Waxman: A Thorn in Bush’s Side

Rep. Henry Waxman (Truthdig’s own congressman) spent his years in the minority generating headlines for his investigations into abuses of power and corruption. Now that the Dems have taken over, he will have some teeth to sink into the Bush administration’s excesses.

AP:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The lawmaker poised to cause the Bush administration’s biggest headaches when Democrats take control of Congress may just be a grocer’s son from Watts who’s hardly a household name off Capitol Hill.

Rep. Henry Waxman has spent the last six years waging a guerrilla campaign against the White House and its corporate allies, launching searing investigations into everything from military contracts to Medicare prices from his perch on the Government Reform Committee.

In January, Waxman becomes committee chairman – and thus the lead congressional hound of an administration many Democrats feel has blundered badly as it expanded the power of the executive branch.

Waxman’s biggest challenge as he mulls what to probe?

“The most difficult thing will be to pick and choose,” he said.

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