Members' Corner

Washington, DC politicians and the so-called public interest groups are nothing more than a media celebrated prostitution ring. Principles, right and wrong, civil rights, etc, have become nothing more than theatrical terms and themes with no substance. Politicians, Lobbyists, Economists, et al, are like the hired “experts” of a trial; their “wisdom, advice, and expertise” up for hire to argue YOUR side for a price.

When they hit the House Floor, Senate Floor, or Press Rooms they all play their roles for the paying audience. Yup, we pay for the show folks. One side throws a land mine spin attack at the other side, then that side responds in kind. They even sometimes allow all the emotion they can muster for effect. They use terms like “deeply concerned” or “deeply troubled” over policies or desired appointees under review for votes in hopes of a position to serve. Their “deep” concerns are, of course, reserved for the working folks not yet adopted into the DC circle of elites, but nary a blink of the eye for their own actions.

Does it give anyone pause to see how these folks actually live their lives? Hollywood pumps out movies and sit-coms designed to lecture us about our bigotry, and DC passes bill after bill to spend YOUR money to line their coffers with enough cash to keep them living the cocktail party, jet-set lives as they not only look at us with disdain; but let’s face it folks, they are laughing at us all the way to the bank. Just as an example, how does anyone argue with any amount of honesty or sincerity that we cannot afford to protect our borders and then turn around and vote for a bill with over 6,000 EARMARKS? Not ONE of these “public servants” could possibly have ANY idea what they actually voted for and passed into law. And where was President Bush’s VETO PEN on such a ridiculous and scandalous injustice to the American people?

The brutal honesty here is that the conservative people saw the gross behavior of Washington, DC over a decade ago. With Newt Gingrich at the helm, leading the way, we sought out to get rid of the sham called the American Government. He set out to changing the status quo in DC in a way that brought power back to the people and lead us back to our foundation, instaed of allowing the Democrats to cotinue in power and keep marching so left. You know the one “for the people, by the people”, blah, blah, blah. But once the “solution” was put into place to restore some dignity and integrity, they became the fox guarding the hen house brigade. Instead of solving these problems, they actively became PART of the problem.

Now BOTH parties are merely the epitome of separate actors’ guilds playing the roles for the cameras. Once the lights and mic’s are turned off, they spend their time playing golf and tennis together and buying rounds. I can imagine the chuckle they share. “So, how’d you like my line about…….”, “Oh yeah, that was a good one. Wish I had come up with that one myself. But how’d you like my slam back at you when I nailed you on……”

Simply put, these second rate “professionals” are perfectly content with just providing the show. They honestly don’t care which party stays in power, so long as they remain the only two parties that CAN be in power. John Konop brought up a great point on the Control Congress Radio show one day. The entire Walmart war is nothing more than a façade for the American people. A way to keep us focused on fighting the “evil” of the “other side.” The truth is that Walmart has Democrats just as embedded in their ranks as Republicans. Though 60% of their political donations may have gone to the Republicans in the past; just wait and see if now that the Democrats are the gang in power, that 60/40 shift doesn’t turn the other direction.

These folks use buzz words and buzz phrases to spark the fire, and when the lights go off they go enjoy their mistresses, drinking, etc on our dime- while we continue to fuel the flames attacking each other. As long as we continue to allow the political debate to be plagued with race and class warfare, we- the American people- will continue to lose our strength and ability to govern ourselves while we foot the bill for the DC Country Club membership to their Hollywood life style.

Published: February 10, 2007 as an Op-Ed re. Congressional Ethics Reform in 2/10/07 NY Times

THE Democratic majority in Congress has made ethics reform a centerpiece of its agenda — and not a moment too soon. The list of members of Congress from both parties who have either pleaded guilty to or are under F.B.I. investigation for crimes involving their offices is embarrassing.

Unfortunately, the latest reforms (some adopted in the House by rule and others proposed by the Senate in legislation) tighten restrictions without actually addressing the real reasons that Congressional ethics rules have been ineffective in the past. The result is tougher rules that will rarely, if ever, be enforced. Here’s why.

First, regardless of what anyone might claim, there remains no mechanism for policing those at the heart of Congress’s ethics problems: lobbyists willing to violate the rules.

Under the new ethics reforms (as well as under the previous rules), the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, the Senate Ethics Committee and the Federal Election Commission do not have the jurisdiction to detect, investigate and punish lobbyists who give prohibited gifts to representatives, senators or their staffs.

The Congressional ethics committees can regulate the conduct of, and punish, only lawmakers and their staffs. Lobbyists can be investigated by the Justice Department, but only under restrictive bribery statutes that require proof of a direct link between payments or gifts by lobbyists and actions by public officials. Consequently, unethical conduct by lobbyists that does not reach the point of bribery or an illegal campaign contribution (which does fall under the Federal Election Commission’s jurisdiction) will remain unregulated.

Second, even with the new rules, only members of Congress or someone with a member’s permission can file a complaint with the House ethics committee. But limiting who can file a complaint effectively precludes any meaningful enforcement.

Whenever a Congressional ethics scandal erupts, Americans wonder why nobody said anything. Why, for example, did someone like Randy Cunningham, the disgraced representative from California, routinely violate Congressional gift rules with seemingly little concern about an ethics investigation? The answer, in my experience, is that most members of Congress are so afraid of being accused of taking (knowingly or unknowingly) banned gifts themselves that they would never allege that a colleague had done so — no matter how clear the violation. No one wants to set the standard by which he might someday be judged.

This problem will persist even under tighter restrictions like the new gift ban. After all, the problem in recent years wasn’t that the gift limit — $50 per gift — was too high; it was the absence of effective oversight and enforcement of that limit. As long as these new rules, like the old ones, rely only on lawmakers to report violations, nothing will change.

Simply put, there will continue to be an unchecked circle of improper gifts by lobbyists (who cannot be punished) to lawmakers (who have no incentive to report them). As in the past, only when gift-giving reaches the level of a crime will the F.B.I. or the Department of Justice step in and start an investigation. Nothing in these touted ethics reforms solves this problem.

So what’s the solution?

Ultimately, the most effective deterrent against ethics violations is public scrutiny, based on accurate and timely information. That’s why it’s imperative that ethics reform begin with full disclosure by lawmakers, their staffs and lobbyists.

Each member of Congress should keep a log of every gift received by his office and file it electronically at least quarterly. The same requirement should apply to Congressional staffers. Lobbyists should electronically file monthly public disclosures of all lobbying expenses, specifying who used what tickets, who ate what meal, who played how many rounds of golf. All these disclosures should be posted on the Internet.

Along with transparency, the best way to prevent, detect and punish corruption is to enforce rules against all violators, whether they work inside the Capitol or on K Street.

It is therefore imperative for Congress to establish an independent commission, akin to the Federal Election Commission, with jurisdiction to regulate the conduct of lobbyists just as the Congressional ethics committees regulate the conduct of members and staffs. The commission must be responsible for enforcing the new gift ban, ensuring that all disclosure requirements are met, and setting and imposing penalties for rule violations.

But even an independent commission empowered to investigate violations won’t be effective without significant modifications to the reporting process. It will have nothing to investigate.

Thus, any person should be able to file a complaint. (Subject to some time restriction, of course — say, 60 days before an election, in order to prevent abusive filings for political gain. Anyone who files a complaint found to be frivolous should be subject to a penalty.) Complaints should be acted on promptly, and either be dismissed or investigated.

Effective ethics reform in Congress requires real changes in the reporting requirements for lawmakers and their staffs, enhanced disclosure requirements for lobbying activities, better transparency, public participation via the Internet, and an independent commission to enforce the rules against both the donor and the recipient of improper gifts. Anything less is just cosmetic.

Randy Evans was outside counsel to former Speakers of the House Newt Gingrich and J. Dennis Hastert