Defunct Agency Still Missed
Newt Gingrich's rise in the presidential polling has prompted at least one commentator to join an old chorus bemoaning the loss 15 years ago of an agency once revered on Capitol Hill. The Office of Technology Assessment from 1972 to 1995 provided Congress with nonpartisan scientific studies of the impact of policy options.
With the rise of alternative knowledge sources on the Internet looming, the new Republican majority saw fit to defund (not technically abolish) it as part of its Contract with America -- a rare instance of a federal agency actually going out of business.
In in a blast at Gingrich's "lobotomy of Congress" in the Huffington Post on Tuesday, Lorelei Kelly, director of a communications hub called the New Strategic Security Initiative, writes of a "legislative knowledge gap" that is "especially debilitating for issues that require context, forecasting and expert judgment. This is a significant problem in the modern world, where congressional actions have global implications, but members fail to connect the dots," she writes.
"Notable staff losses included the Arms Control and Foreign Policy Caucus, the Office of Technology Assessment, and the bipartisan Democratic Study Group, a rapid response team of researchers. Shared committee staffs were slashed. Many experts at the Congressional Research Service left."
Given the current budget crunch, more such cuts may be in the offing.
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Despite Gingrrich being gone from office, Democrats controlling both houses for a number of years after 1995, no sought to return this valuable office? Guess that's what the left does, blame the last guy in charge no matter how long ago they were around. With all the crys for jobs, shocked Nixon hasn't been blasted for closing all the East Coast Naval Shipyards.
Herb Posted Tuesday, November 29, 2011 3:18 PMHerb: Consider that although Newt has been out of office, since 1996, Republicans have been in control of the House of Representatives all except two years (2006-2008). Which is what has caused the nation so much trouble for a decade and a half now. No legislation gets passed out of the House that does not conform to pro-big business and the wealthy, anti-everything else Republican Party Line politics.
DrJEA Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2011 7:24 AMNote to Huffington Post writer Kelly: Another government agency will not stop some members of Congress from connecting the dots. For example, some members of Congress don't seem to yet comprehend that the federal government has a serious debt problem. Those would be the ones that the Huffington Post appreciates most. Liberals never met a government agency that they didn't love.
James Corbin Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2011 7:35 AMI agree, Herb. If it's gone and none of the Democratic following replaced it, was it that necessary in the first place? We all know that when there's a void, activities will be absorbed by some other agency. But I agree with Clark that some agencies will go. In my opinion, there are duplications of responsibilities across mutiple agencies.
PS: The Huffington Post is one of the most liberal medias around that bashes conservatives of all flavors just because they don’t agree with the Huffington Post's viewpoint.
Suz Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2011 8:00 AMAnd I should be surprised that Republicans abolished a source of bi-partisan scientific studies? The last things those tea baggers want is knowledge being thrown around! They just want to toss out sound bites and not have to worry about global warming, industrial pollution and other nasty "truth" stuff like that. Their voter base could care less about facts - they just want candidates who spout the "less taxes, more guns" mantra. If Republicans cared about knowledge, they never would have nominated dimwit candidates like Palin or "W"!!
True Blue Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2011 8:49 AMTrue Blue, Bi-partison? There is no such thing as the Super Committee proved. I am a conservative and I never nominated Palin or McCain for anything including dogcatcher. The last Democrat that had any sense of responsibility to this country quit in disgust (Zell Miller in Georgia). The Democrats do not care about what is best for the country, but what is best for the "party". As for supporting big business, President Obama has done the same thing - the big business bailouts. President Obama has played to all sides and the whole scheme has gone up in smoke.
mh Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2011 11:04 AM