The visibility of these four, along with that of several of their freshman colleagues, doesn't come from their reasoned and thoughtful ideas for public policy, but from behavior beyond the pale or quotes outside the mainstream. The attention given to them has obscured the fact that the 104th House, the first Republican one in 40 years, has a lot of talent. When the Republicans captured the majority in 1994, one of the most uplifting consequences was the opportunity for this talent finally to emerge, taking front-row seats at the policy table and seeing some of their sensible and constructive ideas, stifled when they were in the minority, considered and enacted into law. It hasn't quite worked out that way. It isn't just that talented Republicans have been overshadowed by the Cooleys and Greenes.
Strong leadership is by no means a bad thing.
The House had clearly become too decentralized in the early 1990s, and a tilt back to some central coordinating control was welcome. But one consequence has been, yet again, the stifling of imagination and talent in GOP ranks. One place to start would be to listen to the policy ideas of Rep. Thomas Petri of Wisconsin. For years, he has tried to figure out ways to change the perverse incentives that make working more onerous economically than staying on welfare. During 1993 and 1994, Petri tried to find a more limited and rigorous way to provide health care reform.