Breakdown :
by Bingaman, Jeff
Published by : High Road Books ; an imprint of the University of New Mexico Press (Albuquerque, New Mexico) Physical details: xvii, 225 pages, 12w unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm ISBN:9780826364142; 9780826364159; 0826364144.| Item type | Current location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sw 300 - 399 | 328.73 Bin (Browse shelf) | Available | 116585 |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-211) and index (pages 214-225).
Foreword / Norman J. Ornstein -- Acknowledgments. Introduction. Part 1. Dysfunction in the Congress -- The breakdown of congressional governing norms -- Beware the five impediments -- Part 2. The people's business - eight worthy efforts -- Support a strong economy -- Control deficits and debt -- Lead in Science and Technology -- Meet our energy and climate-change challenges (through 2008) -- Meet our energy and climate-change challenges (2009 and after) -- Improve health care -- Improve elementary and secondary education -- Manage and preserve public lands -- Avoid unnecessary wars -- Part 3. How Congress can do better -- Suggestions for Congress -- Suggestions for members -- Appendix. Jeff Bingaman's farewell speech to the Senate -- Notes -- Index.
"In his thirty-year career representing the citizens of New Mexico in the United States Senate, Jeff Bingaman witnessed great things accomplished through the legislative process. He saw bold moves to protect the economy during the Great Recession, the expansion of health care through the Affordable Care Act, and the protection of public lands. He also had a front-row seat for the breakdown of governing norms and the radical increases in polarization and partisanship that now plague what was once called the world's greatest deliberative body. Breakdown: Lessons for a Congress in Crisis traces the development of congressional dysfunction over more than three decades and provides eight case studies that examine how the crisis affects our government's ability to meet major policy challenges. We didn't always have a Senate that failed in its basic public obligations, including catalyzing a robust economy, confronting climate change, improving health care, fixing education, preserving public lands, and avoiding unnecessary wars. We do now. Combining insightful analysis of the causes and consequences of the dysfunction in Congress with thirty years of conversations, stories, standoffs, handshakes, and shakedowns from the Senate floor, Breakdown shows how Congress fails at the tasks Americans expect it to perform and, more importantly, how it might begin again to succeed" --
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