Articles filed under Hamilton, Lee

• The invisible lawmakers May 26, 2013 12:00 AM
  Guest columnist Lee Hamilton: Want to know what's causing a lot of people in Washington to work long hours right now? Here's a hint: it's not immigration reform or gun control or, for that matter, any other legislation coming down the pike. Instead, it's a pair of three-year-old laws.
  

   

• How politics has changed May 3, 2013 12:00 AM
  Columnist Lee Hamilton: It's not just the sheer proliferation and aggressiveness of the media that have ratcheted up the intensity of political life. Almost every facet of politics is more complicated and hard-edged. Voters want instant results. Consultants are everywhere. Lobbyists have multiplied and become immeasurably sophisticated at finding ways to get what they want.
  

   

• Tired of budget shenanigans? Here’s an answer Apr 18, 2013 12:00 AM
  Columnist Lee Hamilton: Too often in the past, members of Congress have sought some automatic budget mechanism — a balanced-budget amendment, say, or budget caps — to solve their problems. Mostly, these have been a way to avoid the hard choices required by the regular order. In the end, there's no substitute for experience, knowledge, hard work, compromise and a resolve to seek solutions.
  

   

• Congress falls short on national security Mar 24, 2013 12:00 AM
  Columnist Lee Hamilton: Our Constitution gives Congress strong levers for dealing with foreign policy. It has oversight of the executive branch, and can hold hearings and demand information. It has the power of the purse, and with it the ability to explore key issues of behavior and policy before approving the budget. It has the power to declare war, and to raise and maintain an army and navy. Yet for the most part, Congress prefers deference to executive power.
  

   

• Where our government’s money goes Mar 10, 2013 12:00 AM
  Guest columnist Lee Hamilton: As painful as the sequester might be, most policy makers know that it is not the main event when it comes to our fiscal challenges. Discretionary spending, the kind getting cut in the sequester, amounts to less than a third of federal spending.
  

   

• What’s ahead in Congress this year Feb 25, 2013 12:00 AM
  
  

   
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  A debate we never can resolve Feb 10, 2013 12:00 AM
  Guest columnist Lee Hamilton: It is high time, I believe, to set aside the black-and-white argument about "big vs. small" government and to adopt a more thoughtful, less ideological approach to the role of government. For those things we want government to do, we should be talking about how a limited government can do them better.
  

   

• Some suggestions for improving Congress Jan 27, 2013 12:00 AM
  Guest columnist Lee Hamilton: People don't go to Washington because they want to accomplish nothing. Rather, they get caught in a destructive cycle whose dynamics are often shaped by political forces out of their control