The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted

There was a time when perfectly rational people with a grasp of economics and foreign policy controlled the GOP. So what happened? How did the party of Lincoln become the party of lunatics? That is what this book aims to answer. Fear not, the Dems come in for their share of tough talk - they are timid shadow of Jefferson and FDR. Mike Lofgren was once a proud Republican. In the early eighties, he came from Ohio for what he thought would be a short stint on Capitol Hill. Last summer he finally stepped down, exasperated by the circus of the debt-ceiling debate. He channelled his frustration into an incisive indictment of Washington, which was posted on Truthout and read by millions. The Party Is Over is a rousing manifesto for the growing number of Americans who are disgusted with politics and fed up with the pandering to corporate interests. Money has corroded Washington so completely that banks, defense contractors, and multinationals routinely shoehorn their corporate wish lists into every bill, and it is virtually impossible to get anything done. Lofgren is a refreshingly skeptical insider who understands how the system works, and knows its dirty secrets. He offers clear suggestions for how to break through the gridlock; let's hope there are enough grownups left in Washington to listen.