Fresh Air Archive: Steven Waldman and Timothy J. Penny (Nonfiction‪)‬

Journalist Steven Waldman and former Congressman Timothy J. Penny on this archival edition of Fresh Air. Waldman's book The Bill: How the Adventures of Clinton's National Service Bill Reveal What is Corrupt, Comical, Cynical - and Nobel - about Washington, follows Bill Clinton's plan to revamp the college loan system, from idea to implementation. Clinton first talked about his plan during the Presidential campaign, and once he was in the White House, work began on what became Americorps. Waldman was there for many private meetings on the subject where everyone from the President, the White House staff, the Department of Education, Congress people, National Service Reps, and student aid groups were in attendance. Penny wrote a book about the cultures that modern lawmakers bring to Congress which he says "have gnawed away at the sturdy foundations of republican democracy and trustworthy service that our Founding Fathers bequeathed." (Original Broadcast Date: April 18, 1995)