Our National Fulcrum is Out of Balance: Reflections on the Unpopularity of Congress

Our National Fulcrum is Out of Balance:
Reflections on the Unpopularity of Congress

Raymond W. Smock
[PDF Version]

[With national polls showing the popularity of Congress at an all-time low, here are my reflections on a branch of government that deserves our respect, even if it hasn’t earned it recently. This is a modified, updated version of a talk presented to the Fort Worth Club, in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 8, 2008.  Ray Smock]
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Your lecture series is called “Food for Thought” and that is exactly what I want to give you today. I plan to step back from daily workings and confusing details about Congress. This will not be a talk about “How a Bill becomes Law.”  I will to focus on some of the larger things we should be thinking about when we think about this branch of government.  What is the essence of Congress?  How do we find its heart and its soul?  Unless we reflect on what Congress is and what it is supposed to be, we will not be able to fix what is broken.

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