About this item
Bill Bryson meets Thomas Frank in the true story of how power-hungry politicians broke American democracy -- and why fixing it is easier than you think -- from the New York Times bestselling author of Thanks, ObamaHere's something true for almost every American. The democracy you live in today is different - completely different - than the democracy you were born into.Since 1980, the number of Americans legally barred from voting has more than doubled. Since the 1990s, your odds of living in a competitive Congressional district have fallen by more than half. In the twenty-first century alone, the amount of money spent on Washington lobbying has increased by more than 100 percent. Meanwhile, new rules in Congress make passing new bills nearly impossible, no matter how popular or bipartisan they are.
About the Author
In 2011, at 24 years old, David Litt was hired as a White House speechwriter. For the next four and a half years, he wrote speeches for President Obama. Along with remarks for policy addresses and political rallies, he was the lead writer on four White House Correspondents' Dinners, the so-called "State of the Union of jokes." His 2017 memoir, "Thanks, Obama: My Hopey Changey White House Years" was a New York Times bestseller. His writing has appeared in print and online for the New York Times, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, GQ, and The Onion, and he was the head writer for Funny Or Die DC through the 2018 midterm elections. David lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Jacqui, and their cats, Harry and Maisie.
