Congressional Badboys
While I’m thinking of it (having been reminded by the John Edwards affair), a shout-out to the tireless recorder of the endless procession of misdeeds by members of Congress at the “Congressional Badboys” website. To see for yourself, click here. And be sure to check back often, because the hits just keep on comin’.
Comments
Good stuff. Thanks.
Posted by: Black Political Analysis | August 13, 2008 07:48 PM
These members deserve this type of attention but I hope that the hard work that many members of Congress do with respect to legislation and oversight of the bureaucracy does not get lost.
One thing that frustrates me when I talk with smart people, who strangely do not spend their professional lives studying politics, is that their beliefs about Congress are influenced heavily by coverage of scandals. They often hold stereotypes leading them to believe that “all” members are the same. My wife’s family is from Youngstown Ohio and a common refrain about their former rep, Jim Traficant, is that he only did what everyone else does except he got caught. Well. . . wrong. Most members don’t have $90k in their freezers.
What is more, these beliefs belie the hard work that (most) members do on behalf of legislation and oversight of the bureaucracy. Don’t get me wrong, many members are “show-horses” and Congress faces challenges in trying to address policy problems. But these problems are more a function of the difficulty of overcoming the separation of powers system and Congress’s own rules that make it difficult to pass legislation-rules that could be changed, of course-than individual wrongdoing.
Posted by: Jason MacDonald | August 14, 2008 08:13 PM