lobbyists exploit this weak link

Congressional hearings are supposed to have a high purpose.

That hearings have degraded so egregiously is indeed troubling. Yet to really understand the problem, one must place hearings within the context of the larger issue of how Congress informs itself about the issues of the day and uses that information to create policy. In that context, the Congress of today is doing both better and worse than the Congresses of before.

“An honest politician,” he declared, “is one who when he is bought, stays bought.”