Andrew Newkirk '08 - I am really privileged to get to blog about Tuesday's activities, as I felt it's been our most interesting day so far. For our morning meeting, we met with Bill Archer, Senior Policy Advisor for PricewaterHouse Coopers and former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. As someone who served in Congress for 30 years, he had wealth of knowledge and stories that kept up entertained for almost two hours.
             During his congressional tenure, Mr. Archer became quite an expert on our own complicated tax code, and I was especially excited to get to ask him a question about the Fair Tax. This is something I knew he had studied and that I have become very interested in recently. Mr. Archer was my favorite speaker so far, and we all appreciated how  much time he was willing to spend sharing his knowledge and answering our questions. 

                                              In the afternoon, we had the hour of meeting with Dr. James Thurber - Professor at American University, and foremost expert on Congressional/Presidential relations. Talking with Dr. Thurber was most meaningful to our group because we've actually read some of his pieces in class; meeting the man behind the text was really something. While he spoke to us at length about Congress, interaction with the President, what I thought was most interesting was his predictions on the upcoming 2008 Presidential race. 

              All in all, I think Tuesday we met with two of the biggest individuals on our docket of speakers, and I think my classmates would agree with me. This trip has been so rewarding, and I want to thank Dr. Hadley and Wabash College for giving us this opportunity.

First Picture: Making our way across K Street to see Mr. Archer

Second Picture: Andrew Newkirk '08, Kyle O'Keefe '08, and George Padgitt '09 listening to Mr. Archer

Third Picture: The group listening to Dr. Thurber at American University