Why isn’t GOP against corruption?
Morning briefing
Friday, March 5, 2021
So where do you start if you want to fix the country and return confidence in the federal government?
Any volunteers?
After 40 years in journalism, I tend to be a “follow the money” type of guy. That’s where the corruption starts. If you are in power, you control the money. If you control the money, you can get re-elected by making sure the people that back you in your election get what they want whether it is for their social causes or business advantages. We all know politicians work for their donors and not for us. That has never been more clear.
The Center for Responsive Politics - it’s a nonpartisan nonprofit - estimates that $14 billion was spent trying to influence the 2020 elections. It was around $7 billion in 2016. If you don’t know how this works, billions of donations are funneled legally through nonprofit organizations that are difficult to trace. In other era, it would simply be called bribery. It is also called “dark money.”
We don’t know where it originates, nor do we know what these donors are getting for their cash.
Rep. Elise Stefanik is a prolific fundraiser, which she regularly brags about, and that should make you nervous. People don’t give you money when you are in Congress for your winning smile. They want something in return.
If they don’t start with the “dark money,” how about getting rid of gerrymandering congressional districts?
Who among us believes it is sound policy for a democracy to weave congressional voting districts so they favor one party over another? This leads to career politicians who are easily re-elected year after year and extreme policies on both the left and right.
Would you support the end of gerrymandering?
I would.
How about lobbying? How do you feel about big business and corporations lobbying your representatives to do their bidding? There are now lobbyists who lobby the lobbyists. Our congresswoman won’t even hold regular town hall meetings with her own constituents.
Shouldn’t we know who the lobbyists are, who they work for and how much money they are donating?
Finally, we became spoiled as a nation because every previous president had released their tax returns. That didn’t happen in 2016 and that guy was elected.
Presidents and their families should never benefit monetarily from the decisions they make while in power. How about a law that makes it mandatory for presidents to make 10 years worth of tax returns? Shouldn’t our leaders be held to a higher standard?
Wouldn’t it be great if we could get a law like this passed with all these provisions?
If you are nodding in agreement, you might be surprised to learn that the House of Representatives passed this bill this week. Rep. Elise Stefanik voted against it which makes you wonder what the hell is she for. In fact, every Republican voted against it.
So what is wrong with Andy of these provisions. I thought this was the type of stuff our country stood for.
The bill included the following:
The Disclose Act would implement an “Honest Ads” policy where disclosure of online advertising is expanded and strengthened and corporations would have to make shareholders aware of their specific political activity. It would expose any foreign nationals trying to influence elections and impose a foreign money ban. Anyone contributing money would have to disclose their identity. It would be the end of “dark money.”
A lobbying loophole would be closed by giving teeth to the Office of Government Ethics which will have more enforcement authority when dealing with the executive branch.
Instead of state legislatures drawing congressional boundaries, an independent commission policed by strong conflict-of-interest rules would take over.
Presidents and Vice Presidents would have to disclose 10 years of their tax returns.
The John Lewis Voter Empowerment Act will address voter access, election integrity and security, including sharing intelligence information with state election officials and supporting states in securing their election systems and improvements to the cyber security of election systems.
Ethics will be addressed in all three branches of government by requiring a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices, prohibiting members of Congress from serving on the board of a for-profit entities and establishing conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions for federal employees and the White House.
The bill is H.R. 1, the “For the People Act.”
The House of Representative actually passed this wall and the U.S. Senate will soon debate it and half of that body will oppose it.
That’s simply in-American, and maybe dangerous.
Josh Silver, who works for the nonpartisan nonprofit Represent.Us, whose goal is to end political corruption, extremism and gridlock, said this to Esquire magazine in a January article: “If we don’t see sweeping reforms that are contained in this bill passed, we are fucked as a nation.”
I apologize for the language, but after January 6, and the plethora of unsubstantiated information we are subjected to day after day, I thought some straight talk was warranted.
Read H.R. 1 and see what you think.
Sick of politics
Gallup had an interesting poll result this week as it recorded a record high of Americans who identified themselves as “politically independent.”
Maybe more citizens would struts a political party if it actually passed important legislation like H.R. 1.
Texas talk
The Austin American-Statesman, commenting on Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to open up Texas against even though only 7 percent of the state is vaccinated, wrote sarcastically in an editorial this week: “All that was missing was the Mission Accomplished banner.”
And this from the San Antonio mayor:
“COVID-19 is still widespread in our community and infecting too many of our vulnerable residents. You don’t cut off your parachute just as you’ve slowed your descent. Please join me in continuing to wear a mask.”
And this from tweet from liberal commentator Keith Olbermann:
“Why are we wasting vaccinations on Texas if Texas has decided to join the side of the virus?”
Pandemic changed us
One way our workforce may be forever changed is that no will ever want to go to work again.
ZipRecruiter is showing that 45 percent of those seeking work are looking for a job that would let them work from home.
Wear the mask
If health experts tell me it will be safer for my fellow citizens if I wear a mask for the rest of the year, I will wear a mask. That is a no-brainer.