SURPRISE! SURPRISE! THE HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE GUTS DISCLOSURE RULE!

AMERICANS WHO WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION on Tuesday afternoon---or who, like me, were cutting up and clearing downed trees in both the front and back yards---missed a signal event in the life of our country's 113th Congress.  Or, more specifically, in the life of the House of Representatives of our country's 113th Congress.

It accomplished something.

Well, okay, the House Ethics Committee accomplished something.

Allow me to paraphrase Shane Goldmacher of the National Journal, who was kind enough to tell us exactly what was accomplished:  The Ethics Committee rid Congress of that pesky rule that required congressional members and their staffs to publicly report gifts of free travel.

What the media has long---and, benignly---termed "congressional junkets" will still have to be reported to the House Clerk's Office by individual legislators.  But the primary financial disclosure document which is annually examined with a fine eye by the press, watchdog groups and private citizens will no longer contain information about these free trips. 

The vast majority of these excursions are not to places of real concern per American or world interests; i.e., Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Jordan, etc.

No, the vast majority of these free trips are to western Europe---the Paris Air Show is a congressional favorite.  But other glitzy tourist destinations---typically countries/cities with lots of sunshine, great beaches and a rousing nightlife---also often see more of a congressman than the people of his/her district or state (unless it is an election year).  

It is not that these dedicated, committed public servants don't deserve a little R&R after  having worked so hard to accomplish absolutely nothing during their grueling three-days-a-week work schedule (with periodic six-week vacations).

IN THE INTEREST OF FULL DISCLOSURE:  Actually, House Republicans, two weeks ago, managed to find the time and energy to approve $640 billion in new tax cuts/loopholes for wealthy individuals/corporations while saving us lots and lots and lots of money by cutting funding for the program that provides school lunches to poor children.  

And, John Boehner managed to get away from the golf course, the tanning bed and his Merlot collection long enough to announce that he was going to file a lawsuit against President Obama for, well, actually doing something. 

But, after traveling to and from on private jets or in First First Class (in other words, they're not traveling via JetBlue)... 

And staying in Five Star hotels (Motel Six is not keeping the lights on for them)... 

And eating at Five Star restaurants (they're not feeding their faces at either the Rosewood Dairy Bar or Lexington Barbecue #1)...

And enjoying the sights, sounds and pleasures of destinations such as London, Scotland, Paris, the south of France, Switzerland, Monte Carlo, Austria, Rio, the Great Barrier Reef (in other words, they're not going to Disney World, Carowinds, Myrtle Beach, Dollywood, Amish Country, Riverbanks Zoo or my personal beach here on the Congaree River)...

I'm sure they arrive back in D.C. ready to get back to the gritty grind of being taken by the same lobbyists and/or wealthy donors to breakfast, lunch, dinner, the theatre and every baseball, basketball or football game close enough for a private jet to get them back in time for the 12 noon session bell the next day.

Of course, both you and I know that these dedicated, committed public servants, having been raised right, feel as though they must somehow express their gratitude to the wealthy supporters, corporate lobbyists and other members of the D.C. political detritus class who pay for these junkets/excursions/trips for them and their families.  And, you and I both know that, while a mere thank-you note might be sufficient per a lunch at Bojangles in West Columbia, it just doesn't get the job done when you've been wined and dined and slept on clean sheets every night in, say, Venice.

But, if your host was a coal magnate, a couple of votes against a bill mandating that coal-fired power plants decrease their carbon emissions might suffice.

Or, if your host was a hedge fund manager representing what my mother derisively references as "new money," a couple of votes and a little strong-arming of colleagues for a couple more in favor of a bill that would de-regulate the bundling of sub-prime mortgages to be sold as securities might be considered thanks enough.

The five conservative justices on our present Supreme Court seem to have absolutely no problem with the idea of elected officials accepting gifts and favors---campaign donations, trips, etc.---from "supporters" and then saying "thank-you" with, shall we say, a vote rather than a note.  In finding for the plaintiff in McCutcheon v. FEC, Chief Justice John Roberts---without a hint of self-consciousness or, well, shame---wrote that "government regulation may not target the general gratitude a candidate may feel toward those who support him or his allies, or the political access such support may afford."    

I suspect, however, that I am not alone per having a problem with such "pay to play" schemes.  Indeed, I suspect I am not alone in remembering a time when politicians were jailed for the very thing the Court, in McCutcheon , laughably made an acceptable practice.

But, as a result of the House Ethics Committee action on Tuesday, it will be much more difficult for the press and for just ordinary people like you and me to discover who is paying for our elected officials to vacation in Rome, Italy while we spend our vacations shopping for cheap carpet in Rome, Georgia.  And it follows that it will be equally difficult to connect the dots between these "free trips" and the votes that congressmen cast on particular issues. 

Goldmacher noted that "The move, made behind closed doors and without a public announcement by the House Ethics Committee, reverses more than three decades of precedent."

Only those suffering from terminal naiveté are unaware of the fact that, when politicians do something "behind closed doors" and "without a public announcement," they are usually doing something of which they are ashamed.  This is not an exception to that rule. 

A visibly angry Nancy Pelosi, calling for the committee to reverse itself, said that the new rule "must be reversed."  She went on to say that "Congress must always move in the direction of more disclosure, not less."

LOL!!!

Ya' reckon?