In Political Crosshairs, Staff That Saves Congress: Ezra Klein

Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- As you have no doubt heard by now,the supercommittee failed. So did the Obama-Boehner negotiationsthat preceded it, and the Biden-Cantor negotiations thatpreceded that. Those efforts failed because the principals --and the political bases they represent -- couldn’t come to anagreement. What chance they did have was almost entirely becauseof the staff scurrying in the background.

The idea that a handful of politicians, few of whom haveany formal background in economics or budget analysis, were theones doing the heavy policy lifting, is laughable. They’re inthe room to make the final decisions. In some cases, they’rethere to show that they and their party are taking thenegotiations seriously. It’s common to hear stories of boredlegislators tapping their feet through these sessions likeschoolchildren waiting to be released for recess.