Short Writing assignment 2

In former congressman Lee Hamilton’s article, “The Case for Congress,” the author argues that the negative light in which congress is often viewed is unwarranted. Hamilton agrees with another historian, quoted in the article as saying, “Congress, for all its faults, has not been the unbroken parade of clowns and thieves and posturing windbags so often portrayed. What should be spoken of more often, and more widely understood, are the great victories that have been won here, the decisions of courage and the visions achieved.” This quote seems to paraphrase Hamilton’s opinions on the issue of whether or not the American people trust congress, and whether or not they should.
It is easy to see why Hamilton holds this opinion since during his 34 years of service congress surely changed a great deal. And as Hamilton says, at the start of his service, congressmen could easily accept “lavish gifts from special interests,” or “convert their campaign contributions to personal use.” However, he says that in our present age, no such actions would be tolerated, and he argues that the majority of opinions about congressmen held by citizens are formed by misjudgment or misinformation.
While Hamilton seems to think that public perception of the campaign finance situation in the capitol to be “overstated,” he does admit that campaign finance is in need of reform. His argument is not especially urgent, and he calls the problem a “slow-motion” crisis, yet he agrees that the crisis is slowly eroding public trust and confidence in congress, which he may have implied was just as bad as the issue of the corruption itself.
However, he feels that lobbying does not present as big a problem as the media and public attention make it out to be. He makes a case both for and against lobbying, as it were. He feels that when the public is not paying attention to lobbying groups, when the special interests get congressmen behind closed doors, that’s when little lines are inserted into tax bills, or when language gets altered slightly. Yet he does not feel that lobbyists are negatively impacting our country by any means. As he said in the article, “Lobbying is a key element of the legislative process-part of the freedom of speech guaranteed under the constitution. At its heart, lobbying is simply people banding together to advance their interests, whether they’re farmers or environmentalists or bankers.”
It is essential that people trust their congressmen. Yet, as we have mentioned in class, most citizens tend to support their congressman, while decrying congress as a whole. So when taking public opinion of congress holistically, of course it will seem as though the level of trust between the people and the institution is a little low. Hamilton argues that “When people are upset about congress, their distress undermines public confidence in government and fosters cynicism and disengagement.” I would elaborate to say that this disengagement leads to more lawlessness and less voting. These two things mean that our country is becoming less like an ideal democracy, which almost everyone in our country would agree is a bad thing.