<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[The Quiet Collapse]]></title><description><![CDATA[Thom Barrett, former PwC partner, researches governance and institutional decline through The Quiet Collapse and Citizens’ League platform.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:33:35 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.quietcollapse.net/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Congress Is Only One of Four Places Government Acts. The Register Covers All Four.]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most accountability tools watch Congress. But a rule withdrawn by an agency, an order signed by the President, and a case decided by a court all change what the government does. The Register puts all four venues in one searchable record.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/congress-is-only-one-of-four-places-government-acts-the-register-covers-all-four</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae3a65f0f4ce9ea490c7a71</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:02:39 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fifteen Government Functions Moved to Private Hands. Almost None Went to a Vote.]]></title><description><![CDATA[Privatization is usually discussed as a policy argument. Traced as a sequence of dated events from 1955 onward, it turns out to be something else: a transfer that mostly happened through contracts rather than legislation.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/fifteen-government-functions-moved-to-private-hands-almost-none-went-to-a-vote</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae3a65f0f4ce9ea490c7a70</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:02:39 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[66 Members Are Leaving the 119th Congress. Twelve Are Running for Governor.]]></title><description><![CDATA[What leaves when a member of Congress leaves: the relationships, the committee position, and the knowledge of where the levers are. The Revolving Door documents where the departures from the 119th Congress are going.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/66-members-are-leaving-the-119th-congress-twelve-are-running-for-governor</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae3a65f0f4ce9ea490c7a6e</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:02:39 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Every State Faced the Same Federal Withdrawal. Four Postures Describe How They Answered.]]></title><description><![CDATA[Federal capacity is being withdrawn across seven domains. Classifying states by what they did about it — rather than by party — produces four postures: extractionist, systemic passive, active steward, and survivalism.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/every-state-faced-the-same-federal-withdrawal-four-postures-describe-how-they-answered</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae3a65f0f4ce9ea490c7a6f</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:02:39 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[$1.02 Trillion in Medicaid Obligations Did Not Disappear. They Moved.]]></title><description><![CDATA[When Washington divests a function, the obligation travels. The Decoupling Record follows it to fifty state balance sheets and the households inside them.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/1-02-trillion-in-medicaid-obligations-did-not-disappear-they-moved</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae382e751207602bba26a8d</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 17:31:19 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Did Your Member of Congress Pass a Law of Their Own? Most Did Not.]]></title><description><![CDATA[One question, asked of all 535 voting members of the 119th Congress: did anything you wrote become law under your own bill number. No score, no grade, no curve.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/did-your-member-of-congress-pass-a-law-of-their-own-most-did-not</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae382d10f4ce9ea490c316d</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 17:30:57 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Not One of the 46 Committees of the 119th Congress Published a Goal Anyone Can Check]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Capture Index puts four audit questions to every committee of the 119th Congress. On the first one, all 46 fail.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/not-one-of-the-46-committees-of-the-119th-congress-published-a-goal-anyone-can-check</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae382bdee13539de8dcd8dd</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 17:30:37 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[19,249 Bills Were Introduced in the 119th Congress. 113 Became Law Under Their Own Number.]]></title><description><![CDATA[Six-tenths of one percent. The Legislative Accountability Filter maps the thirteen stages where the rest disappear, and who controls each decision.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/19-249-bills-were-introduced-in-the-119th-congress-113-became-law-under-their-own-number</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae382a5b1a8eea8ba11fb65</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 17:30:13 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[This Old Auditor: Complete Series Index]]></title><description><![CDATA[Three investigations, nineteen parts. Each one here with its finding and a citation handle, so a reader can quote the exact piece.]]></description><link>https://www.quietcollapse.net/post/this-old-auditor-complete-series-index</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ae369f566554fa31352cb50</guid><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 15:44:53 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>thomas barrett</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>