Onondaga Central
Despite distractions from the media, there is major corruption in Washington that has not received attention. These cases of corruption hamper Washington’s ability to govern. Under current law, members of Congress are allowed to serve on corporate boards and receive compensation from the corporations. This was exposed when former Congressman Chris Collins (R-NY) was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail for insider trading based on information he received from being on a corporate board. The simple fix to this problem would be Congress passing a law banning members of Congress from serving on corporate boards (CBS). One major reform of Congress in recent years is the STOCK Act. This law makes it illegal for members of Congress to purchase stocks based on insider information and partake in initial public offerings (IPOs). An IPO is when a stock is sold to select people before it is made public. This was passed after a 60 Minutes report sparked public cry after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in 2008 purchased 5,000 shares in Visa in what is known as initial public offering, that was offered to her based on her position of power, and then sold each the stock for $20 more than what she purchased them for. However, shortly after passing the STOCK Act in 2012, Congress gutted the law in 2013 by unanimous consent (no actual vote just a voice vote), by eliminating many requirements to report financial disclosures and instead of having an accessible online database of stock transactions of members of Congress, stock transaction records are kept in the basement of the U.S. Capitol Building. As a result, not much has changed for members of Congress regarding insider trading and it is difficult for prosecutors to prosecute (NPR). Another example of the STOCK Act being violated without penalty is former Congressman Beto O’Rourke, who ran for President, participated in an IPO of Twitter after the STOCK Act went into effect and despite an Ethics Committee warning not to. If Congress wanted to “Drain the Swamp” they would reinstate these provisions of the STOCK Act. One potential reason people complain about inaction in Congress could stem from the fact Congress is barely in session. For example, in 2017 Congress was only in session 145 days out of 261 workdays. In 2018 Congress was in session 24 fewer days, only being in session 121 days. Some cite that Congress needs to have a recess to meet with constituents but with a nation as large as the United States 121 days is not much time to take care of the nation’s business. The short sessions lead to rushed legislation where members of Congress rush to pass a spending bill that has not been read by Congress. Most recently, this occurred in December 2019 when Congress enacted a 2,000-page spending bill a mere 2 ½ days after releasing the text (CNBC). While in session, Congress spends most of the day fundraising. The typical member of Congress spends 6-8 hours per day fundraising. This diverts time away from legislating and serving people (CBS). Members of Congress who serve on committees receive significant donations from industries that are under the jurisdiction of their committee. For example, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), who is most known for her fanatical support for impeaching President Trump also serves as Chair of the House Financial Services Committee. The top contributors to Waters’s campaign were finance, insurance and real estate, totaling $286,955 in 2019 alone. Similarly, Maxine Waters allocated $12 million worth of federal TARP “bailout” money to a failing bank her husband owns shares of. One proposal due to these conflicts of interest is to ban members of Congress from receiving donations from industries that the committee they sit on oversee (Center for Responsive Politics). Lastly, members of Congress and senior staff members can job hunt for lobbying positions while still in office leading to conflicts of interest. Lobbyists, in addition to being able to donate to the campaigns of politicians, can also fundraise for politicians, making politicians even more beholden to lobbyists. Banning congressional staffers from becoming lobbyists until one year after they leave their position could help close the revolving door. These are reforms Congress could act on and loopholes they could close (Center for Progress). In closing, Republicans and Democrats and presidential candidates campaign on “Draining the Swamp” and as shown above there is a lot to drain. Sources: Sozan, Michael, and William Roberts. “10 Far-Reaching Congressional Ethics Reforms to Strengthen U.S. Democracy.” Center for American Progress, www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2019/04/25/469030/10-far-reaching-congressional-ethics-reforms-strengthen-u-s-democracy/. Keith, Tamara. “How Congress Quietly Overhauled Its Insider-Trading Law.” NPR, NPR, 16 Apr. 2013, www.npr.org/sections/
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