NR’s Salam: The Speaker Should Have Ability to Extend Favors and Take Them Back

SALAM: "Well, honestly, the fundamental problem is that the leadership does not have leverage over members. And this is a big structural problem that flows in the fact that the campaign finance regulation system works very differently. It also flows from the fact that now you have this talk of rule changes where, right now, I could offer you a carrot of a seat on a committee that’s valuable or whatever else. And now they’re trying to take away all of that power. If all of that power is gone, if it’s every man for himself, every woman for herself, then you just don’t have any discipline. It’s completely unmanageable. You need the Speaker, whoever that Speaker happens to be, to have the ability to extend favors and to take them back."