From Two Seas Media
A Better Congress: Change the Rules, Change the Results
A Modest Proposal
Citizen's Guide to Legislative Reform
Includes U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence

By Joseph Gibson

A comprehensive look at the reasons that Congress does not work well and some real solutions that can make Congress work better.
 

2010, 168 pages Softcover, $9.95 ISBN 10: 158733237X ISBN 13: 978-1-58733-237-1 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches Weight: 0.6 pounds Buy softcover from Amazon Buy softcover from Barnes & Noble Ebook: $2.99 EISBN: 9781587332364   Available from your bookseller or online

Formats Softcover    $9.95 Ebook         $2.99

 

2011 Benjamin Franklin Award Finalist

From a reader:

"Makes a great gift for your representatives in Congress!"

Each U.S. citizen has 3 elected representatives in Congress: 2 Senators in the Senate and 1 Representative in the House. To find out who your congressional representatives are, see our Congressional Directory.

Also see

• Citizen's Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials

• Pocket Constitution

• Pocket edition of Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

More Information
Synopsis	Table of Contents	The Author	Related Resources	Endnotes

The War Advertising Council's Women in War Jobs campaign is the most successful advertising recruitment campaign in American history. Rosie the Riveter, a fictional character immortalized by posters supporting the war effort and a wartime song of the same name, helped to recruit more than two million women into the workforce. Her image graced postage stamps and the cover of Smithsonian magazine and before long Rosie the Riveter became a nickname for women working in wartime industries.

"Women in War Jobs-Rosie the Riveter (1942-1945)," Ad Council

In 1942, Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller was hired by the Westinghouse Company's War Production Coordinating Committee to create a series of posters for the war effort. One of these posters became the famous 'We Can Do It!' image-an image that in later years would also become 'Rosie the Riveter,' though not intended at its creation. Miller based his 'We Can Do It!' poster on a United Press photograph taken of Michigan factory worker Geraldine Doyle. Its intent was to help recruit women to join the work force.

At the time of the poster's release the name 'Rosie' was not associated with the image. The poster-one of many in Miller's Westinghouse series-was not initially seen much beyond one Midwest Westinghouse factory where it was displayed for two weeks in February 1942. It was only later, around the 1970s and 1980s, that the Miller poster was rediscovered and became famous as 'Rosie The Riveter.'

Jack Doyle, "Rosie The Riveter, 1942-1945," PopHistoryDig.com, February 28, 2009.

Cover illustration by Marilyn Gates-Davis

Polls regularly reveal profound public dissatisfaction with Congress. Its leaders and its work receive abysmal approval ratings. In one recent poll, a plurality of likely voters declared that 535 people randomly selected from a phone book would perform better than the current Congress. Another found that 75 percent of adults believe that Congress would change for the better if most of its current members were replaced. Still another found that 75 percent of likely voters thought Congress should cut its members' pay until it balances the federal budget.

Generally speaking, it is hard to get 75 percent of people to agree that the sun will rise tomorrow. These extraordinary numbers show something much more intense than run of the mill, everyday complaints about the foibles of politicians.

This deep discontent began in late 2008 with passage of the Troubled Assets Relief Program legislation (TARP). Whatever its actual merits, the public perceived it as bailing out Wall Street at the expense of Main Street. These feelings grew in early 2009 with the passage of a $787 billion stimulus bill. The public questioned that much spending without any obvious economic recovery.

Congress's passage of the 2010 health care reform bill over strong and visible voter opposition continued to stir up these feelings. The lack of popular support was evident during the debate, but Congress passed it anyway. Months after its enactment, polls continue to show that majorities of the public oppose it.4 In August 2010, 71 percent of Missouri voters voted for a ballot measure intended to invalidate a crucial part of the law. A number of states have sued to overturn the law. The whole episode provides a striking example of an ongoing breakdown of representative government. Despite this growing discontent with Congress, hardly anyone has closely examined why Congress does not work well and suggested realistic ways to change it for the better.

This book starts from the fundamental notion that incentives drive human behavior—a proposition as true for members of Congress as for anyone else. Some of those incentives derive from the basic congressional framework found in Article I of the Constitution. Left alone, these incentives and the constitutional framework function quite well.

The problems with Congress today do not arise from the Constitution. Instead, much of the dysfunction arises from statutes, rules, and practices that Congress has subsequently added to the constitutional structure. Those additions create perverse incentives for members of Congress that produce unpopular results. Over many years, those incentives have collected to the point that they distort the founders' carefully designed original vision of Congress.

Even if we wanted to amend the Constitution to alter the incentives, proposed amendments likely could not clear the constitutional hurdles for ratification. For example, during the 1990s, various groups worked to amend the Constitution to prevent members from serving more than a certain number of terms. Although the idea of term limits was popular, those groups never came close to amending the Constitution.

Part I of this book describes the reasons why Congress does not work well. It examines the incentives that members of Congress face and shows how they combine to undermine the quality of Congress's work. Those incentives form a complex, interrelated web that must be considered as a whole. Its various strands do not necessarily correspond on a one-to-one basis with the solutions that this book offers. Thus, the solutions are set out separately in Part II.

If you want to read about the proposed solutions immediately, skip directly to Part II. It suggests a variety of ways that Congress might change its practices to produce better legislation. Some proposals apply to both chambers; some are specific to the Senate or to the House. Some are more likely to happen than others. Given the current public attitude toward Congress, this is not the time or place for unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky proposals, so this book suggests plausible scenarios that can lead to the enactment of each proposed solution.

On the other hand, this book does not claim that its suggestions are the only possible solutions. It does not try to present an all-inclusive case for its ideas or to rebut every possible counterargument—that would require a much longer and more detailed book. Rather, this book's purpose is to provoke thought—to ignite debate—to imagine other ways of doing things. If its readers conceive even better ideas to improve the workings of Congress, it will have more than served its purpose.

In the 2010 midterms, voters chose a Congress that will act much differently fromthe one elected in 2008. They clearly wanted to change the results they get from Congress. Following in their wake, this book seeks to inspire Congress to govern itself in new ways that produce better outcomes for the public.

From the Preface

Table of Contents

(all endnotes are here)

Preface

Introduction - Those Who Come to Congress Become Congress

Part I: Why Congress Does Not Work Well

Ch. 1   The Fortress of Incumbency

Ch. 2   The Ordeals of a Campaign

Ch. 3   The Skills Mismatch

Ch. 4   The Congressional Bubble

Ch. 5   Procedures Designed to Divide

Ch. 6   The Drive for Reelection

Ch. 7   "Accomplishments"

Ch. 8   Crisis: An Opportunity to Waste

Ch. 9   Third Rails

II. How to Fix Congress
A. Solutions for Both Chambers

Ch. 10  Temporary Duty

Ch. 11  All Cards on the Table

Ch. 12  Back to Reality

Ch. 13  Focus, Focus, Focus

Ch. 14  Reading is Fundamental

Ch. 15  A Purpose-Driven Minority

Ch. 16  The Committee on Repeal

B. Solutions Specific to the Senate

Ch.  17  Just Do It

Ch.  18  Hurry Up and Wait

C. Solutions Specific to the House

Ch.  19  Be It Ever So Humble

Ch.  20  Other People's Money

Ch.  21  Conclusion - Solutions, Solutions Everywhere, But…

Appendix
  A. How the Figures for Numbers of Laws and Bills Used in this Book Were Derived 
  B. Declaration of Independence
  C. U.S. Constitution and Amendments

Index 

JOSEPH GIBSON has worked in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government. He has lobbied members of Congress and their staffs, advocated on behalf of the executive branch, and argued cases in federal and state courts.

He grew up in Waycross, Georgia, and then attended Yale University, where he received a bachelor's degree in political science. After graduation, he spent a year working as a staff member on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He then went to Yale Law School, where he earned his JD degree.

After law school, he clerked for the Hon. R. Lanier Anderson, III, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Macon, Georgia. He then returned to Washington where he spent the next six and a half years as a litigator with private law firms.

In 1995 Mr. Gibson was appointed as an antitrust counsel for the House Judiciary Committee under Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois. From there, he rose to chief antitrust counsel for the committee. In 2002 he became a deputy assistant attorney general representing the legislative interests of the Department of Justice.

In 2003, he returned to the House Judiciary Committee as its chief legislative counsel and parliamentarian under Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin. After two years there, he became chief of staff to Representative Lamar Smith of Texas. After the 2006 election, he became chief minority counsel of the House Judiciary Committee. He is now in the private sector where he lobbies on antitrust, intellectual property, and other business issues. Prior to establishing his own firm, The Gibson Group, he practiced with the law firm of Constantine Cannon LLC.

He is the author of Persuading Congress.

He and his wife, Heath, live in Washington and New York with their daughter. The views expressed in A Better Congress are entirely his own and do not necessarily represent those of any other person or group.

A Better Congress mug by TheCapitolNet

Audio CD  and Print Materials     Online download with MP3 audio and materials in PDF	Capitol Learning Audio Courses Capitol Learning Audio Courses are a convenient way to learn about the legislative process, federal budgeting, media relations, business etiquette, and much more.  Each course is between 1/2 hour and 2 hours long, and includes the course materials.  Conference Committees: How The Work Gets Done How to Organize a Capitol Hill Day Understanding the Path of Legislation Congressional Committees and Party Leadership: Who Controls the Congressional Agenda Senate Scheduling and Floor Procedures Senate Amendment Procedure House Floor Procedures The House Rules Committee: Gatekeeper to the Floor and more Our Capitol Learning Audio Courses can be customized with your logo in quantities of 250 to 10,000 copies.  Contact our Client Liaison for details.
Also see these related publications Congressional Deskbook Congressional Operations Poster Persuading Congress Testifying Before Congress Legislative Drafter's Deskbook Lobbying and Advocacy Citizen's Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials Pocket Constitution Pocket edition of Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

Have a suggestion for A Better Congress?

If you have a suggestion for a change or addition to a future edition of A Better Congress, please contact us or complete our online suggestion form.

TheCapitol.Net is a non-partisan firm, and the opinions of its faculty, authors, clients and the owners and operators of its vendors are their own and do not represent those of TheCapitol.Net. 

  URLs:  www.TheCapitol.Net/Publications/ABetterCongress.html
TCNABC.com

Book Preview



See larger image
 

Rave Reviews

"Gibson's thinking here is sophisticated, and his familiarity with congressional procedure shines through, as he describes the way secondary referral of bills to repeal programs might be handled."
-- Jim Harper, WashingtonWatch.com
 

"Perhaps as a Christmas gift each member should get this book as a stocking stuffer."
-- Abby Wisse Schachter, Capitol Punishment, New York Post

"Let your congressman know you've read it!"
-- Grady Harp, Amazon Top 50 Reviewer

"Gibson, a former congressional committee counsel, uses fictional characters to build an accurate and compelling account of many of the problems facing Congress. The thought-provoking changes and solutions he suggests deserve debate, if not implementation."
-- Charles W. Johnson, Former Parliamentarian, United States House of Representatives

"Joseph Gibson has produced a book that offers real insight into the pressures and problems that underpin modern congressional processes and has offered a series of innovative ideas to deal with those pressures and problems. One need not agree with all of his proposed solutions to get real value from Gibson's book because what he has produced is a template for thinking about new ways to address the dysfunction that pervades Capitol Hill."
-- Robert Walker, Executive Chairman, Wexler & Walker, Washington, DC  (U.S. Representative, PA-16, 1977-1997)

"In A Better Congress, Joseph Gibson has produced a telling critique of Congress and its inability to perform the job required of it by the Constitution and its constituents. He offers a series of bold proposals to change the way Congress does its work - certain to kick off a complicated, contentious and difficult argument in Washington. Whether you agree or disagree with his solutions, get involved in this vital discussion!"
-- Chuck Cushman, Acting Executive Director, Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM), The George Washington University

"In A Better Congress Gibson gives us an insider's view of why Congress does not work. Then he shows how changing congressional rules can change congressional results. In 2010, Americans voted for better results. This book shows how we can get them."
-- Robert Kasten, President, Kasten & Co. (U.S. Senator, WI, 1981-1993)

"Chock full of good ideas."
-- Jim Bohannon, Jim Bohannon Show

"Gibson, a former GOP Hill staffer, writes in A Better Congress: Change the Rules, Change the Results about the problems that led to the reforms and changes in Congress several decades ago, even as the procedures of the House and Senate (specifically the filibuster), as well as the influences from special interests, keep lawmakers repeating what they do as long as they keep getting re-elected."
-- Eugene Mulero, Roll Call

"This book is perfect for the average citizen who is frustrated by the inefficacy of Congress but may not quite understand why. Gibson's plain English style and brief chapters make the Herculean task of fixing a dysfunctional Congress seem like an approachable subject and his book should appeal to a large swath of readers."
--  Political Books

"Absolutely fascinating."
-- Bob Grant, Bob Grant Show, WABC 77, New York

"A thoughtful and recommended read, not to be missed."
--  Midwest Book Review

See more rave reviews of our publications.

Our Clients

Congressional Offices

Federal Agencies

Military

NGOs and Nonprofits

Diplomatic Corps

Fortune 500

Law Firms

Lobbying Firms

Labor Unions

Associations