The Price of Politics

Making the Sausage

Even though this book is about as gripping as watching C-Span, I still rank it as one of my favorite reads because of how much it reveals not only about Washington politics, but the true depth of the US debt crisis. I have been reading other books such as The Real Crash by Peter Schiff and Endgame by John Mauldin that have been panned as being too alarmist and radical for suggesting the possibility of future weakness is the US government bond market. Bob Woodward's account reveals that by the end of the debt ceiling debate in 2011, Timothy Geithner was warning that we were literally hours away from a market panic, followed by the failure of a US bond auction that would set off a worldwide financial meltdown and a depression that would be worse than in the 1930's and the effect would resonate for generations. The deal that finally averted this disaster resolved nothing and simply kicked the can down the road until after the election. Round two is known as the fiscal cliff.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Fantastic book

If you could sum up The Price of Politics in three words, what would they be?

Children run Washington

Any additional comments?

Shows that politics means more than the country in Washington - from both parties.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Pretty Poor

What disappointed you about The Price of Politics?

Just wasn't a compelling story. Back and forth bickering leading back to square one, then a few steps forward. Nothing intriguing about this at all.

What does Boyd Gaines bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Boyd Gaines is an EXCELLENT voice.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A Play-by-Play Account

From Bob Woodward’s (All the President’s Men) prolific pen now comes The Price of Politics. In this volume Woodward sets out to report how the Obama administration, Democratic and Republican legislators sought to remedy the economic meltdown. Woodward provides a hour-by-hour, day-to-day, blow-by-blow account of the negotiations between the three and it is one scary tale. Readers brave enough to continue past the second chapter will learn what the debates were like, how the negotiations progressed (if negotiation is the proper term) and how the talks broke down. Sometimes I read passages that just made me want to throw my hands up in amazement. Other times, passages brought on pure disgust. I will not repeat comments made by other reviewers. Suffice it to say, that anyone interested in how the legislative process works, decision making in general, or organizational behavior will be rewarded for wading through this book. If you don’t want grinding detail, don’t open this volume. If you do stay for the entire show, you will be rewarded for turning these pages. The reading of Boyd Gaines is excelent.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

A very detailed and informative account

Where does The Price of Politics rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the top books

What did you like best about this story?

The extreme details. I would like to know how Bob Woodward was able to get the insite for this book

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great work describes great disappointment

Would you listen to The Price of Politics again? Why?

I might if I had the time - its a long listen. Gives about as fair an assessment of the both sides of the budget debate as you will find. Really an interesting read. Not a flattering picture of either the President nor of the other participants in the negotiation process.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Woodward's a great investigative writer so there is an impressive amount of factual detail about the discussions and the issues involved. Because of his stature in his profession, he has access to people in the highest levels of government.

Which character – as performed by Boyd Gaines – was your favorite?

Eric Cantor. I really felt as though he captured his style of speaking. It seemed as though he was reading his own quotations in the book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Obama asked for an additional $400 billion in revenue after he and Boehner had agreed on the framework of a deal.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

New Perspective on Recent History

As a political junkie, I followed what was happening in the depth ceiling debate, etc. But the inside story of the negotiations was fascinating. A good reminder that what we see on t.v. in real time is really only a superficial glance. Woodward's style kept the story moving right along. I was amazed at how every twist and turn was political with no apparent concern for the consequences for the country. Are there no statesmen left? It totally reinforced my opinions of the players involved, unfortunately.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Down the middle account

What did you love best about The Price of Politics?

Overall, I thought this book was very even handed showing both parties strengths and weakness. Bob Woodard did a very detail account of going behind the scene to expose how complicated this political discussion was. He also captured the divides within each camp which convoluted the negotiation and even caused a having this debt ceiling crisis done one month earlier (as oppose to delaying the decision to the failed Super Committee). My only complaint is how detailed Bob did go within this book. Did I really need to know that Senator Jon Kyl rented equipment by the hour to do yard work? There were other passages that I felt didn’t add to the over story of this crisis. However, those personal quirks didn’t detract too much from this good book.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Informative

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would not recommend it to a friend, as I feel my friends would not have the patience to listen to it.

What did you like best about this story?

It clarified exactly what happened during the budget negotiations during the last two years of President Obama's current term.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

I was amazed to learn that the Speaker of the House took more than 24 hiours to respond to a phone call from the President. According to the author, this had never happened in the past. It dramatized the extreme gulf between the two sides. I felt it showed disrespect for the office of the President.

Any additional comments?

If you want to know what really went on, this book will tell you. It is factual and even-handed in its presentation. There is equal criticism of both sides.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Hardcore wonkery!

Most of the book consists of re-hashes of daily meetings of the president and congressional figures over the debt ceiling crisis, with balanced re-hashing from all sides' points of view.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful