Congressman have abdicated their responsibilities while avoiding accountability.
The Ruling Class: Inside the Imperial Congress is a definitive study of the workings of the late twentieth-century federal government using Congress as the focal point. It is very successful in its description of a byzantine Congress and its schemes and “scams.” It is an ideal companion to Martin L. Gross’s The Government Racket: Washington Waste From A to Z since it provides a window to the wasteful programs and pork-barrel projects born in a Congress bent upon creating a “Barnumoconomy” in a “Barnumocracy.”
Probably the most cogent evidence Felten’s work provides is that many Congressmen have truly abdicated their responsibilities as legislators while avoiding accountability for the laws made and the positions taken.
Chapters one through eight, respectively titled as “Sleight of Hand,” “The Bullies’ Pulpit,” “Legislating Backwards,” “Staff Infection,” “The Grand Inquisitors,” “Other People’s Money,” “Not-So-Innocents Abroad,” and “The Re-election Machine,” all define the present system, contradictory to the limited and fair government originally propounded by our Founding Fathers after the American Revolution. Chapter nine enumerates helpful suggestions for honest reforms in Congress. Those in our society and government who do care about matters across political, economic, and social lines would find the material in this chapter worth the cost of the book.
Mr. Steele is a freelance writer from Stamford, Connecticut.
