Now, Skelton (D-Mo.) intends to use it as a forum to probe Pentagon spending and the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war.

It has been 12 years since Democrats were in control of both the House and Senate. But they are looking to make up for lost time, and in some cases, make the Bush administration and its business allies sweat.

With control of every committee in Congress starting in January, the new majority will inherit broad powers to subpoena and investigate. And that is expected to translate into wide-ranging and contentious hearings.

The agenda is likely to be dominated by the Iraq war, but could include probes into the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance, environmental policies and new prescription-drug program for seniors. Industries, such as oil companies, could also come under closer scrutiny.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-investigations10nov10,0,1887142.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Jacobin]

1. Kickin' for Billmon

His blog is awesome and this post is good.

[Crunchy Frog]

2. Bend over and get ready for the big one.

[Zero Division]

3. Exposing the people behind the curtains. Great Idea!

Almost posted this myself. Billmon is spot-on again. If the Democrats really want to hurt the Repubs chances of regaining power, one of the most important things they need to do is to expose the heart of the beast, the corrupt financial supporters who provide its lifeblood. Once they've accomplished that, then they can easily move on to exposing the corruption within the govt. itself.

This is a great read. Let's keep it near the top!