It's truly a shame that a senior citizen wanting to sit withtheir congressman and discuss prescription drug costs will have tomake countless phone calls and endure a seemingly endless wait toget an appointment, while that same representative hobnobs withwealthy donors on an almost daily basis.
In politics, money equals access, and access (along with moremoney) leads to influence on politicians. Every day, lobbyistsexploit this to further their causes.
Lobbying isn't inherently bad, but the problem arises whenlobbyists curry favor with politicians through gifts and campaigndonations. For example, a Republican who'd like to see tighter guncontrol laws may well vote against any such legislation fearing a"YEA" would cost him support and donations from the NRA.
But I have an idea I think could seriously dent this problem.Let's rein in one bureaucracy with another: the NCAA. The governingbody of college sports is known for its strict enforcement of rulesregarding recruiting and the amateur status of athletes. I thinkpoliticians could use a bit of the same medicine.
Under NCAA rules, schools can't entice recruits with money orany other sort of gift. If a player accepts so much as a freejacket from a school, the NCAA swiftly issues sanctions.
In fact, sometimes they go overboard. While coaching at Utah,former Ball State basketball coach Rick Majerus was oncereprimanded for buying and sharing a meal with a player who'dcalled him grieving over the death of a family member.
More recently the NCAA stripped the eligibility of Jeremy Bloom,an Olympic skier and Colorado football player, because he acceptedsponsorships that would allow him to train at skiing full time (acommon practice for Olympians).
But while the NCAA may sometimes be inflexible, I think this isthe exact sort of philosophy and scrutiny that Congress coulduse.
If it were discovered a congressman accepted a gift from alobby, then he or she would be tried and, if convicted, impeached.The lobbyists in question could then be charged with bribery, muchlike schools are accused of trying to "buy" recruits.
Politicians would painstakingly avoid anything that evenresembles impropriety, much like college athletic departments donow.
Now some of you may be saying, "Yeah, but you can't forbidsomeone to donate money to a candidate, that's unconstitutional!"Indeed, but the law could allow campaign donations so long as anaudit could account for every penny donated, either in campaignexpenses or in refunds to donors. The bottom line: lobbyists'actions couldn't benefit the personal interests of thecongressman.
Some may argue that congressmen should be allowed the perks oflobbying since most could be making more money in private life. Myanswer to that is that while a Senate salary (somewhere in the$150,000 range) may be trivial to John Kerry or George W. Bush,there are teachers, firemen and nurses all over the country whowould jump at that money and who, I suspect, would represent usbetter than the army of Ivy Leaguers currently in office.
So is this a harsh idea? Perhaps. Is there a chance any of itwill happen? Of course not. No politician stands to gain fromremoving money from the process. The only ones who would benefitare the American people, and sadly, even in an election year, thatalone just isn't enough.
Write to Jake at
jymoore@bsu.edu
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
