| "Because
this book's goal is to save the taxpayers from projects that
squander public money while adding little if anything to military
strength, it deserves a wide readership. I hope it changes
national policy."
— James Fallows, The Atlantic
"No member
of Congress, regardless of party, will like what he reveals,
but none of them will be able to say that he doesn’t
know what he’s talking about.”
— Lawrence Korb, Assistant Secretary of Defense, 1981-1985
"A true defense
budget expert, tells how and why you are getting gypped in
this must read book.”
—George C. Wilson, defense writer for National Journal
and formerly for the Washington Post
"...should
be required reading for every member of the House and Senate,
though it may be impossible to shame the shameless.”
— Jeffrey Record, former professional staff member,
Senate Armed Services Committee
In this damning exposé, a veteran senate defense advisor
argues that since Sept. 11, 2001, the conduct of the U.S.
Congress has sunk to new depths and endangered the nation’s
security. Winslow Wheeler draws on three decades of work with
four prominent senators to tell in lively detail how members
of Congress divert money from essential warfighting accounts
to pay for pork in their home states, cook the budget books
to pursue personal agendas, and run for cover when confronted
with tough defense issues. With meticulous documentation to
support his claims, he contends that this behavior is not
confined to one party or one political philosophy. He further
contends that senators who sell themselves as reformers and
journalists covering Capitol Hill are simply not doing their
jobs.
Pork is far from
a new phenomenon in Washington, yet most Americans fail to
understand its serious consequences. Wheeler knows the harm
it does and challenges citizens to take action against lawmakers
pretending to serve the public trust while sending home the
bacon. Dubbed a “Hill Deep Throat” who participated
in the game he now criticizes, he fills his book with evidence
of Congressional wrongdoing, naming names and citing specific
examples. Pointing to the extremes that have become routine
in the legislative process, he focuses on defense appropriations
and Congress’s willingness to load down defense bills
with pork, in some cases with the Pentagon’s help. On
the question of deciding war, he accuses today’s members
of Congress of lacking the character of their predecessors,
often positioning themselves on both sides of the question
of war against Iraq without probing the administration’s
justifications. Wheeler concludes with a model for reform
that he calls twelve not-so-easy steps to a sober Congress.
Winslow T. Wheeler worked on national security
issues for members of the U.S. Senate and the General Accounting
Office for thirty-one years. He is the only senate staffer
to have worked simultaneously on the personal staffs of a
Republican and a Democrat. In 2002 he was pressured to resign
from his position with the Senate Budget Committee because
of an essay he wrote, under the pen name Spartacus, criticizing
Congress’s reaction to 9/11. He is now a Visiting Senior
Fellow at the Center for Defense Information.
|
