December 7, 2006 -- Just in case the incoming Democratic
majority is serious about real ethics reform, here are a few ideas for its
members to consider:
Ban spousal and family employment by campaign
committees and PACs.
This is not a new phenomenon. Sen. Harry Truman hired his wife, Bess, to work
on his public payroll at a $2,500 salary (this when senators were paid $10,000).
Worried about media criticism, he urged her to "only just drop in and do some
signing of letters. It helps all concerned." Truman was right to be concerned.
It was wrong then and it's wrong now.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) opened the floodgates to the latest version
of this abuse when he secured a ruling from the FEC allowing him to hire his
wife as a fundraiser on his campaign payroll. In his case, his wife was an
experienced campaign aide. But now 30 members have employed their wives or other
family members on their campaign or PAC payrolls.
Whether these people are competent or not is beside the point. Campaign
contributions are not bribes because they are not personal income. But when the
campaign money flows to a spouse, the contributions become income for the
member. This thinly veiled way to launder campaign contributions so that they
add to the family income should be banned. Hiring of other family members should
also be prohibited.
Those who have hired spouses and family members include: Reps. Richard Pombo
(R-Calif.), wife and two brothers; Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), husband's law firm;
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), wife and step-daughter; John Doolittle (R-Calif.), wife;
Ralph Hall (R-Texas), daughter-in-law; Pete Stark (D-Calif.), wife; Buck McKeon
(R-Calif.), wife; Ron Lewis (R-Ky.), wife; Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), wife; Jim
Costa (D-Calif.), cousin; Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), wife; Dave Reichert
(R-Wash.), nephew; Chris Cannon (R-Utah), three daughters; Lincoln Davis
(D-Tenn.), sister-in-law and daughter; Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), wife; Tim Bishop
(D-N.Y.), daughter; Bob Filner (D-Calif.), wife; J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.), wife;
Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), wife; Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.), wife; Sherwood Boehlert
(R-N.Y.), wife; John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), wife; Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), wife; Ed
Pastor (D-Ariz.), nephew; John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), son; and Howard Berman
(D-Calif.), brother Michael's political consulting firm; Sens. Barbara Boxer
(D-Calif.), son; and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), son and daughter during vice
presidential race; and ex-Reps. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), wife; and Tom DeLay (R-Texas),
wife and daughter.
Ban immediate family members of senators or
congressmen from lobbying Congress.
An only slightly more removed form of family enrichment is the increasingly
frequent hiring of the wives or children of congressmen or senators as
lobbyists. House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R-Ill.) son, for example, closed his
music business in Illinois and moved to Washington where he was eventually hired
to lobby for Google. Incoming Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) son and
son-in-law are lobbyists. The wife of House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) is
a lobbyist who hawks for tobacco companies, one of the congressman's biggest
contributors. While legislators piously maintain that family members do not
lobby them and some even bar them from communicating with their offices, their
status as family members of key legislators is well known to their colleagues,
who cannot avoid feeling pressure to give them special advantage.
Restore presidential power to line-item veto
earmarks in appropriations bills and reverse the anti-impoundment legislation
passed during the Nixon administration.
It is only by letting the administration police appropriations bills that the
massive conflicts of interest inherent in the
earmarking-for-campaign-contributions scam can be stopped.
Proposals to require public reporting of who has inserted what earmark will
not be effective since most members are quite proud of their earmarks and would
not only not mind public disclosure, but would actually likely welcome it.
And finally :
- Require lobbyists to disclose the specific bills that they are lobbying for
or against on the lobbying registration forms.
- Ban all privately paid travel by members, including use of corporate
jets.
- Require electronic filing of all travel disclosures for private and
government travel.
- Require both chambers to work a full week, instead of the two- to three-day
schedule they've had for the past few years.
- Don't hold your breath waiting for these reforms, but they do represent
what Congress should do if it wants to come clean.
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***Copyright Eileen McGann and Dick Morris 2006***
