We now have the first sign that the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives will be holding the Obama administration accountable for it's over the top spending and hard to believe statistics. We also have the first sign of how the administration will react. Incoming Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-California) scheduled a meeting for today with Vice President Joe Biden, who oversees the administration's stimulus effort, to discuss accountability with regard to the $800+ billion stimulus bill and Mr. Biden has now postponed that meeting.

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Representative Issa has expressed a desire to eliminate abuse in the spending of government money by creating penalties for those that don't comply with reporting requirements and granting inspectors general at federal agencies to have subpoena power which would help them investigate allegations of abuse. Immediately after last week's election which gave the GOP control of the House and Mr. Issa control of the Oversight Committee, the soon-to-be-chairman told reporters that he "absolutely" plans to beef up the committee’s use of subpoenas when he takes on his new role in January. Granting all 74 inspectors general in the executive branch with subpoena power (currently only one has such authority) means IG's can gain "all access" and have "reasonable freedom from being fired" as they conduct their investigations into government fraud, waste and abuse. (source)

Referring to the meeting between the congressman and the vice president, Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella said, "There's a mutual goal of wanting transparency in stimulus dollars." (source) But not only has Mr. Biden put off his meeting with Representative Issa, the outgoing Oversight Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-New York) issued a preemptive strike against the new chairman's intentions saying, "Democrats on this committee will strongly reject any effort to use the committee as a partisan political vehicle against the administration. It is my hope to work with the incoming chairman on issues important to the American people, instead of focusing on a divisive partisan political agenda." He also claimed the issues that voters "overwhelmingly indicated" as their top priorities are job creation, wasteful spending and the economy.

There is no clearer example of possibly wasteful government spending than the $800+ billion non-stimulating stimulus bill and, despite Democrats' stalling tactics and unfounded claims of partisan attacks, it's the right place for the new Oversight Committee Chairman to begin overseeing.