Hillarysworld

INVESTIGATING IS EASIER THAN GOVERNING....

By Steve Benen
July 23, 2010

The political world may not fully appreciate just how ugly it might be next year.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has a plan for what the Republicans should do if they win control of the House of Representatives: Spend all their time investigating the Obama administration.

"Oh, I think that's all we should do," Bachmann told the Three Fingers of Politics website. "I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another, and expose all the nonsense that has gone on."

To be sure, it was farcical on the Hill in the mid- to late-'90s. Rep. Dan Burton (R) of Indiana and his House committee on administrative oversight launched pointless investigations into every wild-eyed Clinton-related accusation unhinged activists could manufacture.

And I mean "every" quite literally. In one instance, Burton held hearings -- for 10 days -- on the Clintons' Christmas card list. In another, Burton fired a bullet into a "head-like object" -- reportedly a melon -- in his backyard to test his conspiracy theories about Vince Foster. Over the last six years of Bill Clinton's presidency, Burton's committee unilaterally issued 1,052 subpoenas -- that's not a typo -- to investigate baseless allegations of misconduct. That translates to an average of a politically-inspired subpoena every other day for six consecutive years, including weekends, holidays, and congressional recesses.

More at the link at the top.

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This is really not good for the country.

We absolutely need the government to be functioning. I do not mind an influx of GOP but it is absolutely essential that BIPARTISANSHIP and GOVERNING begin.  GOP has done enough damage by standing out many bills and the result has been unilateral moves - we are much better off when both sides work TOGETHER; we just may end up with a bit more moderation from both sides rather than a hodgepodge of extremes to placate the standouts.