The Republican Party Stands Against and Ignores Government Ethics, All in One Day

I make a great effort to be nonpartisan in choosing what and whom I write about. I am an unaffiliated voter who believes in nonpartisan local government. But yesterday, the Republican Party took a strong stand against government ethics and, in its most important statement in years, totally ignored it.

Yesterday, Senate Republicans unanimously voted against even debatingthe DISCLOSE Act, which would have required the major donors to organizations paying for independent political ads to be identified. There apparently was not even a willingness on the part of Senate Republicans to negotiate about specific areas of dispute. What part of the electorate could the Republicans possibly have been representing in their opposition to letting people know who is paying for the ads they watch, hear, and read?

Yesterday, the Republican Party presented its Pledge to America, a 48-page document that has nothing in it about government ethics, except for the use of the word "transparency," which is hard to believe after yesterday's Senate vote.

The Pledge does contain a "Plan to Restore Trust" (p. 33). Usually, restoring trust involves dealing with ethics issues, but this plan does not. It proposes to have every bill contain a citation of constitutional authority, to give representatives three days to read each bill before voting, and to make it easier to eliminate unnecessary spending. Reforming Congress is important, but it is hardly the only way to restore trust.

At the local level, both parties have opposed and sponsored valuable ethics reform, mostly the former. The failure of Republicans at the national level to recognize the importance of government ethics gives it a very low priority that will likely be embraced at the local level, as well.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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