OPINION: Pay-for-play politics — a national sin

An umpire who uses his game-time authority to get rich is corrupt. A journalist who is bribed into editorial decisions is morally bankrupt. A judge who issues decisions based on cash handshakes is a crook in his own court. These three examples would all be embarrassments to their professions.

Yet, in our nation, a Congressman who takes money or gifts from those seeking to influence his decisions on the laws of the land is just conducting business as usual. He’s even boastful about his integrity as he takes contributions from those who seek to secure his vote on legislation. He’s just acting like all his fellow legislators. That’s true. He can take comfort in the “everybody’s doing it” excuse. But it’s still corrupt, even if it’s widescale.

This setup is, in fact, a national sin. And, to some extent, we are all culpable. As a nation we have not demanded more of our politicians and of our political structure. We are too ready to say, ‘Oh, that’s just the way it is. Washington will never change.” Then we get fired up about one party or another and act as if the see-saw isn’t broken in the middle.

In his book, “Throw them all out,” outspoken conservative Peter Schweizer took aim at Republicans and Democrats in Congress who have used their position to make millions.

Schweizer notes that while the average American household has lost up to 20 percent of its net worth since 2008, members of Congress have increased their net worth by 25 percent in the same time period. These elected officials are privy to valuable information. And a number of them use that inside information on the Stock Market. Seems criminal, for sure, but that insider trading is just an institutional perk of the job in Congress, along with the nice pensions and health care plans. And who’s going to make laws against such action, Congress?

Naturally, that title — “Throw them all out” — leads to the follow up question: And replace them with what?

Time after time, we see the public respond to ineffectual leadership with the “throw-them-all-out” attitude at the polls. Then the new bunch becomes the same old bunch and we repeat the cycle over and over.

It’s easy to get mad at the individuals. Say the names Nancy Pelosi or John Boehner and see how a Republican or Democrat will respond.

But the ouster of individual politicians doesn’t alter the fundamental problem. We have a political pay-for-play system that undermines the entire legislative process.

For instance, the laws set after the Great Depression to protect the nation from the worst kinds of speculative trading were stripped away in the late 90s by Congress, which received big money from big banks, who said they were smart enough to gamble with big risks. Those politicians liked getting the cash from Wall Street and dropped the old rules that limited risky betting. Those banks then failed spectacularly and brought down the entire economy. Congressmen then bailed out their contributors in spectacular fashion. The $700 billion bailout is actually not what the federal government spent on the rescue plan. According to a current report in The Atlantic news magazine, “Add up guarantees and lending limits, and the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system,” the Atlantic stated.

Wow, a nearly $8 trillion bailout!

This is a direct result of Congress taking the money and giving Wall Street what it wanted. They were bought off. And this self interest is ultimately at the heart of our financial collapse. When Wall Street got drunk on mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps, gambling away all that money, Congress jumped in with $8 trillion for those who squandered everything. Amazing! Congress enabled the casino years of high risk gambling on Wall Street, then paid nearly $8 trillion to cover the gambling debts, leaving millions in dire straits afterwards. People who have suffered are certainly angry, often swinging wildly in one direction or another, but many have no concept of this enormous swindle. They still put hope that this politician or party will alter the way business is done. Sadly, that just won’t happen, not without a deeper change to the system.

That means people of the left and right, people with the Tea Party and with Occupy Wall Street, people young and old — all of these people need a cohesive message.

“Hey, Congress shouldn’t be about self service. It’s about public service.”

A judge would never get a pass for taking a bribe in exchange for a decision. A Congressman shouldn’t either. The political system must be altered to vilify what is truly villainous — not reward it. We must call for campaign finance reform, term limits, cutbacks in Congressional perks and the criminalization and prosecution of insider trading by members of Congress who enjoy the advantage of “in-the-know” committee seats.

If this country can’t put aside our partisan hatreds and join together to push for such needed action, then we are also to blame for our political failings.

Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal.