Oversight ... is reverberating through Congress as a Democratic battle cry.

The imperative to investigate financial misdeeds extends beyond the military. Congressional aides said that the House government reform committee under Henry Waxman might also investigate spending related to domestic security and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Well, now you see it, although this is only an unnamed aide, so I wouldn't put too much stock in it.

"... individuals and companies ... must be held accountable,” said Nancy Pelosi.

And the shoe is on the other foot.

But it probably won't go too deep, because

for all the pledges of rigorous oversight, Democrats are moving warily, fearful of a misstep, mainly in national security areas, that could return them to the sidelines as a minority party.

That may explain the focus on less volatile issues like waste and fraudulent spending and why few Democrats are proposing inquiries on hot-button issues, like the underlying rationale for the war in Iraq or the underpinning for the administration’s counterterrorism policies.

Democrats Aim to Save Inquiry on Work in Iraq