One of my all time favorite books. Don't care where Mr. O'Rouke is on the political spectrum, he has always entertained and informed me.

Highlights: the chapter called 'Would You Kill Your Mother to Pave I-95' about the budget. And one low-hanging fruit: on agricultural policy:

"I spent two and a half years examing the American political process. All that time I was looking for a straightforward issue. But everything I investigated--election campaigns, the budget, lawmaking, the court system, bureaucracy, social policy--turned out to be more complicated than I had thought. There were always angles I hadn't considered, aspects I hadn't weighed, complexities I'd never dreamed of. Until I got to agriculture. Here at last is a simple problem with a simple solution. Drag the omnibus farm bill behind the barn, and kill it with an ax." ( )

O'Rourke tells it like it is (except that it has gotten even worse since he wrote this book). This would be funnier if it weren't so depressing. ( )

This is the most devastating critique of government since H.L. Mencken, although O'Rourke is short on constructive solutions to most of the problems he exposes.
O'Rourke spent considerable time following around an unnamed congressman. O'Rourke, quite correctly, argues we get a bargain for our money. The average congressman has a budget of around $550,000 for staff, salaries, and expenses. That works out to only about $1.00 per taxpayer in his district. That's pretty cheap considering all the gripes and whining he/she has to listen to for a living. The congressman has a staff of 9 employees. There aren't many businesses serving 600,000 that could survive with that small a staff, and the congressman makes far less than a "shortstop hitting .197."
A few more O'Rourkisms: "The Graham-Hollings bill [deficit reduction act was like trying to stop smoking by hiding cigarettes from yourself and then leaving a note in your pocket telling you where they are." His description of journalism: "Trying to find hair in a bowl of dough." He leaves us with the reflection that government may be a parliament of whores, but "in a democracy the whores are us. ( )

Now, it should go without saying that government is about more than dollars and cents. It is also about arrogance, stupidity, vanity, and the corruption of good intentions. (xxi - from the Foreword to the 2003 edition by Andy Ferguson)

I'm not sure I learned anything except that giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. (xxiv - from the Preface)

I would be hard pressed not to enjoy a book with section headings such as, "OUR GOVERNMENT: What the Fuck Do They Do All Day And Why Does It Cost So Goddamned Much Money?" ( )