Making Washington Work - Reforming the Federal Government and the Ways Washington Does Business

The presidential campaign has achieved unanimity among all of the candidates – both Republican and Democrats – and among virtually all of the voters – including independents. Almost everyone agrees that “Washington is broken.” Every candidate wants to bring “change,” and a deciding issue seems to be whose background, experience and skills can best achieve that “change.”

Washington is broken. Civic debate has become uncivil invective; analysis has been displaced by ideology; and vital public issues are not solved, but rather stored for future partisan use. Our political system has not addressed the rising public debt, ballooning and crippling health-care costs, a looming Social Security shortfall, and serious energy and environmental problems. Efforts to deal with our educational system are woefully inadequate. If our political system cannot confront these visible challenges, where will it find the reserves of comity and trust to face the unknown crisis that can erupt at any time? (read more)

CED has provided a strong business voice for protecting the integrity of our democratic institutions. Over the years, CED studies calling for an overhaul of our federal campaign finance system and state judicial selection reform addressed the corrupting influences of big money in our electoral process.

Before the recent lobbying scandals on Capitol Hill, CED Trustees began discussions on ways to improve governance and policy making. CED’s leadership began a major project, “Making Washington Work,” designed to study the problems that are impacting public policy on Capitol Hill and in the Administration. As the 110th Congress was sworn in on January 4, 2007, CED released the latest statements from the Making Washington Work Subcommittee. You can read two statements from the subcommittee – one focused on lobbying reform, the other on reducing earmarks in the legislative process – by clicking on the links below. Also below are a summary press release and an ad CED placed in Roll Call newspaper on January 4th.

CED has released two statements from its Making Washington Work Subcommittee. The statements were released at a Washington, D.C. luncheon forum on November 9, 2006, just two days after the national mid-term election. The first statement lays out the principles guiding the Subcommittee and the second offers recommendations aimed at improving the legislative process in the U.S. Congress. The statement of principles was created by a steering committee acting on behalf of 82 CED Trustees, announcing the formation of a task force that will engage in a yearlong effort to understand why the political process in Washington, D.C. is failing and to propose and advocate policies and/or laws that can make the system work. The legislative process recommendations are timely as the new Congress begins to organize. CED will follow with substantitive recommendations in the other issue areas identified by the Subcommittee in the coming months. To read the “Making Washington Work” Statement of Principles and list of endorsers, click here. To read the Legislative Process Recommendations, click here.

"Making Washington Work" will be one of the most significant projects in the 65-year history of CED.

The statement, and the results of the 2006 election, were the main topics discussed by a distinguished panel at the luncheon forum held at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Washington, D.C.