There’s been quite the hullabaloo raging over the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) pricing of parcels. President Donald J. Trump started a volley in late December 2017 by tweeting….(Read more)
The other biggest problem in Washing...
A supine Congress unable to hold a president accountable. Members who find the job miserable (except for the status). A persistent problem of understaffing and lack of policy expertise. For decades, Congress has faced these growing problems and others. The Trump era has thrown them into overdrive. Congress has weakened itself and centralized its policymaking […]
The Atrophying of the Congressional Research Service’s Role in Supporting Committee Oversi...
Read it at http://kevinrkosar.com/Kosar%20CRS%20Oversight%20Wayne%20Final%2008-2018.pdf
Why I like voting by m...
It has been a few years since I queued up at a polling place, and I am the happier for it. Don’t get me wrong, I am a sucker for the pageantry: citizen volunteers man polling places; activists outside hand out flyers in hopes of swinging votes; I get a little sticker to wear proudly […]
Congressional reform is way over...
Critics often are quick to blame congressional passivity on partisanship. Many Republicans certainly are gun shy about attacking the de facto leader of their party. But congressional indulgence of the executive is not an aberration of the Trump presidency. Legislators have both grown the executive branch and permitted executives to act without authorization and with little fear […]
We might actually get budget reform this y...
This past week, Congress held another hearing on budget reform. Two former budget committee chairmen, Leon Panetta and David Obey, both testified. They lamented the current state of congressional budgeting and identified aspects of the 1974 Budget Act that discourage fiscally responsible and timely annual budgeting. Readers might be tempted to shrug this off as a non-event. “Elected officials […]
