Krugman: The main reason to elect Dems: Subpoena Power

[BurtWorm]

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/opinion/16krugman.html?hp

Op-Ed Columnist
TimesSelect One-Letter Politics


By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 16, 2006

...

And if the Republicans retain control of Congress, even if it’s by just one seat in each house, Mr. Bush will retain that free hand. If they lose control of either house, the G.O.P. juggernaut will come to a shuddering halt.

Yet that’s the less important reason this election is all about party control. The really important reason may be summed up in two words: subpoena power.

...

The only types of legislation the Democrats might be able to push through are overwhelmingly popular measures, such as an increase in the minimum wage, that Republicans don’t want but probably wouldn’t dare oppose in an open vote.

But while the Democrats won’t gain the ability to pass laws, if they win they will gain the ability to carry out investigations, and the legal right to compel testimony.

The current Congress has shown no inclination to investigate the Bush administration. Last year The Boston Globe offered an illuminating comparison: when Bill Clinton was president, the House took 140 hours of sworn testimony into whether Mr. Clinton had used the White House Christmas list to identify possible Democratic donors. But in 2004 and 2005, a House committee took only 12 hours of testimony on the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

[EFerrari]

1. Homerun. K&R

:kick:

[Monkeyman]

2. K&R

[Nite Owl]

3. Absolutely

* will discover that veto pen and very little will get through in the way of legislation (which will be ok because it will show the need for a dem pres in '08) but the public wants to see accountability, there has to be a curb on their power.

[BurtWorm]

4. kick

[Blackhatjack]

5. Subpoenoes Are The Only Fear Repubs Have ....

....Imagine for a moment the wave of terror that would spread across Republican Offices if Dems take back the majority in the House and Senate --it will be the exposure of more corruption than this generation has ever seen, the dashing of idealized dreams of who Bush/Cheney/Rove/Rice/Rumsfeld really are, and total outrage at the lies told, lives lost, and theft of the public treasury.

It will be a watershed moment, because the corruption grew so big it could not be hidden from Congressional investigation. It will be a cold slap in the face, but one this country needs if it is to avoid future take over by corrupt rulers.

In this case the power of the subpoena may yet save this country.....

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. Another BIG reason: choosing the next SCOTUS judge. One more bushie

SCOTUS judge and the unconstitutional seizure of absolute power by the executive branch, with all the trampling of the Constitution and Bill of RIghts, will be "legalized" by a 5-4 vote.

And remember: some "Democratic" senators voted for Alito's confirmation despite his open avowal of the "unitary executive" dictatorial powers of the presidency. Here's the roll call of that terribly important vote:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00001

Lieberman wasn't the only "Democrat" to vote for Alito and thus the destruction of democracy in this country.

[chill_wind]

10. Can't possibly emphasize that enough. Thnx! K&R nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Full article available on this blog:

http://donkeyod.blogspot.com/2006/10/one-letter-politics-by-paul-krugman.html

Including the last paragraph:

O.K., what about the Senate race in Connecticut, where Ned Lamont is the Democratic nominee, and Mr. Lieberman, who lost the Democratic primary, is running as an independent but promising to caucus with the Democrats if he wins? Is this a case where the man, not the party, is what matters? Only if you believe that Mr. Lieberman’s promise not to switch parties is 100 percent credible.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

8. Kickin it for Krugman.

Nail. On. Head.


:kick:

[BurtWorm]

9. kick