Posted October 18, 2006 by Catie Hinckley

Electing the Congress We Deserve?

The 109th Congress has been riddled with scandal.  With one former Representative sitting in jail, another awaiting sentencing, and likely more headed to join them, the 109th has ascended the ranks of infamously corrupt Congresses.  Despite the breadth and depth of the scandals that have infested Capitol Hill, our legislators have done effectively nothing to address the underlying problems. 

Members of Congress don’t seem to think their constituents care about ethics and lobbying reform in Washington.  They claim that the American people have other things on their mind and, in all fairness, they probably do.  The continuing war in Iraq, rising housing costs, sky high gas prices and health care are all issues that have more saliency with the voting public then corrupt politicians in Washington.

Even when faced with so many other issues, it is disappointing, to say the least, that Members of Congress are willing to look the other way when confronted with their colleagues’ questionable behavior.  If their constituents don’t care why should Members?  But why don’t voters care? This frequently leads to suggestions that in voters’ minds, corrupt politicians are just part of business as usual in Washington.  This is deeply troubling.  If voters expect this kind of behavior from their elected officials, well, then they are electing the Congress they deserve.

There is a glimmer of hope that voters do care, however.  Several recent polls show congressional approval ratings at a staggeringly low 25 percent.  Participants in a New York Times/CBS poll said that Members “[are] too tied to special interests and that they did not understand the needs and problems of average Americans.”  

Ironically, this is the crux of lobbying reform – to break the tripartite nexus between legislators, lobbyists and special-interest money.  If Members are too tied to special interests to understand the problems and concerns of those they represent, they do not see the forest for the trees to realize that voters are concerned about corruption in Washington.  The vague idea of lobbying and ethics reform may not resonate outside the Beltway, but if special-interest money and the influence that it buys is a problem for voters, it should not require a particularly savvy group of politicians to realize that lobbying and ethics reform is in their own best interest.

The 109th Congress has certainly proved that it is willing to look the other way when it comes to corrupt behavior on Capitol Hill.  The lobbying and ethics bills passed by the House and Senate fell pathetically short of promises made earlier in the year, and whatever unlikely reform efforts that might be made in the lame duck session would certainly be overshadowed by the scandalous year that preceded them.  Between now and the lame duck session, however, the voters have a chance to give their elected officials some feedback.  The lessons current leadership might draw from retaining even a slim majority in the House are alarming to contemplate.  Cynicism and hubris have carried the day for too long on Capitol Hill. We will see if voters are still willing to look the other way.