When a crooked used car salesman invents a perpetual motion machine he is thrown into Science Prison and incarcerated, along with various other inmates who have violated scientific laws; kept in place to prevent such inventions from destroying the economy. In Science Prison our car salesman meets a colorful assortment of other inmates including: a New York model who's been rendered invisible from swallowing a new kind of vanishing cream; two bank robbers that invented a time machine; and a 50,000-mile tall clown from outer space, who's been shrunk down to size. Other inmates in the prison include a 40,000-year-old man who was jailed back in 1910 by terrified doctors; a monk who tried and failed to build a perpetual motion machine, but wanted to go to the prison anyway to meet secret "celebrities"; and Saddam Hussein, who's been jailed for being in two places at the same time. Eventually this misfit band of scientific criminals formulates an escape, only to be pursued by a detective who bears a strong resemblance to Peter Falk's Columbo. Will they get away with it? Find out when What is the Government Doing Now? reaches its dramatic and humorous crescendo.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

A compendium of the most ridiculous examples of Congress's pork-barrel spending.

American government is in the midst of a reputation crisis. An overwhelming majority of citizens—Republicans and Democrats alike—hold negative perceptions of the government and believe it is wasteful, inefficient, and doing a generally poor job managing public programs and providing public services. When social problems arise, Americans are therefore skeptical that the government has the ability to respond effectively. It’s a serious problem, argues Amy E. Lerman, and it will not be a simple one to fix. With Good Enough for Government Work, Lerman uses surveys, experiments, and public opinion data to argue persuasively that the reputation of government is itself an impediment to government’s ability to achieve the common good. In addition to improving its efficiency and effectiveness, government therefore has an equally critical task: countering the belief that the public sector is mired in incompetence. Lerman takes readers through the main challenges. Negative perceptions are highly resistant to change, she shows, because we tend to perceive the world in a way that confirms our negative stereotypes of government—even in the face of new information. Those who hold particularly negative perceptions also begin to “opt out” in favor of private alternatives, such as sending their children to private schools, living in gated communities, and refusing to participate in public health insurance programs. When sufficient numbers of people opt out of public services, the result can be a decline in the objective quality of public provision. In this way, citizens’ beliefs about government can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy, with consequences for all. Lerman concludes with practical solutions for how the government might improve its reputation and roll back current efforts to eliminate or privatize even some of the most critical public services.

The Committee on House Administration is pleased to present this revised book on our United States Government. This publication continues to be a popular introductory guide for American citizens and those of other countries who seek a greater understanding of our heritage of democracy. The question-and-answer format covers a broad range of topics dealing with the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of our Government as well as the electoral process and the role of political parties.--Foreword.