Potomac Fever, Symptoms and Cure, a review of the books "Breach of Trust" and "Armey's Axioms"

Wall Street Journal ^ | December 11, 2003 | JOHN FUND

[OESY]

A Republican Congress has just passed a prescription-drug benefit for seniors -- the largest expansion of an entitlement since the Great Society. The federal budget grew by more than $150 billion this year -- more than twice as much as any year under Bill Clinton -- and the deficit eclipsed $300 billion, a 10-year high. Two books by former GOP House members help explain how their party's 1994 small-government revolutionaries have helped turn the Contract With America into something that at times resembles a Contract for Re-Election.

[OESY]

Two veterans of Congress on power and politics... and what goes wrong.

[newgeezer]

Ping.

Here's another article to consider when deciding whether to vote next November.

[q_an_a]

the problem with armey is that he nver figured out another idea that would sell as well as the base closing program. so what he did was stab his mentor in the back. that is a good reason to want to buy his book...NOT!!

if his ideas are so good how come nobody is buying? today we celebrate the life and death of the great WSJ editor who did know how to sell and idea and he did not mind shouting in the wilderness. armey might have gotten a few things doen but he jsut shot offf his mouth.

[OESY]

Agreed. However good his axioms and book, Dick Armey's related problem was that he never figured out why he was so often an invited guest on the broadcast network talk shows, despite advice from his peers. He should have stayed off TV and been content with working his influence behind the scenes. Armey was not photogenic and usually not persuasive -- with his sleepy eyes -- and that's why his opponents loved to showcase him. Part of the responsibility of a leader is to understand one's strengths and weaknesses, and to respond appropriately.

[biblewonk]

This just shows that this "big experiment" we call America is nothing new under the sun after all. A lot of people sure thought this was a unique government.