Right Books

■ The Open Spigot: In a snappy little book (The Culture of Spending: Why Congress Lives Beyond Our Means, Institute for Contemporary Studies, 225 pp., $24.95), James L. Payne offers a simple theory that challenges a familiar conservative assumption.

Why does Congress spend so much? Most of us think our re-elected representatives calculate the odds and conclude that they’ll get more votes on election day if they habitually bribe large blocs of voters with goodies.

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■ The Open Spigot: In a snappy little book (The Culture of Spending: Why Congress Lives Beyond Our Means, Institute for Contemporary Studies, 225 pp., $24.95), James L. Payne offers a simple theory that challenges a familiar conservative assumption.

Why does Congress spend so much? Most of us think our re-elected representatives calculate the odds and conclude that they’ll get more votes on election day if they habitually bribe large blocs of voters with goodies.