In Battle of Congressional Clout, Waxman Whacks Dingell

[DeepModem Mom]

TIME: In Battle of Congressional Clout, Waxman Whacks Dingell
By Karen Tumulty / Washington Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Nowhere but on Capitol Hill could a 69-year-old politician serving his 17th term be considered a young Turk. But in challenging and unseating a committee chairman known as "The Truck," California Congressman Henry Waxman has succeeded in the kind of power sortie that happens only once every few decades in Congress�and put himself in a position where he will help determine the fate of much of Barack Obama's domestic agenda.

Many congressional veterans were surprised when House Democrats, meeting as a caucus, voted 137-122 to oust Michigan's John "The Truck" Dingell, 82, as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and give the post to Waxman. Few jobs in Congress are as powerful; the committee has one of the largest swaths of jurisdiction, encompassing energy, health care and environmental issues. Waxman's elevation upends one of the most revered principles on Capitol Hill: the seniority system. "It's just been buried," Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Dingell, who was elected to Congress in 1955 to fill his father's seat after John Dingell Sr.'s death, held the chairmanship since 1981. For almost as long, he has been tussling with Waxman on energy and environmental issues. The two battled not only over their beliefs, but their home state interests; Dingell has been fiercely protective of Detroit's auto industry and the jobs it provides, while Waxman has championed environmental interests. Canny legislators both, they have been able to work together when compromise served both their interests, as it did with the Clean Air Act of 1990.

When Waxman decided to make a bid for Dingell's chairmanship, his supporters argued that Dingell would be an obstacle to Obama's efforts to wean Detroit — and the country — from its dependence on oil. Dingell's supporters, who included a number of other committee chairmen, expressed concern that Waxman would not be sensitive enough to the need to protect jobs as the country goes through that transition. Dingell's ouster also comes as the big automakers are foundering in their bid for a $25-billion bailout, and is another measure of the industry's declining power on Capitol Hill....

Though Waxman represents what is probably the glitziest congressional district in the country — one that includes Hollywood and Beverly Hills — he is anything but glam. He boasts that he has never been to the Academy awards and has been known in recent years for his investigatory work on the decidedly unsexy House Government Reform Committee. Even when Democrats were out of power, Waxman and his talented staff churned out some 2,000 headline-grabbing reports, blasting the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress on everything from faulty prewar intelligence to arsenic in drinking water. When the Democrats regained control of the House and he took over the chairmanship of that panel in 2006, the headline of a TIME profile of Waxman described him as "The Scariest Guy in Washington." His operation is so respected that Obama picked long-time Waxman chief of staff Phil Schiliro to head his White House congressional liaison office....

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1860948,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner

[Demeter]

1. So, Congress Dumped the "Truck"?

:rofl:

[jwirr]

2. Hopefully these elderly gentlemen are giving up their seats willingly

as we have one hell of a fight ahead of us. We need all of them but the more activist legislators should be in the chairmanships.

[BeFree]

3. Obama picked someone else?

...without asking us? Who does he think he is? He never even asked us about this pick..."...Obama picked long-time Waxman chief of staff Phil Schiliro to head his White House congressional liaison office.....

Man, I'm getting tired of Obama doing things behind our backs. Shoulda voted fer McPalin, eh?