The editors of the Washington Post jump on the same podium as I did yesterday:
But Congress must shine a light on past misdeeds as well. Although the Office of Compliance has now released total figures for all settlements paid out in the legislative branch from 1997 onward, the data are vague: There’s no information as to how many cases were resolved, which offices were involved and how much of the $17 million total in settlements concerned sexual harassment complaints. What’s more, the tally doesn’t include settlements such as that reached by Mr. Conyers, whose office further obscured the complaint by paying the victim directly as a “temporary employee.†Lawmakers should make public as much information as possible about these settlements while respecting victims’ privacy. Americans have a right to know how their money was spent.
I don’t think that people appreciate how serious this is. The Congress does not have the power to use public money as apparently was the case. It is not among Congress’s enumerated powers and it is by no stretch of the imagination interstate commerce, the figleaf that has been used to cover most of the Congress’s overreach over the period of the last eighty years.
I think this is a real scandal and crisis. How do you reform the very fabric of the Congress? Impeachment of individual Congressmen doesn’t accomplish that. And if the White House knew about it it’s 1,000 times worse.
All systems are eventually overwhelmed by their internal contradictions. Representative government has failed because the powers that go with holding elective office incentivize abusive behaviors that undermine the office and the institution. Reformists are living in a fantasy.
I agree the money should be disclosed. There is one other aspect about the political context that I haven’t seen discussed. Among the many stories about harassment around the Illinois state government, there were people unwilling to identify the harasser because its against their interest in a way somewhat peculiar to politics.
For example, a lobbyist for the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club complained that is she has been groped and had her hair pulled, but there is no benefit to her to call an elected official out. So she hoped that by airing the complaint would encourage elected officials to shape-up without publicly identifying them. She’s influencing elected officials by threatening to report official misconduct if they don’t act as she wishes. Almost sounds like blackmail, and while it may have been meant only with respect to sexual harassment, it may be interpreted as a vehicle for a lobbyist to gain legislative influence.
So even without the legislative slush fund, there is an ethical problem here. She almost certainly is talking about Democrats; she probably doesn’t have any important contacts with many Republicans and in any event, she doesn’t want the type of elected official that interacts with her to become alienated from her, have his his close colleagues close their door on her, or lose the next election. She has to be a team player to do her job and certainly its the elected officials fault, but she’s part of the team.
We have plenty of experience that Congress cannot reform itself. We have plenty of experience that the two political parties care about balance-of-power politics above all else. The courts likely will not weigh in on an issue that affects another branch directly. That leaves the voters as the last stop and we rarely care about systemic problems, preferring to punish offenders on a case-by-case basis.
This is very apparently a problem that can’t be corrected on a case-by-case basis.
Why am I so concerned about this? Because I doubt that it stops with the $27 million siphoned off for hush money. Who knows how much money is being misused? If the auditors aren’t auditing, it could be anything.
I agree – I probably should have said on a “selective” basis as opposed to “case-by-case.” In either case, the public needs to take action but I doubt any outrage will overwhelm all the factors in favor of the status quo. Congress’ approval rating can’t get any lower.
All of those payments should go public. The should be fixed, bootlick Andy I am not sure Congress can fix itself. When you look at the history of the bill that enabled this to happen, it was the first bill passed in the 104th Congress. A new party comes into power, and the first thing they do is make sure the taxpayers pay when they sexually harass someone. Sure underlines their priorities. But then, the voters are also a problem. In all of those polls that show people have a very low opinion of Congress, they rate their own congressperson highly, and they keep re-electing the same people. Why should Congress change if the voters are going to keep voting for them anyway?
Steve
Oops, autocorrect issue. Did not call Andy a bootlick.
Steve
Damn you, autocorrect!
Not any more. They rate them higher than Congress as a whole but not highly. Lukewarm cf here:
http://news.gallup.com/poll/1600/congress-public.aspx
Steve. You found me out!
The system is rotten to the core, but still, some of you still refuse to accept that the time to fix it is long past. I would suggest getting those marshmallows, hotdogs, and roasting sticks before they are all gone, but each to his own.
Burn, baby, burn.
This is very apparently a problem that can’t be corrected on a case-by-case basis.
I kind of think it will be — attacked at least if not “corrected.” Imagine a scenario in which 6 months out the year some Republican congressman is nailed for sexual harassment, and the other 6 months Democrats are outed. Maybe a Republican cabinet member will lose his job, maybe a prominent Democrat, maybe for variety’s sake a pair of high up civil servants. Maybe we’ll kick out a few women, maybe we’ll balance white departures against the Hispanics and Blacks.
I could see this going on happily for several years, with both Republicans and Democrats participating enthusiastically. It’s an easy game to play and you get a lot of points just from making allegations, even if they’re never substantiated.
We’ll NEED a new communal sport after they close down football.
The reason that won’t address the problem is that the aides, staff, and processes will remain even after any single Congressmen has been voted out of office. This stuff just continues on automatic pilot.
Conyers or Hastert or whoever didn’t sneak in one night and alter the books. There are so many controls involved it has to be a truly systemic problem that’s bigger than any small group of Congressmen.
Boy, politicians are lying no good sons of……
Tomorrow there will be some issue, and the reaction will be “the government should do something.”
We have lost our way. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Oh, and by the way, who’s on Dancing With the Stars tonight…………….