Reply #17: Good for Dorgan

[Oilwellian]

This should become a major campaign topic for the GE. I would bet McCain voted against the Truman Committee proposal. Let's hang him with it.

War Profiteering is the subject of the current Robert Greenwald documentary, Iraq for Sale. Mentioned in that film and written about frequently is the need for Congress to exercise oversight of War Profiteering by establishing an investigative body like the Truman Committee (sometimes referred to as the Truman Commission).

In one of many attempts by Democrats to establish such oversight, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., introduced an amendment titled "Honest Leadership and Accountability in Contracting Act of 2006" to the Defense Authorization bill last June. It was defeated 55-43, with every single Republican Senator voting against it. In speaking for his amendment, Sen. Dorgan said, "This is a vote that we had before in the Senate. It is a vote on the establishment of a type of committee called a Truman Committee. The Truman Committee was established in the early 1940s to try to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in military contracting. That was done when there was a Democrat in the White House, a Democratically controlled Senate, and a Democratic Senator named Harry Truman. He decided there ought to be a special investigation of waste, fraud, and abuse with respect to military contracting. They established a bipartisan committee to do that. They found a massive amount of waste, fraud, and abuse. I think it is clear that perhaps the most significant amount of waste, fraud, and abuse that has ever occurred in this country is occurring right now. I think the American taxpayers are being fleeced."

The Truman Committee is reported to have saved American taxpayers somewhere between $11 billion and $15 billion (in 1940s dollars). Republicans keep claiming that they want to cut taxes, that they want to cut spending, but you sure can't tell it from the rampant War Profiteering over which they actively choose to exercise no control. Gee, could it have anything to do with defense contractors filling Republican campaign coffers?

Many good references are available to learn more about the original Truman Committee, why we need such a committee now, and the efforts by Democrats to establish one. See:
www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Truman_Committee.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#Truman_Committee
www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=18536
www.alternet.org/story/33131/
www.alternet.org/story/37849/
www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12190
www.csmonitor.com/2006/0616/p03s03-uspo.html