A01=Karen Kunz
A01=Stavros Atsas
Author_Karen Kunz
Author_Stavros Atsas
Category=JPQ
Category=KCBM
Congressional Appropriations
Congressional Budget Office
Congressional Research Service
Congressional Spending
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
General Accountability Office
Legislative Branch Appropriations
Library of Congress
U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
Product details
- ISBN 9781440858000
- Weight: 652g
- Dimensions: 156 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 17 Jun 2022
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Congressional ratings have fallen to single digits; citizens believe that Congress fails to do the things its members are publicly paid to do. What does Congress do for our dollars, and how has that changed in the last 50 years?
What was the cost to taxpayers for Bill Clinton's impeachment hearings? What about the Benghazi investigation and efforts to obtain the votes required to repeal Obamacare while failing to consider Zika virus funding bills? What is the true cost of earmarks? Why do Congress members continue to get paid during government shutdowns?
Congress's increasing use of continuing resolutions and agencies' almost semiannual preparations for government shutdowns come at a significant cost. Combining extensive documentary research with interviews of current and former members and staffers, The Cost of Congress assesses not only how Congress spends tax dollars on its operations but also what Americans receive for those dollars.
Kunz and Atsas assign dollar values, using federal data, to congressional practices and policies. They examine the costs of producing legislation, court challenges, and Supreme Court reversals. They also look at the costs of committee and special investigations, committee assignments, staffing and facilities, and such perks as the gym, meals, and franking. Readers—taxpayers from all walks of life—will come away with a comprehensive view of the costs of operating Congress.
Karen Kunz is Associate Professor of Public Administration at West Virginia University, USA.
Stavros Atsas is a doctoral student in the Research, Measurement & Statistics program at Kent State University, USA.
