Congress Continues to Shirk Its Duties While Forever Voting Itself Raises

Lifted from O'Franken Factor:

Rep. Henry Waxman's Comm on Government Reform:

One of Congress' main constitutional responsibilities is to conduct oversight to check abuses of power by other branches of government. During the last four years, however, Congress has failed to conduct meaningful investigations of allegations of serious misconduct involving the Bush Administration. As described below, Congress has failed to investigate:
• The role of the White House in promoting misleading intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and ties to al-Qaeda;
  
• The responsibility of senior Administration officials for the abuses at Abu Ghraib;
  
• The role of the Vice President's office in the award of Halliburton contracts;
  
• The role of the White House in withholding the Medicare cost estimates from Congress;
  
• The identity of the energy industry campaign contributors that met with the Vice President's energy task force;
  
• The role of White House officials in leaking the identity of a covert CIA agent;
  
• The influence of industry lobbyists in writing EPA regulations;
  
• Allegations of conflicts of interest at multiple federal agencies and the White House; and
  The role of Attorney General Ashcroft in illegal campaign finance activities.