CONGRESSIONAL REFORM - CounterStrikeMedia

FIXING CONGRESS FAST

4/16/2019

The Judiciary Can Restore the Power of Congress
by Peter J. Wallison
Just as the courts played a role in weakening Congress over time, they can help force lawmakers to take up their constitutionally assigned tasks. Read More »

Energy in the Legislature by Philip A. Wallach
Jeff Bergner has written an engaging memoir seasoned with the author’s considered judgments about what is wrong with the U.S. Senate. Read More »

Party Instability: Why American Politics Feels Broken
by David Brady via PolicyEd American politics feels broken because existing voting blocs are regrouping and reconsidering which issues motivate them and which political party they support. Ongoing economic and demographic structural changes have led to control of the legislative and executive branches shifting back and forth. While this is not the first time in the history this has occurred, political parties will need to figure out a winning combination of policies that can consistently win them elections in order to stabilize American politics.

WHY WE DON'T HAVE THE LEADERS WE WANT

3/25/2019

Why we don't have the leaders we want
Arthur C. Brooks | Washington Examiner

HENRY OLSON: TIME TO DUMP FEDERAL BUDGET PROCESS

3/14/2019

Time to Dump the Federal Budget Process
Henry Olsen, Washington Post

NYPOST: WHY PELOSI WON'T DO A BUDGET

New budget, same story
James C. Capretta | RealClearPolicy
The primary value of most presidential budgets is political, and this one is no different.

MANAGING CONGRESSIONAL SHUTDOWNS

1/17/2019

New House budget rules take three steps forward but one big step back
Alan D. Viard | The Hill
The House recently voted to adopt the new Democratic leadership’s proposed rules for the 116th Congress. Two of the rule changes may slightly improve the long-run budget outlook, and another may help avert debt-limit showdowns. But one change takes a clear step backward.

The congressional budget process: A brief primer
James C. Capretta | AEI Economic Perspectives
The modern budget process has been amended in several important ways since its establishment in 1974, including the introduction of caps for appropriated spending and a pay-as-you-go rule for taxes and entitlements, both of which are enforced with automatic cuts in spending if they are violated. James Capretta argues that the current process was written for a time when appropriations spending was dominant; it does not work as well with so much of the federal budget devoted to spending that occurs automatically on entitlement programs. Further, the current process does not facilitate executive-legislative agreement on budgetary aggregates, which is an important reason for instability and uncertainty in federal finances.

17 IDEAS FOR THE BUDGET REFORM COMMITTEE

11/29/2018

17 Ideas for Congress’ Budget Reform Committee
Brian Riedl, E21

The Congressional budget process is a dysfunctional mess. Lawmakers often juggle a series of continuing resolutions and occasional government shutdowns until finally crafting a single omnibus appropriations bill well into the next fiscal year. That 2,000-page, trillion-dollar bill is then quickly passed before lawmakers can read it and before outsiders can expose the gimmicks. Read more here....

FIXING THE US DEBT & BUDGET CRISIS

10/16/2018

A Federal Budget Plan to Avert a Debt Crisis
Brian Riedl, E21

Annual budget deficits are projected to soon surpass $1 trillion, on their way to $2 trillion or even $3 trillion in 10 to 15 years. Social Security and Medicare face a combined $100 trillion cash deficit over the next 30 years, which would push the national debt to nearly 200% of the gross domestic product (GDP). At that point, interest on that debt would consume 40% of all tax revenues—or more, if interest rates rise. Unless reforms are enacted, global markets will, at some point, stop lending to the U.S. at plausible interest rates. Read more here....

MEDICARE FOR ALL WILL FAIL & REDISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE UNENDING

9/7/2018

H ow Medicare for All Will Squeeze Blue States
Chris Pope, National Review

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, along with other single-payer advocates, has argued that the federal government could cover all Americans’ medical needs for much less than they currently spend privately. Much attention has focused on the impact of dramatically reducing payments to health-care providers, and on the magnitude of the tax increases involved. But “Medicare for All” would also lead to an enormous redistribution among states — cutting the health-care resources available to Sanders’s state by almost a third. Read more here....

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT

8/22/2018

The Critical Importance of Congressional Oversight
Chuck Grassley, Real Clear Policy

Congress must grow to check the administrative state
James C. Capretta | RealClearPolicy

James Capretta explores the rise of the administrative state and the corresponding decline in power of the legislative branch, explaining that Congress' persistent failure to properly fulfill the role of checking the executive branch in recent years, is one reason the nation's politics are out of balance. Capretta argues that Congress could begin to reassert itself by building stronger institutional support for the development of specific legislative responses to emerging issues and problems. The legislative branch has steadily lost power to the executive branch because it does not have the capacity to develop and implement legislative policies that can competently address the many challenges that present themselves in a modern economy. House and Senate members need more help from true experts to fulfill their constitutional roles.

The 'administrative state' needs to follow the rule of law by Congress
Peter J. Wallison | The Hill

Rules and regulations by federal agencies, which many now call the administrative state, are quickly supplanting Congress as the principal source of the rules that American citizens and businesses have to obey. Peter Wallison argues that the power of the administrative state must be reined in if we are to remain a nation where the rule of law prevails. The actions of administrative agencies such as the Justice Department must not go beyond what Congress authorized, and the courts should enforce this limit.

HOW TO REFORM ENTITLEMENTS? START WITH BUDGET REFORM

5/6/2018

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3 ideas for budget process reform
James C. Capretta | Real Clear Policy

Highlighting the problems with the current budget process through public hearings and developing some creative ideas for reform would be progress for budget reform at this point, argues James Capretta. He proposes that the joint committee should consider three ideas to improve the current process. First, they should allow the budget resolution to set statutory caps on appropriated spending. Second, they should scale back the time devoted to passing annual appropriations bills. Finally, Capretta argues that Congress should build a long-term focus into the budget process.

Testimony: The budget resolution: Content, timeliness, and enforcement
James C. Capretta | Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform
The current federal budget process hinders Congress' ability to make timely and orderly decisions in addressing fiscal challenges. Three solutions could change the role of the budget resolution and reform the process.

The congressional budget process: A brief primer
James C. Capretta | AEI Economic Perspectives
James Capretta discusses what the role of the budget request is, what the congressional budget looks like in theory, and what it looks like in reality, as well as several other key features of the congressional budget process. Capretta argues that the current process was written for a time when appropriations spending was dominant; it does not work as well with so much of the federal budget devoted to spending that occurs automatically on entitlement programs. Further, he concludes that the current process does not facilitate executive-legislative agreement on budgetary aggregates, which is an important reason for instability and uncertainty in federal finances.

A PLAN FOR FISCAL HAWKSBy EPPC Senior Fellow Henry Olsen
National Review

Republicans who want spending restraint probably represent only about 10 to 15 percent of the total Republican-voting electorate, but without their support Republicans cannot win. That gives the fiscal-restraint advocates a strong hand to play, if they play it correctly. Read More

THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS

2/10/2018

The congressional budget process: A brief primer
James C. Capretta

Political institutions and the governmental burden on business
Weifeng Zhong | Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics

SEXUAL HARASSMENT & CONGRESS

1/4/2018

WHY SCORING A BILL IS USELESS

1/3/2018

Transparency for Congress' Scorekeepers
Matt Jensen | National Affairs
Two of the most important and powerful agencies of the federal government are barely known to the American public. The Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation are Congress' scorekeepers. The assumptions made by the CBO and the JCT, and the assessments they produce, shape nearly every federal policy debate. These projections come to be treated as facts, shaping the way various policy proposals are understood and debated.

WHY IS THE FEDERAL BUDGT A MESS: A PARLIAMENTARY PROCESS

9/3/2017

AEI

CONSISTENT POLICY RULES REQUIRE CURRENT POLICY BASELINE

FIX THE FEDERAL BASELINE FIRST FOR BUDGETING

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How The Budget Control Act Damages Military Planning

7/26/2017

repeal_the_budget_control_act_-_wsj.pdf
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Fixing Congress In 10 Easy Steps

7/17/2017

The Weekly Standard

Why Congress Remains Broken: The Rules of Men vs. Constitutional Order

6/22/2017

E21

The Consequences of Trump's First Budget

5/28/2017

Weekly Standard

CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & BUDGETARY ANALYSIS: DEFENSE TRENDS TRUMP'S BUDGET

Max Boot writes: Bolton is right that Trump’s policies have been more conventional than expected, but he is wrong to ascribe this development to insidious foreign policy elites. President Trump is simply being forced to acknowledge the complex realities that he refused to grapple with on the campaign trail. - Commentary

Joint Chiefs, Dunford, Explains How Congressional Dysfunction Destroys U.S. Superpower Status

Why Our Military Advantage Is Eroding

U.S. News & World Report w/ Political Cartoons

AEI: Problems With Trump's First Budget

Understanding The Federal Budget

5/26/2017

CBO SCORES ARE FANTASY

HOOVER

REFORMING THE C.B.O.

WHY REFORM THE CBO

Streamlining Foggy Bottom

4/24/2017

Washington Post

Is Congress Broken?

3/24/2017

AEI

Understanding Revenue Neutrality

2/27/2017

U.S. News & World Report

Budget ReForm

1/17/2017

e21

How Congress Has Changed

1/16/2017

AEI

How to Restore Federalism, Fixing a Post Imperial Presidency

12/20/2016

5 Ways To Restore Separation of Powers Doctrine.WSJ.pdf
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Apathy in the Executive

Is the 115th a Reform Congress?

12/7/2016

Real Clear Policy