Stimulus oversight left up to taxpayers; 7 of 10 lawmakers skip oversight hearing
Only 3 members bother to show up
So just who’s tracking that $787 billion in taxpayer money that President Obama and the Democrat-led Congress are doling out? You are. Or you’re supposed to be, anyway. …..
…..And perhaps that’s just as well, given the turnout of the panel tasked with keeping track of thousands of millions of dollars. Just three of the 10 members bothered to show up for the subcommittee’s second meeting, dramatically titled “Follow the Money Part II.”
Why would they be so brazen about the lack of oversight? Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board — the RAT Board, as it’s known by the few insiders who are aware of it:
You’ve heard a lot about the astonishing spending in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, signed into law this week by President Barack Obama. But you probably haven’t heard about a provision in the bill that threatens to politicize the way allegations of fraud and corruption are investigated — or not investigated — throughout the federal government.
The provision, which attracted virtually no attention in the debate over the 1,073-page stimulus bill, creates something called the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board — the RAT Board, as it’s known by the few insiders who are aware of it. The board would oversee the in-house watchdogs, known as inspectors general, whose job is to independently investigate allegations of wrongdoing at various federal agencies, without fear of interference by political appointees or the White House.
In the name of accountability and transparency, Congress has given the RAT Board the authority to ask “that an inspector general conduct or refrain from conducting an audit or investigation.” If the inspector general doesn’t want to follow the wishes of the RAT Board, he’ll have to write a report explaining his decision to the board, as well as to the head of his agency (from whom he is supposedly independent) and to Congress. In the end, a determined inspector general can probably get his way, but only after jumping through bureaucratic hoops that will inevitably make him hesitate to go forward.
When Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime champion of inspectors general, read the words “conduct or refrain from conducting,” alarm bells went off. The language means that the board — whose chairman will be appointed by the president — can reach deep inside a federal agency and tell an inspector general to lay off some particularly sensitive subject. Or, conversely, it can tell the inspector general to go after a tempting political target.
Trackposted to Nuke’s, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, The Pink Flamingo, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Leaning Straight Up, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, and The World According to Carl, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
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May 6, 2009 - 04:54 PM on May 6th, 2009
Obama the Appeaser…
Of course we don’t expect Hussein o and his wife, the America haters, to recall the (so-called) “Palestinians” in Gaza and the West Bank jumping up and down and dancing joyfully while watching our fellow Americans burning and jumping out of the T……
May 7, 2009 - 01:13 AM on May 7th, 2009
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May 7, 2009 - 05:10 PM on May 7th, 2009
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May 7, 2009 - 10:21 PM on May 7th, 2009
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May 7, 2009 - 11:48 PM on May 7th, 2009
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May 7, 2009 - 11:58 PM on May 7th, 2009
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May 8, 2009 - 12:56 AM on May 8th, 2009
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May 8, 2009 - 03:11 PM on May 8th, 2009
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May 8, 2009 - 09:31 PM on May 8th, 2009
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May 9, 2009 - 06:19 PM on May 9th, 2009
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May 9, 2009 - 06:28 PM on May 9th, 2009
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May 9, 2009 - 07:01 PM on May 9th, 2009
Kansas SC To Hear Case Against Planned Parenthood…
It has been 10 months in the coming, but the Supreme Court of Kansas has finally made the announcement that they will hear arguements in the case of the State v. Planned Parenthood. The claim is that planned parenthood has criminally performed aborti…..
May 9, 2009 - 07:57 PM on May 9th, 2009
What’s the change? He’s always bullied his way through the doors and kept closed to the door to anyone else who dared enter. *sigh*
I’m beginning to notice a pattern here. My trackbacks are not showing up! Hmm. Could it be my cache? I don’t know what that would have to do with it, but I just cleared it last night. Ugh!
How are doing, dear? I am well. Busy, but well. I bought myself some electronics so we don’t end up without music at this upcoming Tea Party. I hope you have a wonderful day!
PS. This is my post: <a href=”http://rosemarysthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/kansas-sc-to-hear-case-against-planned.html”>Kansas SC To Hear Case Against Planned Parenthood</a>.
May 10, 2009 - 01:32 AM on May 10th, 2009
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May 10, 2009 - 10:45 PM on May 10th, 2009
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May 11, 2009 - 03:19 AM on May 11th, 2009
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September 21, 2009 - 08:30 PM on September 21st, 2009
Is the Current Conservative Ego Trip Leading to GOP Civil War?…
I despise people who go to the gutter on either the right or the left and hurl rocks at those in the center. — Dwight Eisenhower
I stole the quote from an excellent commentary DJ Strata has at StrataSphere. Then AJ Strata wrote the following:
“…
September 21, 2009 - 08:31 PM on September 21st, 2009
The Pink Flamingo Was Wrong…
It is rare for a woman to admit she is wrong, especially when faced with the something as very serious as Star Trek. I was wrong. The new Star Trek movie is excellent. Okay, it may be the best of them all.
sigh
I cried. I admit that I cried through…
September 21, 2009 - 08:33 PM on September 21st, 2009
The Howard Dean Approach…
“If we pursue a party that has no place for someone who agrees with me 70 percent of the time … then we are going to keep losing.“ Lindsey Graham
Aside from his primordial scream, when Howard Dean took over the DNC, they were proclai…