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Ethics of Congress

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005 · No Comments

delay.jpg Oh how sweet it is to be a United States Congress person. Earn a six-figure salary. Fly in a private jet. Go to the office only part of the year. Have those lobbying for your attention cover your and your family’s expenses (business and personal). Investigate yourself when you exhibit questionable ethics. Have a $1 million job lined up for you when you retire. The list goes on.

LA Times | Ethics: In the Eye of the Beholden?

One change would let special interests begin to pay some of a representative’s official operating expenses — in effect, making the member beholden for the daily activities of his or her congressional office. Another would increase the number of family members allowed to go on junkets paid for by private interests, a move seen as weakening the rules designed to keep members of Congress independent of outside groups.

The House proposals to loosen ethics restrictions parallel a lack of reform efforts on ethics issues in the Congress as a whole.

In a similar case, Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin, (R-La.), who helped oversee the pharmaceutical industry, will become president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on Monday, when he retires from Congress.

The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will earn more than $1 million a year in his new job.

More…

(Thanks, Jen, for the LA Times story.)

Tags: politics