CLUB FED

In Club Fed Bill Thomas, former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, uncovers in uproarious fashion exactly how and why the work of Congress - barely - gets done. He laces his knowing dissection of the Hill with invaluable insights into the legislative business of Congress: how bills get written - and how lobbyists, it seems, write most of them; how a bill is passed - and who gets the favors; how a congressman campaigns for reelection - from day one, and with money controlled by more powerful congressmen; and how Capitol Hill reporters carefully avoid the real news. Since Washington, D.C., was founded in 1800, Capitol Hill has always been the worst possible neighborhood, both inside and outside the Capitol itself. It is still a dangerous area, where the murder rate rivals the South Bronx and the only people exempt from passing through metal detectors upon entering the Capitol are the members themselves.