The Republican Party Stands Against and Ignores Government Ethics, All in One Day
I make a great effort to be nonpartisan in choosing what and whom I
write about. I am an unaffiliated voter who
believes in nonpartisan local government. But yesterday, the Republican
Party took a strong stand against government ethics and, in its most
important statement in years, totally ignored it.<br>
<br>
Yesterday, Senate Republicans unanimously voted against even debating<a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s3295/text" target="”_blank”">the DISCLOSE Act</a>,
which
would have required the major donors to organizations paying for
independent political ads to be identified. There apparently was not
even a willingness on the part of Senate Republicans to negotiate about
specific areas of dispute. What part of the electorate could the
Republicans possibly have been representing in their opposition to
letting people know who is paying for the ads they watch, hear, and
read?<br>
<br>
Yesterday, the Republican Party presented its <a href="http://pledge.gop.gov/resources/library/documents/pledge/a-pledge-to-am…; target="”_blank”">Pledge
to
America</a>, a 48-page document that has nothing in it about
government ethics, except for the use of the word "transparency," which
is hard to believe after yesterday's Senate vote.<br>
<br>
The Pledge does contain a "Plan to Restore
Trust" (p. 33). Usually, restoring trust involves dealing with ethics
issues, but this plan does not. It proposes to have every bill contain
a citation of constitutional authority, to give representatives three
days to read each bill before voting, and to make it easier to
eliminate unnecessary spending. Reforming Congress is important, but it
is hardly the only way to restore trust.<br>
<br>
At the local level, both parties have opposed and sponsored valuable
ethics reform, mostly the former. The failure of Republicans at the
national level to recognize the importance of government ethics gives
it a very low priority that will likely be embraced at the local level,
as well.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
---