Trevor Bothwell: Put Maryland government spending on the Web

Although the GOP’s humiliating defeat in 2006 was due to an accumulation of voter concerns, none was likely as significant as Americans’ collective impression that Republicans abused their congressional majority, ultimately trading the concerns of their constituents for pork-barrel spending, cronyism, and corruption.

Unfortunately, this reality is not specific to one particular party and is all too common when we lack a divided government, where a system of checks and balances at least modestly prevents politicians from acquiring unilateral authority.