John Boehner, 61st Speaker of the United States House of Committees.

Following this month's midterm elections, the predictions and opinions about what is to come of it are rolling out like Model Ts from Highland Park. This piece by Bruce Bartlett is interesting because of its relevance to our discussion about the Committee System.

Bartlett highlights the prominence of the Committee System in lawmaking and sees it as coming very much to the forefront under new republican leadership - especially as opposed to its diminished role under Newt Gingrich's Republican congress. He does not think that House Minority Leader John Boehner (should he be elected Speaker in January) will be able to be as heavy handed as Gingrich was when he took much of the Committee System's clout after powering the Republicans to victory with his unique strategy.

Bartlett further offers this resurgence of the Committees as one in a series of reasons to fear for the real effectiveness of the newly elected legislators. This is a legitimate concern whenever different parties hold the executive and legislative branches, but Bartlett sees the enthusiasm of republican Committee Chairs-to-be as but one of a several issues specific to the 112th Congress. As we have learned, an increase in the strength of the Committee System will help congressman to serve their own and their electorate's interests and therefore gain re-election. It is however, as Bartlett proposes, unlikely to help the Republican Majority as a whole really take control and accomplish what it sets out to.