Lawmakers shouldn't be for sale ? and corporations shouldn't buy ...

? Corporations shouldn?t buy political access | Home

By Lauren | March 28, 2012

After this week?s report on the ?pay to play? scandal breaking in Britain, I started poking around the NPR website to see what related stories might be breaking in the U.S. It wasn?t long before I stumbled on a blog post by Peter Overby about a recent visit that former lobbyist Jack Abramoff recently paid to Public Citizen, Ralph Nader?s good-government group. Formerly infamous for his ability to purchase influence on Capitol Hill, Abramoff had quite a bit to say about how to limit the undue influence of lobbyists in Washington.

To begin with, Abramoff recommended term limits for both legislators and their staffers. He had opposed them during his big, bad lobbyist days because ?once you buy a congressional office, you don?t want to have to repurchase that office a few years down the line.? (Yes, that?s the quote - I had to read it a few times myself to believe it.) He recommended breaking the link between lobbying and campaign contributions, and would outright ban gifts to legislators from special interests. He also suggested closing the revolving door that lets legislators and key staffers ping-pong between the Hill and lucrative lobbying positions. Perhaps most interestingly, though, Abramoff recommended conducting a very public pledge campaign to pressure members of Congress to sign on to meaningful lobbying reform. Legislators who didn?t sign on would have to explain themselves to their constituents - not always an easy thing to do.

Again, though, I think it?s important to point out that the wealthy corporations and special interest groups who hire top-of-the-line lobbyists bear some responsibility for legislative corruption. If they didn?t try to purchase influence, there?d be no one for legislators to sell out to. So if Public Citizen ever decides to conduct a corruption reform pledge campaign on the Hill, it really should put pressure on big corporations and wealthy special interests to sign onto something, too. If we honestly want meaningful reform, both sides to influence peddling should be held publicly accountable.

To read Peter Overby?s full post, click here.

Topics: Business Ethics, Social Ethics, business communications, corporate responsibility, ethics |

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Source: http://www.thebusinessethicsblog.com/lawmakers-shouldnt-be-for-sale-and-corporations-shouldnt-buy-them

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