statements. Would anyone like that idea?
In forty-five states, one or both state legislative bodies have a requirement that if a financial conflict of interest exists, a member legislator "shall not vote on the matter." 6
American city councilors and county commissioners often have stricter rules than members of Congress, even though they have far less power and influence. In California, for instance, if you serve on a city council or county commission, you are subject to conflict-of-interest laws. As the state defines it, "You have a conflict of interest with regard to a particular government decision if it is sufficiently likely that the outcome of a decision will have an important impact on your economic interests." California has an oversight body, the Fair Political Practices Commission. One of the standards it uses is the "personal financial effect." If voting on a bill will cause you to gain or lose $250 or more in a twelve-month period, you should abstain.
The commission offers this hypothetical example: "The Arroyo City Council is considering widening the street in front of council member Smith's personal residence, which he solely owns. Council member Smith must disclose on the record that his home creates a conflict of interest preventing him from participating in the vote. He must leave the dais but can sit in the public area, speak on the matter as it applies to him and listen to the public discussion." 7 In other words, he can voice his opinion like any other citizen, but he cannot help make a ruling on the matter.
For members of Congress, not only are they allowed to vote in similar circumstances, they can also quietly insert an earmark into any big bill in order to widen the road in front of their house. As long as one other person lives on that road, the ethics committee will sign off on it.
Some people argue that members of Congress shouldn't be forced to comply with the same laws as the rest of us, because if they were, good candidates wouldn't run for office. Or that if they were required to recuse themselves, voters back in their districts would be disenfranchised. This is true, in the narrow sense that each recusal means certain voters' interests are not spoken for. But the grand claim of disenfranchisement should not be overused. Does anyone complain about disenfranchisement when a legislator skips a vote?
Members of Congress love to raise the banner of "separation of powers." When the FBI obtained a warrant to search Congressman William Jefferson's office in 2006, both Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi denounced the move as dangerous and unconstitutional. Jefferson was at the center of a fourteen-month investigation into charges that he accepted bribes. The FBI already had video evidence of Jefferson taking $100,000 in bribe money, and the Bureau found $90,000 in cash in his apartment freezer. But on Capitol Hill, the Permanent Political Class saw the raid as an outrage. Congressmen complained that FBI agents showed up at the Rayburn Office Building unannounced (imagine that!) and demanded that the Capitol Police let them into Jefferson's office immediately or they would "pick the office door lock." Some in Congress even threatened to retaliate by cutting the budget of the FBI and the Justice Department. 8 A federal judge dismissed these criticisms, arguing that Jefferson had turned his office into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime." 9 Of course, the judge was correct. It is understandable that members of the legislative branch would bristle at the use of coercive force by the executive branch against them, but not every example denotes a return to the civil wars of the British monarchy against Parliament.
Our legislators cling to the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution. Article 1, section 6 states that members of Congress "shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at
In forty-five states, one or both state legislative bodies have a requirement that if a financial conflict of interest exists, a member legislator "shall not vote on the matter." 6
American city councilors and county commissioners often have stricter rules than members of Congress, even though they have far less power and influence. In California, for instance, if you serve on a city council or county commission, you are subject to conflict-of-interest laws. As the state defines it, "You have a conflict of interest with regard to a particular government decision if it is sufficiently likely that the outcome of a decision will have an important impact on your economic interests." California has an oversight body, the Fair Political Practices Commission. One of the standards it uses is the "personal financial effect." If voting on a bill will cause you to gain or lose $250 or more in a twelve-month period, you should abstain.
The commission offers this hypothetical example: "The Arroyo City Council is considering widening the street in front of council member Smith's personal residence, which he solely owns. Council member Smith must disclose on the record that his home creates a conflict of interest preventing him from participating in the vote. He must leave the dais but can sit in the public area, speak on the matter as it applies to him and listen to the public discussion." 7 In other words, he can voice his opinion like any other citizen, but he cannot help make a ruling on the matter.
For members of Congress, not only are they allowed to vote in similar circumstances, they can also quietly insert an earmark into any big bill in order to widen the road in front of their house. As long as one other person lives on that road, the ethics committee will sign off on it.
Some people argue that members of Congress shouldn't be forced to comply with the same laws as the rest of us, because if they were, good candidates wouldn't run for office. Or that if they were required to recuse themselves, voters back in their districts would be disenfranchised. This is true, in the narrow sense that each recusal means certain voters' interests are not spoken for. But the grand claim of disenfranchisement should not be overused. Does anyone complain about disenfranchisement when a legislator skips a vote?
Members of Congress love to raise the banner of "separation of powers." When the FBI obtained a warrant to search Congressman William Jefferson's office in 2006, both Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi denounced the move as dangerous and unconstitutional. Jefferson was at the center of a fourteen-month investigation into charges that he accepted bribes. The FBI already had video evidence of Jefferson taking $100,000 in bribe money, and the Bureau found $90,000 in cash in his apartment freezer. But on Capitol Hill, the Permanent Political Class saw the raid as an outrage. Congressmen complained that FBI agents showed up at the Rayburn Office Building unannounced (imagine that!) and demanded that the Capitol Police let them into Jefferson's office immediately or they would "pick the office door lock." Some in Congress even threatened to retaliate by cutting the budget of the FBI and the Justice Department. 8 A federal judge dismissed these criticisms, arguing that Jefferson had turned his office into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime." 9 Of course, the judge was correct. It is understandable that members of the legislative branch would bristle at the use of coercive force by the executive branch against them, but not every example denotes a return to the civil wars of the British monarchy against Parliament.
Our legislators cling to the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution. Article 1, section 6 states that members of Congress "shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at
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