The Waxman Report
by Henry A. Waxman · first published 2009
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At a time when some of the most sweeping national initiatives in decades are being debated, Congressman Henry Waxman offers a fascinating inside account of how Congress really works by describing the subtleties and complexities of the legislative process. For four decades, Waxman has taken visionary and principled positions on crucial issues and been a driving force for change. Because of legislation he helped champion, our air is cleaner, our food is safer, and our medical care better. Thanks to his work as a top watchdog in Congress, crucial steps have been taken to curb abuses on Wall Stre
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That stigma started with the parents of teenagers, who committed suicide while taking steroids, appealing to their congressman. Prior to reading The Waxman Report, I had no idea what the fuss was about. http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-steroids-era https://www.amazon.com/Waxman-Report-Congress-Really-Works/d...
on “Taking meldonium for performance enhancement” ↗"Albany is where good legislation goes to die." -- Quote from a personal friend It's takes decades to change policy, enact legislation. A very readable intro is the Waxman Report. https://www.amazon.com/Waxman-Report-Congress-Really-Works/d... My unsolicited advice is: - Convert this outrage into action. Do fund raising. - Set up an organization that can run a marathon. Burnout…
on “NY Sabotages Right to Repair Bill” ↗…sustained years long local action, eg me and 100 of my friends camping in my Senator's or Representative's office. Ditto probably 40 other local groups. Hard to pull off. Sen. Henry Waxman's book The Waxman Report relates how his office has worked on some issues for decades, what it takes to move the needle. Very pragmatic, so in a way very optimistic. I'm currently chewing through The Politics of Attention, which…
on “Gitmo Is Killing Me” ↗…then eventually victory. Think of any major, significant social progress. Emancipation, suffrage, welfare, worker safety, child labor, etc. etc. Each decades in the making. I encourage you to read The Waxman Report by former US Sen Henry Waxman to get a sense of how much effort and time it takes to forge policy, move the needle. Continue to disempower yourself thru cynicism, apathy, and inaction. Or follow the…
on “Google endorses the Trans-Pacific Partnership” ↗Realist. I encourage you to read the book The Waxman Report, to better understand how policy and legislation are forged. It's a lightweight, layperson intro. TLDR: It takes decades to research, build support, reach consensus. And then big changes apparently happen…
on “When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests” ↗re steroids I thought it was a lot of fuss over nothing, eg baseball players juicing, until I read The Waxman Report by former Sen Henry Waxman. I learned that steroids were a serious problem for teenagers and other aspirants, leading to health problems, and occasionally suicide. Sen Waxman's own intro to the issue…
on “A Phone Company Run by Drug Traffickers” ↗…spend political capital. Everything else is in response to public debate. -- I collect books about policy and law making. So much free advice! A really good starting point is Rep. Henry Waxman's The Waxman Report. It'll give you a taste of one person's experience.
on “Show HN: A Political Non-Profit to End Mass Surveillance” ↗…originally introduced H.R.3562 aka the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. It's wild to think that the mandating of nutrition labels is only 34 years old. I can recommend his biography The Waxman Report which talks about this and other types of legislation that are taken for granted in daily life.
on “Costco’s butter recall, explained” ↗Former US Rep Henry Waxman explains in his book The Waxman Report how Congress used to work, where coalitions were often formed around issues, interests. There are many other accounts, giving different perspectives, of course. The Politics of Attention and Unorthodox…
on “Gerrymandering with geographically compact districts” ↗