Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have been making a case against House Minority Leader Tom Delay over his congressional travel and whether or not there were any ethics violations involved in accepting travel from lobbyists. In an article that should been titled "people in glass houses" the Associated Press reported over the weekendhttp://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DELAY_CONGRESSIONAL_TRAVEL?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-05-31-11-05-46
that 43 members of the house had failed to meet ethics requirements for reporting privately sponsored travel. The scandal here is not whether or not there was late reporting of these trips but why they are allowed at all.
Call it what you will, fact finding trips, speaking tours, constituent service etc., the sole purpose of these gifts is to buy face time with members of congress and have a lengthy opportunity to spend intimate time with decision makers . Corporations, think tanks, foundations, universities and others who engage in this practice are all agenda driven insiders who know that the way to a congressman or women's heart is through their beach or golf bag.
The simple fact of the matter is that these perks are provided with the implicit guarantee that the recipient of the gift will respond with a friendly reception to a conversation regarding the position of the donor. This is the primary example beyond campaign donations of the influence that money has in governing. Do you think you or I or any other constituent could get four or five hours of uninterrupted time with our senate or house representative to discuss issues close to our hearts or pocketbooks? I am sure you could if you could provide two first class plane tickets to California and a foursome at Pebble Beach. There is an old adage in golf that he who pays for the foursome gets to choose who he rides in the cart with.
Gifts like these should not be an issue of ethics but an issue of law. Members of congress should be prevented by law from accepting travel or any other gifts from special interest groups of any kind. If the job of a representative or senator requires travel for fact finding then let the government pay for it and account for it. In the end it would be much cheaper for the tax payer.
