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The Waxman Report: How Congress Really Works
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  • ISBN13: 9780446519250
  • Condition: NEW
  • Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Categories Textbooks Trade-In   Political   Congresses, Senates, & Legislative Bodies   General   U.S.   Hardcover   Printed Books  

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Description
At a time when some of the much sweeping national initiatives in decades are being debated, Congressman Henry Waxman proposes a fascinating inside account of how Congress really works by describing the subtleties and complexities of the legislative process.

For four decades, Waxman has taken visionary and principled positions on crucial issues and been a driving force for modify. For the reason that of legislation he helped champion, our air is cleaner, our food is safer, and our medical care better. Thanks to his work as a top watchdog in Congress, crucial steps have been taken to curb abuses on Wall Street, to halt wasteful spending in Iraq, and to ban steroids from Key League Baseball. Few legislators can match his accomplishments or his insights on how good work gets done in Washington.

In this book, Waxman affords readers a rare glance into how this is achieved-the strategy, the maneuvering, the behind-the-scenes deals. He shows how the things we get for granted (clear information concerning tobacco's harmfulness, accurate nutritional labeling, important drugs this have saved countless lives) initiated out humbly-derided by big business interests as impossible or even destructive. Sometimes, the much dramatic breakthroughs occur throughout small twists of fate or the much narrow voting margin. Waxman's stories are surprising for the reason that they illustrate this while government's progress may seem glacial, much is happening, and small battles waged over years can yield excellent outcomes.

At a moment when so much has been written concerning what's wrong together with Congress-the grid­lock, the partisanship, the influence of interest groups-Henry Waxman proposes sophisticated, concrete examples of how govern­ment can (and should) work.

Customer Reviews
Customer rating is 5 of 5  An insider's look   2010-02-02
By James Hiller (Beaverton, OR)
The Congress has become the punching bag of the U.S. Government. It's ratings are in the tank, and it appears, on the surface, to most citizens, that nothing is ever accomplished in the legislative branch. However, Representative Henry Waxman's new and incredibly insightful book on the inner workings of Congress show how issues are addressed, and eventually accomplished.

Rep. Waxman's book is part memoir, part recounting of his experiences serving the people of California for the past thirty years. His thesis, stated early n the book, is that government is a help, not a hinderance, when coming to the aid of its citizens. Waxman recounts several events that led to successful government intervention:

Don't like smoking in planes? Thank Congress.

Don't think apples should be covered with pesticides? Thank Congress.

Think that drug companies should try to find medications for all diseases? Thank Congress.

Worried that people with HIV/AIDS would lose their jobs? Thank Congress.

Think cigarette makers shouldn't market their products to children? Thank Congress.

Like food packaging labels? Thank Congress.

To be fair, Democratic Waxman does take shots at Republicans from time to time, but mostly its to show that even the minority party can be effective from time to time. One of Waxman's points, which caused me to think seriously about the current health care bill, is that no significant legislation gets passed without bipartisan support. Does this bode well for our health care?

Another interesting thing to note in the book is that corporations usually will do anything to get legislation weakened or eliminated if it's going to mean regulation on their end. In his "tobacco" chapter, it's clear how much the industry fought for years on end to delay/dismantle any governmental attempts to regulate it. It seems to me that many corporations have similar tactics to dissuade the legislation from happening; bad effects, raised costs, etc.

When all is side and written, this book is a great primer on how things can, and often do, get done in Congress. I highly recommend this.
Customer rating is 3 of 5  The Waxman Report   2009-11-09
By Star
First of all: I am a liberal. So it's not like I'm bashing Waxman overall. However, I was reading it for my AP Government class, so it probably didn't help I was forced to read it.

The worst thing, in my opinion, the writing is very, very dry. It was kind of hard to get through due to my preference for fiction. Around every other chapter was interesting. I really liked the first half of the chapter on AIDS; the chapter on baseball/steroids legislation I skipped completely. The title is slightly misleading by saying it's going to tell you how Congress REALLY works -- I learned more from my textbook. I feel like it was more of Waxman expressing how his views are right and everyone else sucks, except when people work with him. The Waxman Report contained an expression of a lot of pride in his work to the point where it seemed smug, which I hope wasn't how it was supposed to be.

The best parts? The very small amount of anecdotes. Like the nutrition chapter mentioning how he was trying to lose weight along with other representatives, or the fact he had been a chronic smoker and restarted because of all the free cigarettes provided graciously.

All in all, if you like hearing how certain bills were passed this book is somewhat enjoyable, but if you're expecting more personal anecdotes (less "this person was my enemy" anecdotes) along with the legislative talk, pass this up.
Customer rating is 5 of 5  Good insights into how Congress works   2009-11-08
By Marc Korman (Maryland)
There are plenty of Members of Congress who are only interested in reelection, are corrupt, are lazy, and have no real legislative priorities. Henry Waxman is not one of those Congressmembers. He is hard working, has clear ideas of what he is in Congress to achieve, and works hard.

Instead of writing the usual political autobiography, Waxman has written an account based around five different laws he worked on and two major oversight investigations. That focus allows Waxman to demonstrate the give and take involved in being in Congress, show some of the obstinate personalities that are there, and describe some of the most important health and safety issues of the past thirty years.

Ironically, Waxman's subtitle is "How Congress Really Works." But Congress does not really work this way for everyone, as most people up there are more interesting in scoring cheap political points that solving problems. But this is how Congress works for Waxman and a few others like him.
Customer rating is 5 of 5  So government really does something for me   2009-10-17
By Elizabeth Wright (California)
Waxman starts with the premise that government exists to enhance the quality of life of the citizens. To demonstrate how Congress really works, he takes specific things each citizen can agree is an improvement (such as clean water, listing ingredients, and providing warnings) and goes through how that legislature came to be. It should be required reading in every high school.
Customer rating is 5 of 5  A surprisingly good book   2009-10-01
By Roger Berlind (NY, USA)
I noticed this book at a book store and bought it on impulse. I actually expected it to be dry, maybe even dull, but hoped it would shed some light on how Congress functions. I did not expect it to be especially entertaining, compelling, or enjoyable; to my surprise, it turned out to be all of these, and I found it a very good read. A fair share of credit for this presumably belongs to Congressman Waxman's co-writer, Joshua Green.

The subtitle of the book is somewhat (but not entirely) misleading. Rather than giving us an overview of Congressional committees, subcommittees, and parliamentarian rules, Waxman has written a political autobiography that follows his career from the California Young Democrats Club to the California State Assembly to the U.S. House of Representatives. At first, I felt a bit cheated since the jacket cover had not described the book as an autobiography; however, the early material about Waxman's early career in California ultimately does become relevant when he compares how Congress functioned under different Speakers (such as Tip O'Neill and Newt Gingrich) with how the California State Assembly functioned under the top-down rule of Speaker Jesse Unruh. In the end, Waxman does convey a lot of information about how Congress works, even if this is done in the context of an autobiography. Of course, Waxman writes a lot more about the House than the Senate.

Waxman spins out his narrative in a dramatic fashion, describing how he and other members of Congress managed to pass each of the major laws that he has been most connected to. In some cases, he and his allies were able to focus attention on issues with public hearings, obtaining enough support to pass laws against the wishes of lobbyists and the majority party. In other cases, he engaged in horse trading (something that he has also done since writing the book on climate legislation). In others, he relied upon legislative tricks. The most interesting of these was done in connection with the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 in which his staff very carefully focused the legislation on "nutrients" rather than on "ingredients", allowing Waxman to challenge the germaneness of a proposed amendment about carcinogens on the ground that carcinogens are not nutrients. Very sly.

Given the unfortunate political partisanship that currently infects our country, many readers might expect any book by a politician to be one-sided and confrontational. That is not the case with Waxman's book. While much of the legislation he focuses on was primarily promoted by Democrats, Waxman acknowledges the contributions of various Republicans. Also, when he does describe the opposition of Republicans, he is never bitter or nasty. I believe that most readers of any political persuasion could enjoy this book if they focus on the drama and legislative craftsmanship involved in each chapter irrespective of their agreement with the actual laws that Waxman helped pass.


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