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

When the Senate Worked for Us: The Invisible Role of Staffers in Countering Corporate LobbiesEvery 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

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.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Published: 09/26/2017
ISBN: 9780826521668
Pages: 232
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.20w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Choice 06/01/2018