Gift Greed is Back

by Ralph Nader

The House "Greed Caucus" is back in action.

Not satisfied with a $3,082 congressional pay raise at the beginning of this year, Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) are plotting to weaken the House gift ban, which restricts the meals, gifts, and sports tickets that Members of the U.S. House of Representatives can receive from Washington favor-seekers and lobbyists.

It's another bipartisan dirty deal in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It's up to you to stop them. They don't seem to have enough sense to stop themselves.

In November 1995, after a huge outpouring of public outrage, the House of Representatives banned many types of gifts to House Members. Although the gift ban has loopholes, it helps to prevent lobbyists from purchasing influence in Congress. It eliminated some of the graft in Washington.

Plenty of graft still exists, however. House Members can still accept meals, vacations, and golf trips from lobbyists, if they call these expenses "political."

But many House Members fervently hate the gift ban, because it's harder for lobbyists to buy them lunch, dinner, or drinks, or sports tickets in Washington.

These House Members want bigger salaries and more perks. They want to live like kings off of the corporate tab and your tax dollars.

The House "Greed Caucus" loved the bad old days of free Epicurean meals in Washington, the wining and dining, the handouts. They loved the graft. They loved the times when the hidden income of House Members swelled to a capacity limited only by the size of the human stomach. They want to jump back into the trough.

Gingrich and Gephardt want to help them. Hence the effort to weaken the gift ban starting next year, at the beginning of the 106^th Congress.

Members of Congress currently earn a salary of $136,682 per year, plus generous pensions, perks, and other benefits. With such lavish compensation, House Members do not need more handouts from lobbyists.

This princely congressional compensation corrodes our democracy. Many Members of Congress develop such upscale, high-flying lifestyles, cavorting with the rich, that they forget the economic tribulations and indignities of ordinary Americans. This encourages legislation which benefits corporate and wealthy elites, at the expense of ordinary folks.

When the gift rule took effect in 1996, here's how the House Ethics Committee explained it: "Among the biggest changes in the [gift] rule is the elimination of the local meal exception. A Member or employee will no longer be able to accept an invitation to lunch or dinner at someone else's expense, unless that person is a relative, a personal friend, or a sponsor of an event that falls within one of the exceptions below."

In fact, the House and Senate gift rules have been successful enough to cut into the Capitol Hill economy that thrived on these freebies. Paul Zucconi, part owner of La Colline, told The Hill newspaper that the gift ban had "a drastic impact" on his French restaurant on Capitol Hill. Corporate lobbyists just can't wine and dine Members of Congress and their staff so easily anymore.

The Gingrich-Gephardt gift cabal shows, once again, that our Members of Congress have forgotten the meaning of public service. They have forgotten what it means to lead by example. Too many House Members are willing to sacrifice their moral authority to govern so they can better sponge off of lobbyists and other favor-seekers.

We've got to rein them in - and restore their sense of self-discipline. In the past, the people have protested and sometimes have stopped this grease. We've got to teach the House "Greed Caucus" a lesson: stop the pay raises, new perks, and all the rest of it. Enough is enough.

Please contact your House Member and tell them that you don't want them to weaken the House gift rule. Tell them to tighten it instead, and crack down on the graft that remains. The congressional switchboard phone is (202) 224-3121.