Common Cause Blog :: The "Thankless Job" of Ethics Reform

The "Thankless Job" of Ethics Reform

By Kathryn Sovonick -- Intern
Posted on Wed May 30, 2007 at 12:06:17 PM EST

On Friday, May 24th the House of Representatives passed an ethics reform bill with a 382 to 37 vote. The bill was brought to the floor through the advocacy of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Martin T. Meehan (D-MA). The proposal calls for the provision of bundling reform, which requires lobbyists to disclose all campaign contributions made to members of congress. It also establishes a firmer system of monitoring lobbyists' charity contributions on behalf lawmakers.

Of course, in order to ensure these provisions, Congress had to drop the provision of the "revolving door" reform, which require that former Representatives wait an additional year until they are eligible to work as lobbyists after serving in Congress. Clearly, it has proven to be rather difficult for these lawmakers to enforce these ethics reforms.

In order to keep Congress on top of these issues, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi granted Representative Michael Capuano (D-MA) the position of chairman to a bipartisan ethics taskforce of eight members. Capuano, although he recognizes the perils of investigating and inhibiting lobbyist activity, remains strong in his decision to follow through with tougher ethics reform. In fact, he is remaining steadfast in his decision to promote a cleaner Congress, and will work on promoting the formation of an independent ethics-case review panel for the House.

Capuano, though he realizes that enforcing stronger ethics reforms will make his work more difficult, nobly accepts his "thankless job" , which will not help him "win any friends". His ascent into martyrdom may seem dramatic, but he is only in fact doing his job as U.S. Representative: catering to the interests of the public, and not the special interests.

Embracing and monitoring reform should not be observed as a gritty act of heroism, but rather as the daily duty of every lawmaker.

Tags: Michael Capuano, Ethics in Government, Government Accountability, lobby reform (all tags)

The "Thankless Job" of Ethics Reform :: 9 Comments

I like the ethics reform bill.

I think this is a great idea. It seems that these days lobbyists can easy influence a politician, as long as a large money contribution is involved. In order to prevent this excessive large contribution of money, this bill is great because it ensures that politicians are influenced for good reasons and not selfish ones. There should be more individuals like Capuano, who do things for the public interest and good, and not to make himself look good.

by snehap on Wed Jun 20, 2007 at 02:25:18 PM EST

Not a bad Idea

I think our government sometimes makes the law a little randomly and rushy. This bill gives different ethnic groups a chance to speak out and the lobbyists can no longer ignore such dissatisfied voices. They must learn how to make policy that would benefit both government and every human being in this country. I think this is a great step for our congress to realize the importance of popular sentiments

by cc34278 on Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 12:57:22 PM EST

"Thankless"

I completely agree with this new reform of Congress. In essence, this should force representatives in Congress to actually think through the bills that they have supported in the past. Rather than have financial backing to persuade Congress for or against certain bills, lobbyists now will have to rely on the actual bill to persuade members of Congress. Decisions would be based on ethics rather than on monetary sway.

And since when is enforcing ethics a "thankless job"? Members of Congress may not like the new enforcement due to their lack of additional income, but the American people should be applauding this enforcement. The end product, the actual laws put into place by Congress affect the entire American public. If they're supposed to be based on ethics, why in the world would we not applaud someone who is trying to reform Congress back to that standard?

by Flyingrc40 on Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 03:20:33 PM EST

Kudos to Capuano

This is a great step in the direction our Congress needs to be headed in. It's about time that we had some ethics in this government of ours. Members of Congress must now think twice about what bills are actually worthy of consideration. As for lobbyists, they will have at least a little more control, but in my opinion still not enough.

Capuano has the right mind, and he is doing great things. Thank you for bringing us back to where we should be.

by lawngnomes4pres on Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 03:33:39 PM EST

Thankless Job should be thanked

I really like the idea of this ethics reform bill. Measures like this to limit the actions of lobbyists and to clean up Congress should've come even sooner and should be common sense. I am glad that people like Capuano still exist in politics to ensure the interests of the public and to remember his real duty as a U.S. Representative. Capuano should be seen as a role model for other U.S. Representatives for his noble work in monitoring and enforcing these ethics reforms.

by alexandra on Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 06:34:52 PM EST

Twice Baked Lobbyist Reform??

After reading the above article and reviewing the mentioned opinions, I find the overall commentary disingenous. What strikes me as comical is that any new congressional leadership, Democrat or Republican, always find the time to announce ethics or some pseudo reform, reassuring their constituents and pretending their actions are actually accomplishing something. Just read the article and you'll realize that they don't even have the leadership or courage to get rid of the revolving door reform. To actually accomplish somethng they need to go to the heart of the actual problem, the often "too close" relationship between congressional members and lobbyists. Why is Mike Capuano's job considered thankless, when all he is doing is getting people to actually follow the rules and do the job that they're required. Congress should not need some ehtical reform to do their job, they should possess the ethics to do it without instruction.

by lamarduffer89 on Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 11:53:08 PM EST

What's thankless about doing your job.

by lamarduffer89 on Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 11:54:06 PM EST

Thumbs up to ethics reform

Congress has been corrupted for quite a long time. While providing goods and services to its citizens, it also is not 100% just and fair. The ethics reform bill will help to put an end to biased opinions and draw out decisions purely based on morals. The bill probably won't completely stop corruption, but it will definite reduce it. Lobbyists should have to rely on common facts and means of persuasion without using money or other "gifts", which is exactly the way it should be. Capuano does have a thankless job, not in the eyes of the whole country but in the eyes of congressmen who want their "presents" from lobbyists. Many have gotten used to the idea of getting goodies for what they do. Now they will get nothing. But overall, Capuano is forcing our country in a positive direction.

by Candace on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 07:50:04 AM EST

Good Idea!

This is a good idea of Capuano's. It is good that someone is taking the time to show people some ethics. Hopefully many people will be inspired by him and follow his steps for this corruption has got to stop. It is not good that lobbyists are influencing politicians to their advantage because the mess everyone else up. Capuano will one day be thanked for taking a stand a putting a stop to this.

by Arl3n3 on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 11:22:05 PM EST

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The "Thankless Job" of Ethics Reform

By Kathryn Sovonick -- InternPosted on Wed May 30, 2007 at 12:06:17 PM EST

By Kathryn Sovonick -- Intern
Posted on Wed May 30, 2007 at 12:06:17 PM EST