Congressional mandate.

Kate O'Beirne and Richard Lowry's "A Congress Gone to Pot" (May 22) hit the nail on the head--or, maybe more appropriately, it pounded the final nail into the Republican coffin. It seems the Republican majority in Congress has lost its focus on basic conservative ideals. One wonders how a party whose characteristic principle is for limited government can expand and run a massive bureaucratic government. The authors clearly show that, quite simply, the GOP cannot. When was the last time this Congress stood up for federal fiscal discipline, reducing the size and power of government, or political accountability (i.e., real K Street or pork-barrel reform)? It is time to get some true conservatives into Congress.

Andy Collingwood

Estes Park, Colo.