Senate dithering on bailout inspector general

We're in economic crisis, yes? We (that is, our esteemed leaders) are throwing the kitchen sink and then some in taxes and borrowed and printed money at the problem, yes? Then, you would think the jokers in the Senate would stop their bickering over Committee turfs and actually confirm the appointment of a special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout, no? NO, according to the Wash Post this a.m. An apparently swell guy -- Neil Barofsky -- has been nominated by the White House for the new position, one created by our jokers in the first place when they passed the bailout law last month. But (according to the Post),

• "The length and form of the confirmation process remains unclear. The Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over The Treasury Department and a chairman who pushed for the creation of the special inspector general position, has scheduled a hearing for Monday afternoon to question Barofsky. But the Banking Committee, which has held multiple hearings on the bailout legislation, said last night that it will hold a similar one on Wednesday. In addition, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has the right to hold a hearing on inspectors general, or else 20 days must pass before the nomination proceeds to the full Senate."
• "The Senate parliamentarian plans to decide Monday which committee has jurisdiction. "
• "That throws into question whether the proper vetting and hearings can take place before the end of Congress' lame-duck session, scheduled to begin next week. "No one at this point has any clue how this is going to work," said one congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly."

If this Senate can't move fast on a non-controversial but important appointment, will they ever be responsive to anything but their own egotistical needs? The only hope we have is to let our respective senators know we're watching and that we will use this appointment as an early signal that they are simply not up to the task of governing in this crisis. To contact your Senator via email, go to US Senate, and use the State-specific search in the upper right hand corner to get to your Senator(s)' page. And, if you live in Connecticut (Dodd & Lieberman), Montana (Baucus), or Iowa (Grassley), let 'em know that you think their turf war is unseemly at this time.

Have another idea? Think I'm tramping on molehills? Leave a comment (see below), or if that's too hard (Google sometimes makes it so), email me directly at jwagner@bethesda20817.net.