With each passing day, it becomes more and more clear that the Republicans do not care one bit about cleaning up Washington D.C.That was evident the day they elected John Boehner as their new Majority Leader. Boehner has already made it clear he is against any ethics reform.
It seems after the Abramoff, Delay, and Cunningham scandals, the GOP would be anxious to get reform passed, however, that is not the case as the USA Today points out in the following op-ed.
Epic greed. One way to clean up Congress is to lock up corrupt lawmakers.
That time-honored method was on display Friday in San Diego, where former representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., who resigned in disgrace last year, was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for what prosecutors called betrayal of his office "on an epic scale."
No kidding. The Vietnam War veteran and ace flier not only sold his office for $2.4 million in bribes, he also brought rare zeal and organizational skill to his show-me-the-money attitude toward public service. Cunningham even wrote a "bribe menu" on congressional stationery, detailing how much a potential briber would have to pay to order each lucrative Pentagon contract.
A $16 million contract would, for example, be offered in exchange for a $140,000 boat. After that, each $1 million worth of contracts — paid for by taxpayers — would cost $50,000.
In addition to his "Duke-Stir" yacht, Cunningham amassed a California home worth $2.55 million, a Rolls Royce, Persian rugs and rooms full of anti-ques.
Cunningham's prosecution rid Congress of one criminal, but the trouble with prison time is that it comes after the fact. Prosecutions catch only the most brazenly corrupt, and they don't change the system in which sleaze flourishes.
Fortunately, voters also get occasional chances to hand down a verdict. Today in Texas, former House majority leader Tom DeLay is facing, for the first time in his long career, a competitive Republican primary fight.
DeLay stepped down from his leadership post last year after he was indicted in a Texas fundraising scandal and linked to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose corruption surpassed even Cunningham's. DeLay was the driving force behind the effort to co-opt lobbyists and make them part of the GOP majority's political machine.
No matter what Texas voters decide, the toxic mix of money, lobbyists and favors in Washington will be hard to exterminate. If any proof were needed, look at where DeLay plans to spend part of election night: At a fundraiser hosted by two D.C. lobbyists.
Everyday sleaze. Six weeks ago, members of Congress were so hot to do something about the skybox tickets, fancy meals, lavish trips and other favors lobbyists bestow on lawmakers that they were tripping over each other with "reform" proposals.
Sure, their motives were suspect and tinged with election-year panic: The reforms were spurred by Abramoff's guilty plea and his agreement to help prosecutors expose public officials. And, certainly, the proposals had gaping holes.
But at least some lawmakers, pressed to the wall by bad publicity and voter unrest, were talking about changing a system that invites corruption. Since then, they've done little but slink away from their bold talk.
On Thursday, a Senate committee rejected a bipartisan plan to create an independent Office of Public Integrity staffed by professionals who would investigate ethics complaints and look at lobbying disclosures. Democrats joined Republicans to kill the proposal after Senate Ethics Committee Chairman George Voinovich, R-Ohio, argued that the new office would duplicate what his committee already does, which is not much.
In the House of Representatives, grandiose talk of banning trips and meals paid for by private groups has melted away. The House Republicans' new majority leader, John Boehner of Ohio, who replaced DeLay, said he finds such trips valuable. Prohibiting them, he said, would be "childish." (Since 2000, Boehner has taken $157,000 worth of these "fact finding" trips, many to resorts and European capitals.)
As the Senate nears a vote this week on an ethics bill, it looks as if it will do little more than toughen disclosure and reporting requirements for lobbyists. That's helpful but, alone, it misses the problem. The scandal is not what's illegal but what's legal: The wining and dining of lawmakers by favor-seeking lobbyists, and the shakedowns of lobbyists by lawmakers who want campaign cash.
Brazen greed, such as Cunningham's, will usually run afoul of criminal law. Sleazy business as usual will end only when Congress changes its rules and enforces those rules as if they were law.
I am proud Congressman Ford is dedicated to cleaning up Washington D.C.
That is just another reason why he should be our next U.S. Senator!
It is time for an ethics reform bill!
Read about Congressman Ford's actions on ethics reform here! (1 , 2, 3)
Read about John Boehner's views opposing ethics reform here!
Read about John Boehner's broken promises regarding ethics reform here!
