Making Politicians Honest

So, some other tools we’ll be talking about are term limits, regulations and reporting requirements on lobbyists, limits on when an elected official can accept employment with a lobbying firm, and most of all more severe penalties for any intentionally untrue statement. Those are subjects for another day.

Well, this is that other day. This article is the lead-in to an additional article specific to the subjects discussed below if there isn’t enough room here to give these topics the attention they deserve.

Just remember, we’re talking about state and federal office holders unless we state otherwise.

So, enough of my long-winded introduction, here are my recommended solutions to help politicians be more honest.

Term Limits

I have never been an advocate of term limits of any type, always being of the belief that whether an elected official is enough of an ass to not serve is up to those he or she serves. Congress provides many examples, both current and past. You probably have plenty of your own. Adam Schiff comes to my mind, and I cannot imagine how anyone could vote for him, but they do. Great recommendation for term limits.

I have changed my mind on term limits simply because those charged with electing these people only look to what’s been done for them today, locally, and not what their representative’s actions mean on the state or national stage.

We can’t afford to have the local bacon-bringer do more harm than good, and one way to do this is to limit the time they have available to be corrupted by power and lobbyists.

Congress should get no more than three terms, Senators should only get two. If an official has served in Congress or the Senate they must take a 5-year “time out” before running for the opposite office. Term limits are for life, no exceptions.

What does this buy us? For starters you won’t have the dinosaurs like Pelosi and O’Connell around to haunt the halls of Congress. Because elected officials will have fewer experienced people around to “learn the ropes” from there will be more dependence on regular order, things like creating a budget rather than a continuing resolution, maybe even a bit more attention to doing the job rather than getting reelected or forming the “right” affiliations to get legislation passed. It would be a refreshing change-of-pace to see legislation pass because it was appropriate, and not just the fever dream of one viewpoint or another.

Now some of the things I’ve mentioned can be thought of as a negative, such as the reduced allowable time to serve may increase the pressure and influence by donors and lobbyists. We’ve added topics below to address these items, as campaign finance and perks and outright bribes are tools commonly used to enlist a candidate to a cause.

With a less experienced elected government, the power of the bureaucracy must be limited as well, otherwise the Deep State will become more powerful than they already are.

Deep State

Representatives and Senators should always be allowed to select their staff. The bureaucracy (Deep State) must be more responsive to the laws and the orders and directions they are provided by elected officials. With this in mind, we recommend that as many government employees as possible be moved to at-will employment status, guaranteeing that those responsible for their actions have the appropriate tools (removal) to respond to inappropriate acts.

Insofar as government employee unions are concerned, we do not believe they are needed, or beneficial. Unions, in their role as collective bargainer, tend to use those tools available, one of which is political pressure.

I believe it is not right for a union to be the elected representative’s boss, but by application of political pressure, they are. Show me a local school board that has successfully stood up to the national teacher’s union, or how many congressmen or senators will buck the union that staffs the departments they depend on to run the government.

I further believe that unionization without honest progress reporting leads to the death of individual incentive. What reason is there except personal pride that makes a person work harder that his or her peers when wage bands and promotions are geared to reward the average and not the exceptional. If a worker can produce 10 widgets in an hour but the union contract only requires 5, how many workers will actually produce 10? That’s human nature, and unions reward the average. Getting rid of unions and moving more government workers toward at-will status could go a long way to solving the Deep State problem.

Lobbyists

Lobbying has existed as long as our government has, and before in other places. The term “lobbying” reportedly originated in the US Capitol during the early 19th century, where individuals waited in the lobbies of legislative buildings and hotels to speak with lawmakers. The purpose of lobbying is to recruit a lawmaker to support a specific position or legislation. If all lobbyists did was speak to legislators there would be no harm. The reality is they spice the conversation with vacations, trips, donations to campaigns, and whatever else they can find to get the lawmaker on their side.

And lawmakers being people deep down inside (it’s true, believe me), succumb to the siren song of money, trips and perks. Most believe “I’m too smart to get caught.”

My solution to the lobbying problem is to require politicians to report every transaction with lobbyists, and for lobbyists to report every transaction with politicians. For purposes of this rule the word “transaction” means every meeting, whether actually between lobbyist and politician, or by members of either staff or both. Any communication that takes place between the politician (or their campaign or staff) and the lobbyist (or their organization or staff) must be reported. Failure to report will result in significant fines and possible imprisonment for the guilty party.

Limits on Post-Term Employment

It is difficult to limit a person’s ability to make a living by forbidding employment in certain industries or for certain employers. There is, unfortunately, a revolving door between government and suppliers. Be employed in a fairly high-level position in the government and you are pretty well guaranteed a job for those you regulated or monitored or inspected when your government job is over or your term is done. Then once you are comfortable working as a lobbyist you are continuously exposed to opportunities to work in government for people you probably already know and who, knowing how the revolving door works, will lube the wheels for you.

The revolving door must be locked and the key thrown away. First of all, lobbyists advocate for their industry or their special interest group, and spend little time thinking of the down-side of their requests. With enough grease (campaign donations, perks, gifts, etc.) lobbyists can get a lot done. Who benefits is the question.

A government official or employee who wishes to take employment with an industry or special interest that they serve in government should have a minimum 5-year time out between government service and private industry and vice versa.

Penalties for Intentionally Lying

This is an easy one. Repeal any laws that give congress, local or federal, special privilege. If they lie, and in a like case a civilian would be liable, so is the congressman. Sauce for the goose, so to say.

Campaign Finance

This is another easy one. All campaign finance must originate in the jurisdiction the candidate is running in. If you’re running for a seat on the town council, the donations must come from the town. Running for state senator? Funds must come from the district you wish to represent. Governor or Federal Senator? Donations must come from your state. Presidential candidates must limit their donations to those originating in the US.

Donations from PACs must be accompanied by donor lists and amounts which must be reported by the campaign. As PACs already report these numbers, it is just an additional step that will insure voters know who is supporting which candidates.

All that’s left is Dark Money, money from 501c(4) organizations that do not have a strict reporting requirement. All donations received from any source outside those mentioned above must be identified as Dark Money with the same minimums for exemption from reporting as donations from individual voters.

I believe a campaign in rural Arkansas should not be won or lost by money donated by a large corporation in New York, and that the measures I’ve outlined here will help accomplish that goal.

If you have any ideas on how we can make politicians more responsive to the people, please comment. As always, your thoughts and opinions are valued and welcome.

We can’t ask often enough that you contribute to a charity or organization that is taking care of the hurricane victims. The government certainly is less than aggressive in their disaster response and people still need help. We recommend Samaritan’s Purse or Mercury One as already on the ground and doing excellent work. Thank you.

Jack Sotallaro

Continuity planning, civilian and military