Books about Congress from Amazon.com

Here are the facts:

The United States has released 425 terrorists from Guantánamo, at least 50 of whom have returned to the battlefield to fight our troops.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both say they're fiscally responsible. But each has called for $1 trillion in tax increases over the next ten years—and dressed them up as tax cuts!

Mainstream Media has been given marching orders from the Society of Professional Journalists: never refer to "Islamic terrorists" or "Muslim terrorists." And they are obeying! Whenever our brave agents disrupt a terror plot, The media dismisses the culprits as a gang of idiots—lulling us into a false sense of security.

If the liberals win the 2008 election, they will cripple talk radio—forcing stations to give equal time to left-wing programs, and insisting that liberals play a key role in station management.

Up to a quarter of all state pension funds in the United States are invested in companies that are helping Iran, Syria, North Korea, or the Sudan—for a total of nearly $200 billion.

The Do-Nothing Congress is still doing nothing—and the worst offenders are the presidential candidates Clinton, Obama, and McCain, who never show up for their day jobs as senators . . . except to pick up their $165,000 paycheck!

Is it any wonder that Americans feel fleeced at every turn?

As more and more critical problems develop that need national attention, the White House and Congress appear to be AWOL.

Who's calling the shots instead?

Big business, big government, big labor, and big lobbyists. And their self-serving agendas are doing nothing to help the ever-increasing number of American people who are losing their homes, paying credit card interest rates higher than 25 percent, and finding their jobs increasingly outsourced to foreign countries.

In this hard-hitting call to arms, Dick Morris and Eileen McGann reveal the hundreds of ways American tax-payers are routinely fleeced—by our own government; by foreign countries like Dubai that are gobbling up American interests and spending millions to influence government decisions and American public opinion; by Washington lobbying firms that are pushing the agendas of corrupt foreign dictators on Capitol Hill; and by hedge-fund billionaires collecting huge tax breaks courtesy of the IRS.

With their characteristic blend of sharp analysis and insider insight, Morris and McGann call offenders of all kinds on the carpet—and offer practical agendas we all can follow to help turn the tide.

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Price: $14.79 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $4.69 [Notify me when price goes down.]

An intellectual dialogue of the highest plane achieved in America, the correspondence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson spanned half a century and embraced government, philosophy, religion, quotidiana, and family griefs and joys. First meeting as delegates to the Continental Congress in 1775, they initiated correspondence in 1777, negotiated jointly as ministers in Europe in the 1780s, and served the early Republic—each, ultimately, in its highest office. At Jefferson's defeat of Adams for the presidency in 1800, they became estranged, and the correspondence lapses from 1801 to 1812, then is renewed until the death of both in 1826, fifty years to the day after the Declaration of Independence.

Lester J. Cappon's edition, first published in 1959 in two volumes, provides the complete correspondence between these two men and includes the correspondence between Abigail Adams and Jefferson. Many of these letters have been published in no other modern edition, nor does any other edition devote itself exclusively to the exchange between Jefferson and the Adamses. Introduction, headnotes, and footnotes inform the reader without interrupting the speakers. This reissue of The Adams-Jefferson Letters in a one-volume unabridged edition brings to a broader audience one of the monuments of American scholarship and, to quote C. Vann Woodward, 'a major treasure of national literature.'.
Price: $18.68 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Reconstruction was a time of idealism and sweeping change, as the victorious Union created citizenship rights for the freed slaves and granted the vote to black men. Sixteen black Southerners, elected to the U.S. Congress, arrived in Washington to advocate reforms such as public education, equal rights, land distribution, and the suppression of the Ku Klux Klan.

But these men faced astounding odds. They were belittled as corrupt and inadequate by their white political opponents, who used legislative trickery, libel, bribery, and the brutal intimidation of their constituents to rob them of their base of support. Despite their status as congressmen, they were made to endure the worst humiliations of racial prejudice. And they have been largely forgotten—often neglected or maligned by standard histories of the period.

In this beautifully written book, Philip Dray reclaims their story. Drawing on archival documents, contemporary news accounts, and congressional records, he shows how the efforts of black Americans revealed their political perceptiveness and readiness to serve as voters, citizens, and elected officials.

We meet men like the war hero Robert Smalls of South Carolina (who had stolen a Confederate vessel and delivered it to the Union navy), Robert Brown Elliott (who bested the former vice president of the Confederacy in a stormy debate on the House floor), and the distinguished former slave Blanche K. Bruce (who was said to possess "the manners of a Chesterfield"). As Dray demonstrates, these men were eloquent, creative, and often effective representatives who, as support for Reconstruction faded, were undone by the forces of Southern reaction and Northern indifference.

In a grand narrative that traces the promising yet tragic arc of Reconstruction, Dray follows these black representatives' struggles, from the Emancipation Proclamation to the onset of Jim Crow, as they fought for social justice and helped realize the promise of a new nation..
Price: $17.30 [Notify me when price goes down.]

CARTOGRAPHIA offers a stunning array of 200 of the most beautiful, important, and fascinating maps in existence, from the world's largest cartographic collection, at the Library of Congress These maps show how our idea of the world has shifted and grown over time, and each map tells its own unique story about nations, politics, and ambitions. The chosen images, with their accompanying stories, introduce the reader to an exciting new way of "reading" maps as travelogues---living history from the earliest of man's imaginings about planet earth to our current attempts at charting cyberspace.


Among the rare gems included in the book are the Waldseemuller Map of the World from 1507, the first to include the designation "America"; pages from the Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of 1570, considered the first modern atlas; rare maps from Africa, Asia, and Oceania that challenge traditional Western perspectives; William Faulkner's hand-drawn 1936 map of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi; and even a map of the Human Genome. In an oversized format, with gorgeous four-color reproductions throughout, Catrographia will appeal to collectors, historians, and anyone looking for a perfect gift..
Price: $31.71 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The tension between Congress as a lawmaking institution and Congress as a collection of re-election-minded politicians has proven to be a powerful and effective way to understand Congress and the legislative process. Over nine editions, thousands of students have benefited from Davidson and Oleszek's tightly organized framework, as well as from their engaging and vivid narrative. Helping students understand the institution's evolution, Congress and Its Members paints broad brush strokes, while effectively showing enough color and detail to ground students in important concepts.

Each chapter of the tenth edition will feature new analysis of the most recent and important scholarship. While the authors discuss the overall position and prospects for congressional government, they will include up-to-the-minute details on:

• the 2004 congressional elections and ongoing party realignment indicating Republican dominance for the foreseeable future;
• the state of campaign finance, including performance under the McCain-Feingold legislation;
• the majority leader's efforts to strengthen his powers and the role of the new Democratic leaders in challenging the GOP's agenda;
• party realignment from the standpoint of floor voting, including the decline of the middle;
• the consequences of war for the legislative branch and for the separation of powers, as well as reorganization due to homeland security and intelligence reform;
• the new rules for the 109th Congress, with the possibility of changes in the Senate's filibuster rule and unusual procedures to pass legislation;
• the outlook for a second term president and the role of the minority party in challenging an assertive White House;
• big government conservatism, new regulatory trends, the rules and tools for effective oversight, and the shadow government of contractors;
• legislative-judicial conflicts, including controversies in naming judges to the federal bench;
• the return of deficits, the growing use of earmarks, congressional budget reforms, and the conflict between discretionary versus entitlement spending.

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Price: $45.45 [Notify me when price goes down.]

En La audacia de la esperanza, el senador demócrata Barack Obama reclama una política diferente—una política para quienes están cansados del agrio partidismo, una política que se basa en la fe, la participación de todos y la nobleza de espíritu que es parte esencial de “nuestro improbable proyecto de democracia”.

En el corazón de este libro está la visión del senador Obama de cómo podemos superar nuestras divisiones para enfrentar los problemas concretos. Él examina la creciente inseguridad económica de las familias estadounidenses, las tensiones raciales y religiosas dentro del cuerpo político y las amenazas transnacionales—desde el terrorismo hasta las pandemias—que se congregan más allá de nuestras costas. En sus anécdotas acerca de su familia, amigos, miembros del Senado y hasta del presidente, existe un poderoso deseo de establecer conexiones: la plataforma de un consenso político radicalmente optimista.

Como senador y abogado, profesor y padre, cristiano y escéptico, y sobre todo como estudioso de la historia y de la naturaleza humana, el senador Obama ha escrito un libro de un poder transformador..
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A detailed blueprint for planning and executing special events with flair—and without unexpected surprises and expenses

Special events such as fundraising galas, conferences, and product launches are complicated, fraught with thousands of details, and have to come off without a hitch. This book gives readers practical advice on every aspect of organizing and managing special events, such as how to choose the best venue; preparing and managing the budget; scheduling; coordinating food and beverages; selecting decor, themes, and entertainment; media; and staffing.

Includes many forms, checklists, and tips for planning and managing events

• Features examples of events where things went right—and wrong
• Provides techniques to maximize savings and avoid surprises

Judy Allen (Toronto, Ontario) is President of Judy Allen Productions, a full-service event planning production company that designs, produces, and orchestrates special events worldwide. She is a speaker at industry conferences and a contributor to such publications as Meeting and Incentive Travel magazine and Toronto Special Events..
Price: $20.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]