Those no-bid contracts won by Bush-friendly firms like Halliburton in Iraq, New Orleans and elsewhere will be given a thorough once over.

"One thing you can be assured of is that we will do aggressive oversight"
-- Rep. Bennie Thompson, incoming chair of the Homeland Security Committee

Rep. Henry Waxman, incoming chair of the Government Reform Committee, has proposed the Clean Contracting Act, which will end no-bid contracts that have no oversight

"This Iraq experience has made the case for aggressive monitoring of contractors."
-- Rep. Janice Schakowsky, who has also proposed legislation requiring oversight of military contracts

"Many Democrats have had the impression, and they are feeding the impression, that contracting is a process that is fundamentally broken. But there's not a scintilla of evidence that that is the case."
Stan Soloway, defense industry shill and president of Professional Services Council

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And what about the death of habeas corpus and the torture of detainees at secret CIA bases in other countries? The Dems are gearing up for an investigation into that too.

“I expect real answers, or we’ll have testimony under oath until we get them.”
-- Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee

"When making those decisions, it is vital to protect national security information, particularly when they relate to sensitive intelligence programs that are the subject of oversight by the Intelligence Committees. We also must give appropriate weight to the confidentiality of internal executive branch deliberations.”
-- Brian Roehrkasse, Justice Department spinmeister who often deals with stories that make DoJ look bad.

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And the hits just keep on coming:

"There are lots and lots and lots of scandals."
-- Rep. John Dingell, incoming chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, who also said that the Cheney Energy Task Force, "was carefully cooked to provide only participation by oil companies and energy companies."

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As long as the Democratic legislators actually do their jobs and, you know, pass legislation, I've got no problem with this. Checks and balances -- congressional oversight -- will be a welcome change from the sycophantic bootlicking of previous years.