Posted on 02/12/2021 12:47:55 PM PST by Kaslin
"With great power comes even greater responsibility." Though this maxim most-likely was born in French politics of the 18th century, it very much applies to our elected officials in the 21st century.
But, far from just a hopeful, high-minded missive, in our system of government there are actually built-in laws and rules that require this “greater responsibility“ from our political leaders--our ethics laws. Though not nearly as high-profile as votes, floor speeches, and TV interviews, Members must be aware they are now governed by a set of rules designed to ensure integrity and transparency and it's critical they follow them. Based on the past...many will struggle. In hopes of avoiding this, here are some repeated ethics missteps and temptations for them to avoid, and my hope is that every Member does.
Perhaps the most common violation Members make is failing to file complete and accurate financial disclosures. Disclosure is the only method for voters to determine whether a Member has a conflict of interest or personally benefits from his or her official duties. Yet, time and time again Members don’t file timely or accurate disclosures. One example from the last Congress is Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania who failed to include his wife’s income on two years of financial disclosures, a clear violation of the rules. Concerning in this case was that he had included his wife’s income in prior years and his wife was a partner in a specialized law firm--one that would have benefitted from legislation Cartwright sponsored. Cartwright was later forced to amend his disclosure forms.
In an attempt to curb insider trading and conflicts of interest, the STOCK Act required Members to disclose financial transactions to the public in a timely manner. For instance, if a lawmaker is trading individual stocks they must disclose the trades within 45 days. In 2020, FACT filed two ethics complaints against (now former) Rep. Donna Shalala of Florida for failing to disclose financial transactions within the required 45 day window. In both instances the transactions were reported well past the deadline and only after coming under scrutiny. Failure to report this vital information is not only a clear disregard for transparency and violation of the law, but it inhibits the public’s ability to determine whether the Member is regulating an industry and then receiving a personal financial benefit. In this case, Rep. Shalala was fined.
In addition to fulfilling their Congressional duties, Members are often simultaneously running for reelection. One unfortunate trend has been for candidates to coordinate with outside groups. This is illegal. During the last cycle, FACT filed multiple complaints against Gary Peters of Michigan, Sara Gideon of Maine, Theresa Greenfield of Iowa, and Cal Cunningham of North Carolina for coordinating with outside political groups, constituting illegal in-kind contributions to their campaigns. Unfortunately some of the same Members who decry super PACs have used their campaign websites to communicate with them, giving precise direction on advertising, including messaging content, campaign photos and videos to be used in the ads, and media markets in which to run them. There is no doubt super PACs and other outside groups are republishing official campaign photos and video in their advertisements. Whether the FEC acts on these violations is another issue, but it is obvious some campaigns are operating in a manner that violates the purpose of the law and their official campaign materials are being republished by super PACs.
Ultimately, our elected officials are beholden to those they represent. But the burden falls on the public to hold candidates and elected officials accountable. Those running for office must be held to the highest ethical standard, as many will later be sworn to defend the laws of the United States. People wishing to engage in the political process have a duty to familiarize themselves with the laws governing their activities--and to then follow them both before and after being elected. In this day and age, there are simply no excuses for cutting corners by skirting federal ethics laws.
LOL!
“”With great power comes even greater responsibility.” Though this maxim most-likely was born in French politics of the 18th century ...”
The writer is acting like Spiderman doesn’t even exist.
LOL, of course they are optional. Good morning Rip van Winkle.
Neither is the Constitution of the United States, and our
other Founding Documents.
“Dear Members of Congress, the Nation’s Ethics Laws Are Not Optional”
You filed this under “NEWS”. Wouldn’t “HUMOR” be a more appropriate category?
LOL Yeah ... Dear people of the US, Congress has it’s own ethical standards. Suck it up, buttercup.
Yep. The thing about Congress is that they exempt themselves from the rules they make for us.
It’s like Magna Carta never even happened.
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE REPUBLICANS
“With great power comes even greater responsibility.” Though this maxim most-likely was born in French politics of the 18th century ...”Not only that, she used the wrong quote, if she's referring to Congress.The writer is acting like Spiderman doesn’t even exist.
Most of the elected ones are really Democrats wearing R jerseys as camouflage.
Enforcement of the laws is completely optional for Democrats.
Got news for you, all laws they pass are optional....unless you are republican.
A Marxist is not beholding to ethics laws.
“In this day and age, there are simply no excuses for cutting corners by skirting federal ethics laws.”
How about this excuse: all leftist thought is of and from Satan, so all leftists are eager to perpetrate and profit from evil?
“What the hell is wrong with the republicans?”
Almost all of them are to some degree leftists.
I guess these Dems haven’t read the Bible’s Ten Suggestions lately. (New Biden Translation Edition)
“Every knee shall bow to the BLM heroes.”
“Do unto a conservative before he can do unto you.”
“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE REPUBLICANS”
They are in-the-club Democrats/Uniparty.
I’ve thought about that “absolute power” corruption effect on the Left:
K-12 school system, most of judicial system with SCOTUS in danger of packing now, intelligence community, monopolies of social media and YouTube, TV and online news media giants, all of academia, most mayors and governors, sports leagues, many large corporations, House,Senate, President.
Hope it doesn’t cause Hunter and Joe to be tempted to cheat and swindle for money./S
Read later.
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