Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives
Cover of Do Not Ask What Good We Do
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| Author | Robert Draper |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Free Press |
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Publication date
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April 24, 2012 |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | |
Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives is a 2012 book by the author Robert Draper and published by Free Press. It details the activities of Republicans and Democrats in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate during the first term of Barack Obama's presidency. The book was republished under the title When the Tea Party Came to Town.
In order to research the activities and politics within the House of Representatives, Draper "embedded with new and senior House members" that had been elected in the 2010 election. A majority of those he spoke with and listened to were Republicans, especially among the 87 new legislators.
The title of the book, Do Not Ask What Good We Do, is taken from a sentence in a letter from Fisher Ames to Thomas Dwight, dated May 30, 1796: "Do not ask what good we do : that is not a fair question, in these days of faction."
The prologue to the book details how, on the night of Obama's inauguration, a group of around 15 Republican Representatives and Senators met in the Caucus Room, a "high-end D.C. establishment", to discuss methods to "win back political power" and to "put the brakes on Obama's legislative platform". Those attending the meeting included Eric Cantor, Jeb Hensarling, Pete Hoekstra, Dan Lungren, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Ryan, and Pete Sessions as the House Representatives and Tom Coburn, Bob Corker, Jim DeMint, John Ensign, and Jon Kyl from the Senate. Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz, both "non-lawmakers," were also in attendance. Luntz was the organizer of the meeting.
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