One thing members of Congress need to realize is how much their reliance on staffers is hurting the institution and helping make it unaccountable.

One thing members of Congress need to realize is how much their reliance on staffers is hurting the institution and helping make it unaccountable.

One Blue Dog Democratic House Member reminded me earlier this month of the saying that 'insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.' He wondered if his fellow Members weren't more in need of advice from psychiatrists than from economists at this point.

As government grows, its increased power to grant favors or inflict pain attracts more people who would abuse the system.

Rhetoric is cheap, evidence comes more dearly.

I think the only way we retain credibility with the Arab world is to say, 'When push came to shove, despite the mistakes we made in the past, we are with you in democracy.'

I believe careers should be judged independently unless there's a clear conflict of interest in a specific case.