We have the best Congress money can buy, as the old wag said.
Is the Stock Act now under consideration in Congress going to change that?
In an earlier blog (Lying, Cheating, and Stealing in the Political System-Part One), I ranted about corrupt behavior in Congress. Provoked by that bog and by an exposé on 60 Minutes , the U.S. Senate took up a little bill last week to stop insider trading by members of Congress.
It started as a simple idea: no more congressional insider trading. But when the bill came up for debate, some Senators decided to expand it to cover a few other kinds of unethical behavior regularly engaged in by the political elite. The session quickly turned into a feeding frenzy of amendments. There were so many different kinds of crooked behavior on stage that the bill exploded with dozens of amendments. There were amendments to ban earmarks, amendments to close the revolving door, amendments to deal with the business of political intelligence, and all kinds of unrelated amendments.
Pundits watching this spectacle have a cornucopia of ideas for how to fix corruption in Congress.
NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman says that full disclosure is the answer. He recommends that congressmen dress up like NASCAR drivers in uniforms with the logos of all the banks and other firms from which they are taking money.[1]
Former convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now out of prison, suggests that we could save a lot of time and money as a nation if we simply had the lobbyists send their legislative proposals directly to the President for his signature without stopping to pay off Congress.[2]
Washington Post writer Steven Pearlstein argues that we could make the whole process more efficient if we changed the laws to allow the direct purchase of votes (he suggests $1,000 per vote) and legalized cash bribes for congressmen.[3]
Here is your chance to cast an honest vote. Post a comment on this blog voting for the solution you like best. I promise to tabulate your votes honestly without lying, cheating, or stealing.
The options are:
1. The NASCAR disclosure uniform (Friedman).
2. Lobbyists bypass Congress (Abarmoff).
3. Legalizing cash bribes and vote purchasing (Pearlstein).
Next time: Can Congress Fix Itself?
[1] Thomas Friedman, NY Times, Oct. 29, 2011.
[2] Abramoff on the Colbert Report, December 8, 2011.
[3] Washington Post, Feb. 5, 2012, p.G1.
2 comments:
I vote for number 1. They can collect logos like scout badges. It provides a quick visual reference, and is very colorful. If we could get them to wear spandex, like bike racers, they may also become interested in sponsoring good food bills and losing weight.
I cast a vote for Steven Pearlstein's direct vote purchase concept. Since the Citizens United decision has determined that corporations are people which permits them to heavily influence elections of legislators, it seems like such a small step to divert money now going to media companies for advertising to just paying the legislators directly once they are elected. Or if the legislators are "uncomfortable" with such a overt exchange of money, the corporations can set up "blind" estate trusts that the legislators can access when they retire. The legislators can view the trusts as just sound investments. And if the corporations haven't already taken this important step, maybe Mittens Romney can coach them how and where to hide, I mean, invest the trusts offshore after they retire.
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