MNpublius.com

Coleman didn’t bother holding oversight hearings on Iraq spending, saying other people were more qualified to do investigations even while Coleman was the Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. In other words, he willfully delegated responsibility to people that wouldn’t investigate while he voted against more oversight. In Eric Black’s fantastic document of where the Senate candidates stand on the war:

Coleman expressed virtually no doubts or ambivalence on any aspect of the war during its first four years. Until 2007, he never broke ranks with the Bush administration nor the war’s steadiest supporters on any vote.

…

Coleman acknowledges that he didn’t schedule any hearings on those topics during his tenure as chairman. He says that other committees had staff on the ground in Iraq and were better positioned to oversee the reconstruction, that Congress (with his support) created a position and an agency for a Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction, and that he never prevented any member of the PSI from investigating reconstruction contracts.

But… Coleman voted against a committee to investigate waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan. Coleman voted against a committee to investigate waste and fraud in military contracts. Coleman voted against giving congress more oversight in Iraq reconstruction spending. Twice.

Ultimately, under Coleman’s “oversight,” he allowed Iraq to be dependent on the billions and billions dollars we send there and he didn’t hold a single hearing on it.

Franken has called for the end of the culture of dependency that Coleman oversaw. From today’s Franken press release:

Last week, a GAO report showed the Iraqi government was on track to bring in as much as $86.2 billion in revenue for 2008, most of it oil income, leaving the Iraqi government with a budget surplus as high as $50.3 billion. In response, Norm Coleman proposed rescinding $1.1 billion in reconstruction funding in response. Al Franken believes that step doesn’t go nearly far enough. Franken will rescind the $1.1 billion, as well as the $6 billion in reconstruction funding that has been appropriated for reconstruction, but has not yet been spent or obligated. Franken also knows that in order to break the culture of dependency our presence in Iraq has created, we must do more than simply hold back reconstruction funding, and is calling for a firm timetable for withdrawing our troops out of Iraq. Minnesotans know Norm Coleman has stood shoulder to shoulder with President Bush on Iraq, and that he allowed waste, fraud and abuse in the reconstruction to go unchecked when he refused to conduct oversight hearings as Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. They deserve a senator who is willing to do what is necessary to end Iraq’s dependence on the US and start redeploying our forces quickly and responsibly.

There isn’t much Coleman can do to back his way out of this. The Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Norm Coleman, oversaw this culture of dependency in Iraq.