Politics: Where's the Watchdogs?

After the election I have been going through a "political detox," avoiding the news, and the internet, the emails ... It was going to last until Thanksgiving. But I couldn't let this one pass. It is from washingtonpost.com and by Amit R. Paley (and it can be found here):

In the six weeks since lawmakers approved the Treasury's massive bailout of financial firms, the government has poured money into the country's largest banks, recruited smaller banks into the program and repeatedly widened its scope to cover yet other types of businesses, from insurers to consumer lenders.

Along the way, the Bush administration has committed $290 billion of the $700 billion rescue package.

Yet for all this activity, no formal action has been taken to fill the independent oversight posts established by Congress when it approved the bailout to prevent corruption and government waste. Nor has the first monitoring report required by lawmakers been completed, though the initial deadline has passed.

While I'm not completely sure what "committed" means, it sounds like they have given out nearly half of the $700 billion, and it reminds me of the quote from P. J. O'Rourke: "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

Somewhere we have to "just say no." If we allow congress to keep handing money out, with or without oversight, we are sunk. Am I working just so congress can hand out money to their friends?

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