Editorial: Investigators become targeted

Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 | 6:59 a.m.

This past year may have been the year of the inspector general, but not because of the billions of dollars in waste of taxpayer dollars they found. In 2006 they found themselves with large targets on their backs. For example:

Congress created the position of inspector general after Watergate in an effort to create accountability and independent oversight of the federal agencies. The inspectors general audit how tax dollars are spent and investigate wrongdoing. This past year, for example, inspectors general found:

These, unfortunately, are just some of the reports that made news in the last year. Investigators hold government agencies accountable, making them better, and they can save the taxpayers billions of dollars by pointing out waste or fraud.

To do that, the inspectors general must have confidence that they won't be unfairly targeted over political considerations, but that doesn't seem to be the way this administration sees it. We hope a new, Democratic-controlled Congress will see to it that inspectors general are protected from such pressure.