Laziness and greed: a fatal combination, unless you're in Congress

While it is easy to blame this or that political party for the current culture of corruption in Congress, Bruce Bartlett here argues that in fact it is fundamental changes over the last 30 years to the way that Congress had historically conducted businesses in committee that fostered the current environment wherein non-elected agents like Abromoff can use money to exercise undue influence over the creation and passage of legislation. According to Bartlett, changes in procedural policy within congress have stripped committees of their power to thoroughly formulate and consider complex legislation and have shifted that power to lobbyists and other outside agents. One now often hears about a "lazy" congress that allows lobbyists and their lawyers to do the heavy lifting on policy while the congress members and their aides focus on horse trading, traveling on lobbyist-paid junkets and obtaining contributions and other perks from the lobbyists, and positioning themselves for lucrative jobs on K street after their time in Congress is over. If Bartlett's assumptions are true, is there any possible way to fix the system by giving back to committees their power to shape and vet legislation and making a career in congress a lifelong endeavor, or is the new way of doing business a permanent regime going forward? And does either party have the political fortitude to make the necessary draconian changes? The Iconoclast has his doubts.