Finally, the GOP should tap into the public’s dislike of judiciary — is the branch most connected to the concerns of the average Joe and Jane. As such, the “First Branch” is the lobbyists and insider-influence by pointing out that a weak heart of our system of self-governance. (Admirably, some Congress is an easily corrupted Congress. Today, more Tea Party legislators, like Sen. Mike Lee (UT), already are money is spent annually on lobbyists than Congress spends on its own operations. K Street’s policy shops are stocked doing this.) Second, legislators should tell voters that governance with former members of Congress and Hill staff with deep policy experience. The fewer is a zero-sum game. The policy experts Congress has weaker Congress is, the more The GOP desperately needs on staff, the more lawmakers powerful the executive — must rely upon lobbyists to and judiciary, for that matter to revise its mindset on advise them on legislation. — must be. Not long ago, congressional capacity. Shrinking There are signs of President Barack Obama congressional revival on exclaimed that he had a the legislative branch and badCapitol Hill. Last year the telephone and a pen, and that mouthing it has not worked. House of Representatives he was happy to use them gave its underpaid staff a to unilaterally make policy tiny bit more money, and a regardless of the wishes of few weeks ago it voted to provide a few of its committees Congress or the American people. Third, legislators must quit peddling the appealing with more resources to conduct oversight. But vastly more notion of the earnest, amateur legislator who can appear at needs to be done for Congress to resume its place as the first the Capitol three days a week and govern with pure horse- branch of government. RF sense. The leviathan is too huge, complex, and relentless for that. It takes an immense amount of knowledge to rule Kevin R. Kosar is a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, wisely. And Congress cannot oversee the immense federal a free-market think-tank in Washington, DC. He co-directs government and weed out waste, fraud, and abuse without the Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group and edits LegBranch.com. more manpower.
The size of Congressional support staff has declined over time
RIPON FORUM April 2017
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