After almost 73 years as an American - the last 50 or so as a well-informed American, I thought - I am appalled to learn that Congress is almost toothless when it comes to investigative matters.
Nowadays, when Congress issues a subpoena, the target apparently can simply say, "No, I won't comply." And Congress can't do anything to compel the target to do so.
They can find the target in "contempt of Congress," but that is apparently a pointless endeavor since they seem to lack any power to punish anyone held in "contempt." They refer action to the Justice Department, but the Justice Department won't help - especially if the Justice Department is the one in contempt!
So much for checks and balances. That's a great lie I've been fed since grade school (among others). Another one being, "No one is above the law."
I guess, given 243 years to work on it, the forces of profit-motivated evil in our society have found ample ways to subvert the shining intent of our founding fathers. They simply were not able to craft a Constitution that could anticipate 243 years of effort to subvert it.
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