What is Oversight Function in political terms?

Answer 1

it is an action taken by the government. Answer: Our elected officials are charged to oversee how our money is spent, how the government is run, etc. An example of the failure of an elected official to live up to this responsibility:

In the May 23, 2006 BusinessWeek, in an article, "Intelligence Czar Can Waive SEC Rules," it was revealed that on May 5, 2006, President George W. Bush gave his presidential powers to intelligence czar John Negroponte, in order to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations. BusinessWeek states, "Administration officials told BusinessWeek that they believe this is the first time a President has ever delegated the authority to someone outside the Oval Office." The article states, "Unbeknownst to almost all of Washington and the financial world, Bush and every other President since Jimmy Carter have had the authority to exempt companies working on certain top-secret defense projects from portions of the 1934 Securities Exchange Act…A trip to the statute books showed that the amended version of the 1934 act states that 'with respect to matters concerning the national security of the United States,' the President or the head of an Executive Branch agency may exempt companies from certain critical legal obligations. These obligations include keeping accurate 'books, records, and accounts' and maintaining 'a system of internal accounting controls sufficient' to ensure the propriety of financial transactions and the preparation of financial statements in compliance with 'generally accepted accounting principles.'" The connection between public companies and the intelligence community is documented in a Jan. 4, 1987 New York Times "'The Company' as Big Business" by Clyde H. Farnsworth Secrecy, and the manner in which the derivatives market developed and remainsunexplained to the American people, brings to mind these words from A Torchlight For America by Minister Louis Farrakhan regarding America's condition, "The root of her suffering is basic immorality and vanity, where greed, lust and inordinate self-interest has become the way of life. When the desire for the realization of self-interest becomes excessive, the first casualty in this struggle is 'truth.' The leaders in the society, in their struggle to achieve inordinate self-interests, engage in hiding the light of truth from the American people. Without truth the American people are left paralyzed, unable to constructively address their problems."

Congress also has a Constitutional mandate to oversee money issues. They have abdicated this responsiblity in the creation of the Federal Reserve and in overseeing the spending of the bailout money. This country can not recover economically unles Congress starts to pay attention to the Constitution. Look up the views of Texas Rep. Ron Paul and see related questions. Quote from http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_5361.shtml