Normally, I’m not on the crusade many bloggers are when it comes to criticizing the traditional media, but the details being left out of the corruption stories are really problematic.
The other day I criticized coverage of Peter Roskam, but let’s look at coverage of Durbin and Schakowksy from last month.
In January, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), a leading spokesman for Democrats on ethics reform, adopted an office policy banning any privately paid travel. The same month, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) adopted the Democratic Party’s proposal as an office policy, limiting trips to those paid for by tax-exempt charities.
Democrats need to do better and the reason should be obvious. I’m assuming 501 (c) 3’s are the charities that can pay for travel under the proposal, but the problem with this is that at the center of the DeLay scandal. DeLay’s trip to Scotland to go golfing was paid for by a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3, The National Center for Public Policy Research. Scroll down to the bottom where you find
The National Center, which officially opened on February 2, 1982, is a 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code. Its tax ID number is 52-1226614. Donations to The National Center and its projects are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated.
Now, I’m the first to say that the Aspen Institute is a great organization that does interesting events, but by allowing such organizations to continue to sponsor lawmaker trips, we leave the problem in place. Unfortunately the story doesn’t explain why this is so problematic so the exemption seems exceptionally reasonable even though using such an organization is exactly how Abramoff, DeLay and Ney exploited the system.
Democrats need to play cleaner (and yes the Creamer sentencing highlights this as well–same excuse as DeLay–no one personally gained….) for both the ethical reasons and the political strategy.
Congress needs to tighten its rules, but much of the talk about corruption and travel is just a politicians way of avoiding talking about really tough issues.
That’s true both right and left for both parties