Should you be Worried about Corruption in ‘The People’s House’?
Imagine a world where your voice in the government isn't muffled by party politics or hidden campaign contributions. The world we live in doesn’t allow citizen participation to happen because of policies and amendments that were supposed to remedy issues but instead exacerbated them.
The Founding Fathers envisioned a democratic society with a focus on local and national elections. However, throughout the last two centuries, the people in power chose to put themselves over their constituencies and the system they swore to serve, protect and defend. Instead of addressing the needs of the people, the powerful today choose to line their pockets with corporate handouts, further consolidating power and social status for themselves. They hear the cries of their constituents and yet continue to ignore the average, everyday, working citizen who voted them in power in the first place.
In addition to their undisclosed corporate handouts and lavish personal gifts, legislators sit on committees, where they hear information and data that normal citizens don’t have access to, then go on to make investment decisions using non-public information. Elected members of government making a salary of $174,000 a year and not performing their elected duties should not have net worths in the six–-or seven-figure range. The Founding Fathers never wanted the system to work that way. They intended it to be about the citizens and their voices.
When the Founding Fathers first met in 1787, they initially wanted to fix The Articles of Confederation. They then quickly realized that to do so, they must establish a whole new system where every voice could be heard. They debated for months and then created The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments in our Constitution. They laid out their vision of basic rights for the citizens, how the national government was to work, and the processes to elect people into government. Representatives in the House have always been elected by their constituencies. Senators, on the other hand, were originally elected by state legislatures before the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913.
State legislatures were at the mercy of corporations, receiving contributions in return for voting for a corporation's preferred candidate or issue. Because of the lack of regulation for state legislators, Congress decided to pass and ratify the 17th Amendment, taking away the power of state legislators to elect senators and instead having a direct election by the people. Although many may enjoy the right to vote directly for their senators, this sways from the Founding Fathers' original vision. Instead of voting to remove power from the states, Congress should have put an end to the bribery of legislators that continues to foster corruption in the People’s House to this day.
The only way we can end corruption in the People’s House is by holding our elected officials accountable at all levels of the political ecosystem. By making legislators disclose their donations and gifts, capping corporate contributions, and banning insider trading in the government, we can start to fix the problems plaguing the system. We could also repeal the 17th Amendment, which would allow the state legislative bodies back into the national government and return ourselves to the system the Founding Fathers envisioned. We have been letting ourselves be governed by people who have had corporate interests first instead of America’s interests. Politicians take corporate handouts without a problem from faceless corporations but don’t put money into the hands of Americans who need it and that is just plain wrong.
No matter the political party, choosing the general welfare of the population over greed and self-interest should be the priority of any elected member of government. We must demand accountability across the board for all elected members of government and prioritize the well-being of all citizens over the influence of corporate interests to continue this great American experience.