Ripon Forum


Vol. 46, No. 2

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In this Edition

My last job on the Hill was for a Congressman who was elected as part of the GOP Class of ’94. I joined his staff in August of 1995 – well after the first 100 days that saw votes on every plank of the Contract with America, but still in the middle of the Republican Revolution. It […]

Lessons of Conventions Past

“As Mitt Romney looks for a running mate, the veteran newsman suggests he look to 1976 as an example of what, and what not, to do.”

Defusing the DEBT BOMB

In an adaptation from his new book, the Oklahoma Senator delivers a stern warning about America’s fiscal future.

The President’s Malaria Initiative: A Great (GOP) Success Story

A former U.S. Ambassador and Congressman, a current Senior Director at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition who says, “These days, we hear so much about government programs that don’t work. But we shouldn’t let these stories obscure what is working well.”

The Regulatory Stranglehold on Our Economy

The current deluge of regulations is diverting billions from business investment to complying with government dictates.

The Regulatory Assault on American Competiveness

“When ideology and politics interferes with rational science-based rulemaking, job-killing overregulation is the result.” A Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Creating Energy Solutions for a Strong, Secure and Sustainable Future

“We are seeing the emergence of new energy sources and innovations that can be the catalysts for a stronger, more secure and sustainable future. Unfortunately, after years of debate, the United States lacks a coherent national energy strategy that can put our country on a path toward economic growth, global competitiveness and environmental improvement.”

The Paradox We Face

A conversation in the grocery aisle about the price of bread and the intent of the Founding Fathers.

Reclaiming Our Future

“We have succeeded in changing the conversation in Washington from “how much can we spend” to “how much must we cut?” But before any progress is made in reclaiming our future, the policies that have made our economy worse have to be replaced.”

A Government Takeover and a Call to Act

The owner of an automobile dealership and representative of Pennsylvania’s 3rd District in the House. “If we are going to grow our economy, we need to shrink our government, repealing the overreaching and industry-threatening regulations that are building barriers to our economic recovery while burying us further into debt.”

Putting an End to Budget Gimmickry

The first term Congresswoman from Alabama discusses the bill she has introduced to restore accountability to the budgeting process. “Recent polls indicate that as few as one in ten Americans think Congress is doing a good job. The cause of that discontent is often rooted in a fundamental problem: the American people don’t trust what […]

Q&A with Arthur Brooks

The President of the American Enterprise Institute discusses his new book, The Road to Freedom, and the message it holds for today.

Ripon Profile of Dean Heller

The Senator from the State of Nevada discusses the challenges facing the people of his home state and what Washington should be doing to help them in their lives.

The Paradox We Face

A conversation in the grocery aisle about the price of bread and the intent of the Founding Fathers
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It’s a late Sunday afternoon in Florida. I’m standing in the checkout aisle at the grocery store – half-looking over the candy display, puzzling at the tabloids in front of me. A lady in line behind me leans in and says, “Excuse me, are you Rich Nugent?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry Congressman, but what on earth is so wrong with Washington that all of a sudden you people can’t get anything done at all?”

“Oh no,” I say to myself, my shoulders sinking a little. “I’ve got to explain the Senate one more time…”

As you’d probably expect, it’s a question that comes up a lot and it’s one I’ve thought about a lot over the last year and a half. Like many of my freshman colleagues, I came from a career outside of the legislature. I was an executive – the sheriff of Hernando County. When there were things that needed fixing – policies that needed to be changed – I was able to make the decision to move forward. I could, as my dad would say, “just get it done.”

But Congress is obviously a different animal, and “just getting it done” isn’t as straightforward as most people think. The dysfunction is, in many ways, both structural and inevitable.

Congress is obviously a different animal, and “just getting it done” isn’t as straightforward as most people think. The dysfunction is, in many ways, both structural and inevitable.

Our Founders created a system of government in which it would be very, very difficult to ever make a dramatic change. They did that on purpose. It was part of their genius — make a government that will work well generation after generation, but one that could probably never work too well. Stability, in short, was going to be key to both prosperity and freedom. A government that could change things on a whim would threaten both.

But now, the problem we face (and the frustration we feel) is that radical change is needed – and fast. It isn’t talked about much, but last year, the federal government paid over $200 billion in interest payments on the debt. By the end of 2014, that number will more than double to $550 billion (more than we’ve typically spent on Medicare). And by the end of the decade, interest payments on the debt will be approaching a trillion dollars annually. That’s going to compound, in no small way, the problems we’re already facing trying to find the resources necessary to meet our obligations and priorities.

And so we have a paradox that my friend in the grocery store may not have fully realized yet. We’re at one of those rare moments in our history where our system of government actually needs to work better than our Founders really intended it to. That’s not going to be easy. It isn’t supposed to be.

At the end of the day, all I can really tell my friend, after a year of seeing Congress up close, is that success ultimately hinges on our willingness (and hers) to take a risk and face the real challenges we’ve been avoiding all these years – all of them and unfortunately, all at once.

The only really good news to report that Sunday afternoon is that loaves of bread are on special – buy one, get one free.

Rich Nugent, who previously served as Sheriff of Hernando County, represents the 5th District of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives.