When the Senate Worked for us : : the Invisible Role of Staffers in Countering Corporate Lobbies

Locations
Call Number: 373.73 Pe
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	373.73 Pe	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Introduction -- An accidental bumblebee -- Jerry and Maggie -- A bumblebee's choice -- A triumph of passionate truth over power -- Hi-gh spirits and high gear -- Jerry's juggernaut -- Colonizing the bumblebees -- The flights of the bumblebees -- Finishing unfinished business : with bumblebee guile -- Advise and dissent -- Pushing the boundaries -- Pushing open the closed door -- Time to move on.
Every politically sentient American knows that Congress has been dominated by special interests, and many people do not remember a time when Congress legislated in the public interest. In the 1960s and '70s, however, lobbyists were aggressive but were countered by progressive senators and representatives, as several books have documented. What has remained untold is the major behind-the-scenes contribution of entrepreneurial Congressional staff, who planted the seeds of public interest bills in their bosses' minds and maneuvered to counteract the influence of lobbyists to pass laws in consumer protection, public health, and other policy arenas crying out for effective government regulation. They infuriated Nixon's advisor, John Ehrlichman, who called them "bumblebees," a name they wore as a badge of honor. For his insider account, Pertschuk draws on many interviews, as well as his fifteen years serving on the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee that Senator Warren Magnuson chaired and as the committee's Democratic Staff Director. That committee became, in Ralph Nader's words, "the Grand Central Station for consumer protection advocates."

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

CHOICE Review
Summary / Annotation
Table of Contents
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

No community reviews. Write one below!