Checks and Balances
David Broder writes in The Washington Post about a speech by congressman Barney Frank.
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“Never in American history has Congress been so willing to give away its constitutional function.” Many committees have all but abandoned their traditional oversight role, failing to conduct the investigations or raise the questions that hold the executive branch accountable.
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A Congress that challenges a president when it thinks he is wrong is not infringing on the rights of the “decider.” It is reminding him that the Constitution and American history decree a division of power, with a set of checks and balances that make this a different form of democracy from that of parliamentary systems — or disguised dictatorships such as those run by Vladimir Putin, Hugo Chavez and Hosni Mubarak. That is why Frank’s speech is important.