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James, your mention of 1998 as the point at which congressional Republicans stopped doing anything "to earn their keep" puts you in agreement with Bob Barr, who frequently mentions an omnibus appropriations package passed that year as symbolic of the surrender of the Spirit of '94. As he told Bloomberg TV, that '98 deal "completely shattered whatever ... credibility [Republicans] might have had as the party of smaller government."

Having a Republican in the White House, however, was bad for the congressional GOP in that the original raison d'etre of the Class of '94 had been opposition to the Clinton agenda. Once the Clintons left town, it was like, "What are we here for?" And the answer turned out to be big-government idiocy like No Child Left Behind.