The Beltway Bible

Book excerpt: Every American’s owner’s manual for Washington D.C., our functionally dysfunctional seat of government. How is legislation crafted? How do you lose an election? What do “bundler,” “quorum call” and “omnibus” mean? Why do some of the White House’s most important meetings occur at a Starbucks? Why are Washington insiders obsessed with something called Jumbo Slice? What, exactly, is a “skintern?” Eliot Nelson, one of Washington’s funniest and most admired young journalists, knows how the sausage factory works and The Beltway Bible is every citizen's must-have owner’s manual. Arranged from A to Z, The Beltway Bible provides an insider's perspective of politics and government, breaking down both into easily-digested entries on subjects like how legislation is formed, the scope of the president’s power, and an overview of federal agencies. Nelson also looks at D.C.'s less-well-known power structures: the internal pecking order of White House aides, the high school cafeteria power struggles behind party invites and the petty congressional arguments over how highway on-ramps are named. The Beltway Bible makes our complex government accessible in a way that will please everyone from Jon Stewart to John Doe.