Lee Hamilton is a former congressman from Indiana who served 29 years in Congress. He was also was co-chair of the 9/11 commission. I went to a talk he gave at the Indiana University Law School. He has written a book about how Congress works and was promoting it. I bought his book and had him sign it. He’s a very good speaker. He talked about a loss of civility in the Congress which he says is very noticeable from the time he became a congressman until now. There are now senators who will not talk to each other. He said that consensus is needed for Congress to be get anything done but civility is part of what is needed for that. He said “anyone can blow up a meeting but it takes real political skill to pull together a consensus”. He said lack of consensus building is the most serious problem in congress today. I watch C-SPAN some and have seen some nasty speechmaking. Right now feelings are running hot over the Tom Delay ethics issue and filibustering. Nancy Pelosi is the Dem minority leader in the House and frequently 'demonizes' the Republicans in her speeches. Reluctantly, I have to admit she is very good at it. When you verbally put horns and a tail on the opposistion it will make consensus difficult.

Mr. Hamilton also said there are about 20,000 registered lobbyists in Washington. He feels they are a necessary part of the system. He pointed out the most of us in the room are represented by lobbyists even if we don’t realize it. If you are a union member, belong to a church, work in education, and so on there is likely a lobbyist working for you.

Mr. Hamilton also talked about using your access to your congressman as a way of reaching your government. He pointed out that if you asked to speak to the president, the vice president or a cabinet member or even a deputy secretary you would not get access. But you can speak to your congressman at various town hall meetings, political breakfasts and so on. What I find is that if you have some personal problem with the bureaucracy the congressman may be able to help you. If you are just unhappy with what Congress is doing your congressman (or his staff) will perhaps politely acknowledge your complaint but as one of 535 he’s not going to be able to do much of anything.

A man stood up to the make a comment in the Q/A session and who is a former state representative in Indiana. He remarked about how all uncivil the public can be with their representatives. He talked about people feeling they had the right to call him names and grab his arm...things they would not do to their neighbors. I know this happens at every level…ask someone who is a school board member. You have to be fairly tough to serve in these jobs and be able to take heat.

I got up nerve to ask a question. I first complimented the congressman on the 9/11 report which I had checked out of the library. I expected a typical unreadable government report but was surprised to find it was very readable and I read most of it. One of the prior questions from the audience was really a complaint about tax cuts for the rich. This a hot button for me (see my archives) and prompted me to ask a question regarding the entitlement part of the Federal budget which has become very large and threatens to consume the whole budget. I asked what the Congress will do about that. Mine was the last question in the session and obviously requires a difficult answer. The congressman politely blew off the question. What I should have asked is the following: It is very hard for the public to focus on the Congress or understand how it works. After all, a group of 535 people all working on various committees is a hard thing to focus on. Bills get changed in conference behind closed doors. Appropriations are lumped into massive omnibus spending bills at the last minute so that most congressmen are voting blind. Where do you put the blame or the praise for the results? Is easier to blame or praise the president. He is one man and we can listen to his speeches and read about his activities and make our judgments. But the Congress is such featureless body that I give up trying to deal with it. Another interesting topic I might ask about is why almost all democracies have taken on the parliamentary style of government rather than the U.S. model. I would like to hear the congressman’s opinion as to the relative merits of the two systems.

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