Policy is the Real Scandal
Policy is the Real Scandal
February 17, 2006
The scandal of Members of Congress taking bribes is real. One California Republican Congressman, who served on the committee that decides spending on military projects, recently pleaded guilty to taking more than a million dollars in bribes from defense contractors. Other Members, including the former Republican leader of the House of Representatives, are under federal investigation for similar crimes, in what may be the largest scandal in Congressional history.
No one in our nation is above the law. Those Members of Congress and those in the Bush administration who have committed crimes must be punished. Much has been written about what Congressional leaders and White House insiders have received from rogue lobbyists. But little has been said about the even greater scandalhow the public was hurt by the legislation that these criminals sold to the highest bidder. Real attention should be paid to harmful legislation, such as the Medicare prescription drug bill and the energy bills, resulting from this pervasive culture of corruption and cronyism.
As I meet with, and hear from, folks around south central Wisconsin, there is uniform anger and disbelief over the complexity and poorly managed roll-out of the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. "How," they ask me, "did we get saddled with such a rotten program?" The sad truth is that President Bush gave the large drug companies carte blanche to write legislation that put millions of dollars in their own pockets at the expense of the millions of Americans struggling to pay for medications they need.
Helping guide that legislation through the Congress was a Republican Congressman from Louisiana who chaired the House committee that regulates the pharmaceutical industry. Shortly after helping pass the Medicare Part D plan that so clearly favored the large drug companies rather than consumers, that Member left the Congress to become the new president and CEO of the drug industry's top lobbying group with a pay package reportedly worth at least $2 million a year. As long as President Bush allows powerful special interests to write legislation in secret and rewards his cronies with no-bid government contracts, working families in Wisconsin will continue to be hurt by this administration's policies.
Each time we go the gas station to fill up our cars, now paying more than $2.30 a gallon, we wonder why prices got so high. When President Bush first took office, the average price of a gallon of gas was $1.40. Since then, however, Congressional Republicans, under the direction of the White House, have passed two energy bills that do little to address the nation's urgent energy concerns, little to encourage renewable and alternative energy sources, and little to encourage energy conservation.
What they've done, spectacularly well, is provide government subsidies and special tax breaks that helped the major oil companies rack up record breaking profits. ExxonMobil Corp. reported annual profits up 43% in 2005 with earnings totaling $36.13 billion. Yes, that's billion . . .with a b. ConocoPhillips reported a 51% increase in 4th quarter 2005 profits; Chevron posted 4th quarter profits up 20% from the previous year. These staggering profits are the direct result of energy policies crafted in secret meetings between Vice President Cheney and oil industry executives. As long as President Bush allows powerful special interests to write legislation in secret and rewards his cronies with no-bid government contracts, working families in Wisconsin will continue to be hurt by this administration's policies.
The Federal government awards billions in government contracts - including some to the defense contractors who bribed an influential Congressman; many to Halliburton, a company once headed by Vice President Cheney; some to contractors shipping unwanted or unused materials to Louisiana while thousands of Gulf Coast residents are still stranded in motel rooms without jobs, homes, or hope. As long as President Bush allows powerful special interests to write legislation or award government contracts in secret and rewards his cronies with no-bid government contracts, working families in Wisconsin will continue to be hurt by this administration's policies.
We are right to investigate improper acts when they occur. But we should just as forcefully investigate this administration's misguided policies that pose great threats to our democracy, our economy, our security, and our families.
The culture of corruption in Washington includes lobbyists, for sure, but it neither begins nor ends with them. As we consider federal and financial reforms, it's not enough to just spray the leaves of the scandal tree, we must dig it out at the roots.
http://www.tammybaldwin.house.gov/columns_display_page.asp?page=columndisplay&type=3&releaseid=60