People in government are no more corruptible than they were in the past. It's just that there's more to gain by being corrupt.
Before the Civil War most Americans' only contact with the federal government was through the Post Office. Now contact occurs ubiquitously. The scandals that tarnished Ulysses S. Grant's presidency over 130 years ago were a sign of things to come. As more money flowed through Washington and as Washington's power to regulate our lives grew, opportunities and temptations for graft, influence peddling and cutting corners grew exponentially. Power breeds corruption.
There are effective steps, however, that could be taken to lessen the likelihood of future Abramoff-like scandals. But you won't hear much advocacy for them.
Our tax code--all 9 million words of it--is the biggest source of lobbying and corruption in Washington. The thing has been amended 14,000 times since 1986. Tax bills have become feeding frenzies for special interests, as well as a way for pols to try to buy votes through manufacturing ever more tax credits. The flat tax would eliminate all of this.
Similar frenzies are now regular occurrences with various appropriations bills. Two decades ago Ronald Reagan vetoed a highway bill that had some 150 earmarks, that is, special appropriations to specific projects that would be exempt from the normal enactment process and regulatory scrutiny. Reagan thought so many corruption-inviting earmarks were an abomination. Yet a Republican President and a Republican Congress passed a highway bill last summer with more than 6,000 earmarks.
Deregulation also reduces the influence of and need for lobbyists. But the White House has dragged its heels in deregulating our whole communications industry. Television, radio, cable, satellite and telephone companies still wage tong wars against one another for special regulatory advantages, even though the Internet has obliterated the traditional boundaries between these segments. These wars generate a gusher in contributions and lobbying fees.
Another breeder of the Washington-is-the-world-and-we-are-indispensable mentality is longevity. But don't look to Congress to enact term limits on itself anytime soon.
Another necessary reform is cleaning up the way we draw district boundaries. In no other democracy is the process of districting so politicized as it is here. Most federal and state legislators no longer face any real competition in general elections. Rare is the federal election cycle in which fewer than 95% of the incumbents in the House of Representatives running for reelection fail to get reelected. Competition not only is good for business but also is a necessity in politics.
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