“If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, smells like a duck, and quacks … it’s a duck” – anonymous
“What’s in a name? A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet” – Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet.”
“Being President of this country is entirely about character.” – Aaron Sorkin “The American President” /screenplay / YouTube.
Santorum, Gingrich & Lobbying
Since he lost his reelection campaign in 2006, the Honorable former Senator, Rick Santorum, has been consulting, primarily to companies which benefited from legislation he pushed as a Senator. He earned over $1.0 Million in 2010. Like the Honorable Mr. Gingrich, we know Mr. Santorum is not a “Lobbyist” because he has not REGISTERED as a “Lobbyist.” (NY Times article by Mike McIntire and Michael Luo here and Op-Ed by Maureen Dowd here.)
However, as reported (here) by ABC News, the non-profit “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington” (CREW) filed a complaint with the U.S. attorney in D.C. and the FBI in which it claims Gingrich repeatedly met with or called members of Congress to pressure them to pass a contentious 2003 Medicare reform bill — legislation from which members of a Gingrich-founded group may have directly profited and Gingrich himself may have indirectly benefitted. (Press Release, here).
These men may try to sell us the Brooklyn Bridge. Or they may try to lease it to someone else, who will in turn erect toll booths and charge us to drive, bike, or walk across.
A lawyer I work with suggests that like the Citizens United matter, Mr. Santorum and Mr. Gingrich are exercising their First Amendment rights of Free Speech and Assembly. So my comment in “The Times” (# 56, here) asked if Mr. Santorum’s work is free speech, legalized insider trading or institutionalized corruption.
However, I think the First Amendment issue, is a red herring. The issue is not lobbying. The issue is lobbying while not registered as a lobbyist. You can’t drive without a driver’s license. If you try, you face jail. Even if no laws were broken by Mr. Santorum and Mr. Gingrich, lobbying without registering as lobbyists raises concerns about integrity and a respect for the rule of law.
This illustrates the characters of these men who would be President. In “The American President,” written by Aaron Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, and Martin Sheen, Douglas, in the role of President Andrew Shepherd said, “I’ve been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: being President of this country is entirely about character.” (screenplay / YouTube).
Legal insider trading is another issue. But if it is legal insider trading – why? Why should Presidents, Judges, members of Congress, and people on their staffs be exempt from insider trading regulations? Because they have our best interests at heart? Shouldn’t they be subject to strict insider trading regulations, just like bankers and brokers? Or regulations stricter since they enforce, interpret, or make the law. Shouldn’t there be stricter laws regulating lobbying by recent members of Congress, and staffers? Regulations including placing investments over, for example $500,000, in a blind trust, and a prohibition from lobbying after leaving office for elected officials and judges for at least 6 years. If the men and women who are called to serve truly have our best interests at heart, would they welcome such restrictions as freeing them from distractions?
The Internet and Sunlight
Fortunately, in this age of the Internet, facts can be “aired” in perpetuity. The NY Times’ article on Santorum, like Perry’s statement that “there are three agencies I’d abolish, Education, Commerce, and … I can’t remember … oops … ” Will be remembered. As either Teddy Roosevelt, the last Great Republican President, or Franklin Roosevelt, the traitor to his class, but not his people, said, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
Similarly, Romney’s “Rick, I’ll tell you what — $10,000 bucks, $10,000 bet,” (CBS News) will dog him and tag him as an elitist Wall Street Bankster and One-Percent-er more than anything Gingrich, Santorum, Paul, Obama or anyone else could say. And his driving 12 hours with a his dog, Seamus, in a carrier strapped to the roof of the car … is this man is fit to be President?
Questions for the Candidates
We need to judge Santorum, Paul, Gingrich, Romney, and Obama on their character, and also question the candidates on Energy, Health Care, Jobs, Economics and the Environment. The Four Riders of the Apocalypse may be far to Obama’s right, they and the President may be men of honor or men without integrity. All have a bully pulpit from which they must describe a vision for our future. Whether it is compelling, or irrelevant; that which will be most resonant with the voting subset of the American electorate remains to be seen.
–
Popular Logistics focuses on POLICY, not Politics. However, to make Policy you need to be effective at Politics. Therefore, we will cover the 2012 Presidential election, and other local elections.