Ticking time bombs

With the Rise of Newt Gingrich and a Republican-controlled Congress, a wide range of political time bombs have been set, threatening the American republic. People's living standards are stagnant and the political process offers no solutions; the rhetoric about a balanced budget by 2002 creates an environment in which public policymakers are more concerned with scrapping programs than with solving problems; and the degradation of the political process itself has led to increasing domination by big money interests, the decay of both parties, and further declines in voter participation. All of these time bombs are linked; if our political process can't sole real problems, democracy itself is discredited. Ticking Time Bombs gathers today's most distinguished authors from America's premier liberal journal, The American Prospect, to explain these problems, examine their long-term consequences, and offer solutions.