In a recent Gallup poll on Honesty & Ethics in Professions the usual professions ranked highest (nurses at 81%) and lowest (car salespeople and lobbyists at 7%). However, one profession that continues to decline is that of our U.S. legislators. Members of Congress are trusted by only 9% of the population.
Think about this for a minute. We trust our senators and representatives much less than we trust lawyers, and only slightly more than we trust car salespeople. Plus, the trend has been heading downward. This poll was taken before the tax cut debate, which means the figures would probably be even lower today.
The citizens of this country are becoming more and more concerned about losing representation in Congress. Congressional actions during the healthcare debate, Wall Street bailout, and the recent efforts to extend tax cuts for the rich, have crystallized this concern for many people. These actions showcase the “corporatization” of our legislative process.
Most of the legislators speaking on the floor of the House or Senate do not speak for you and me. They speak for the officers and directors of the Wall Street banks, Big Pharma, Big Oil, and the Military Industrial Complex. This is not what our founding fathers had in mind when they established a “Government by the People - for the People.”
The good news is that this public awakening may lead to some “real” reform. By this I don’t mean “real” healthcare, corporate finance, or tax reform (It’s too late for that). What I do mean is U.S. Government Reform. If our government expects to maintain the faith of the people, it will need to address two key issues:
- Campaign finance reform focusing on corporate funding restrictions.
- Closing the “revolving door” that exists between Congress and K Street.
Corporations are an important part of American life, and so are special interest groups. The lobbyists who represent these organizations also serve an important role. They provide “advice and assistance” to our legislators. Unfortunately, in the last few decades, their role has moved from “advising” to “controlling” the legislative process. The K Street Project (launched by Tom Delay and Grover Norquist in 1995) was instrumental in establishing de facto lobbyist control over Congress.
This trend needs to be reversed. Corporations, special interest groups, and lobbyists need to return to having an arms-length relationship with Congress, so that Congress can return to being solely representative of the people.
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Comments
John – You’re right. Congress is in a state of gridlock. They can no longer act until someone from K Street tells them what they’re supposed to do.
Steve – Actually, I think if we switched legislators for rodeo clowns we may be better off.
Roger – I’m not too sure lobbyists even care if they’ve been vilified. As you know, pond scum feels quite comfortable living at the bottom of the lake.
Scanner – Indeed, lobbyists are like leeches, but they can be burned off. We just need to keep the fires burning.
I watch the Australian government fairly closely. I love their government. It's a parliamentary government and the Aussies have at least 5 ACTIVE parties. Aussies are required by law to vote and their voting method is a preferential vote. Their ballots include all running candidates, let's say 5. They vote for all of them in order of preference (the same for ballot measures). The candidate with the most votes wins the election.
We Americans are so thoroughly brainwashed from the moment we can perceive concepts such as freedom, that we think the so called "democracy" in the U.S. is the only true and proper democracy.
Well, look where that's gotten us.
You talk to folks about the two-party system and they automatically think in terms of “two-party, it’s democracy,” “one party, it’s communist.” A lot of people I speak to get the deer in the headlights look when you speak of multiple active parties. What???
Government reform is indeed the only way out of this mess.
There is no doubt at all that you are correct in saying that government reform is needed. One of the major obstacles to that is the only body with power enough to initiate such reform is the government itself ( not a coincidence, I suspect).
Another problem is that as soon as you mention such reform to most folks, that spoiled brat, pouty, stubborn lower lip out, belligerent look comes over their faces. Is there anything in the world so frustrating as taking to someone who DEMANDS that government make needed and necessary changes, yet does not want any changes made to ensure that this can, and will, be done?
For instance: We KNOW that voting politicians into positions of authority and power does not work. We know that they become corrupt and venal soon after first getting elected. But dare to suggest that we really ought to select our law-makers differently, such as by lottery, and anyone you talk to will immediately begin to defend the present system even though they agree that it doesn't work!!
There is also no use offering any idea that would improve things either. If it won't make things absolutely perfect, and easily be understood to do so, then they will argue that it has flaws - even though it might be light-years ahead of the horrendously flawed system that we have now, if it is anything less than absolutely perfect, it will be rejected. Improvement is not enough to gain acceptance - or even to get it looked at seriously - they demand that it be without flaw.
I too have always been impressed by the way Aussies run their government. In an earlier post, for example, I praised the Australian government’s handling of the economic downturn through infrastructure stimulus.
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_rockford/2010/06/15/the_australian_economic_stimulus_package_-_it_works
You’re obviously very aware of the benefits of their parliamentary system. This would be a great topic for an in-depth OS post. You should think about writing one. I can’t wait to read it.
Thanks………..Steven
By the way, here's a very revealing trend...not good. The dip in unemployment is due to temporary holiday hiring by big retail firms, especially shippers and big box retailers. But small business trending tends to predict future economic growth better than anything--70% of all employees work in small businesses. Terrifying:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/144863/Larger-Companies-Hiring-Smallest-Not.aspx
Rated.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/5248/Big-Business.aspx
At the turn of the century, 52% of Americans thought that large corporations should have less influence in the country, 36% said the same. Now the numbers stand at 68% and 24%, with only 7% thinking they should have more. The last groups is evidently the ones reaping the most from the tax cuts. And CEOs.