Washington ? Democrats sharpened their criticisms of the Bush administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina Thursday, refusing to participate in a Republican-controlled investigative panel and displaying a photo in the Senate of the president strumming a guitar the day New Orleans was inundated.

Congressional Democratic leaders said they would not name members to a House-Senate commission that Republicans announced Wednesday to investigate local, state and federal government actions before and after Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast Aug. 29. Democrats said the proposed panel is unacceptable because they were not consulted about its formation and because GOP lawmakers would outnumber Democratic members.

“As it is currently described, I will not appoint members to it,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. “The only way to ensure that all levels of our government are held accountable to the people is to take this process out of the hands of politicians with a vested interest in the outcome.”