• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home National

Warren: ‘Corruption is a Form of Public Cancer and Washington’s Got it Bad’

Bryan Bowman by Bryan Bowman
08/21/18
in National
Elizabeth Warren

Senator Elizabeth Warren. Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP

18
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Introducing her new anti-corruption legislation at the National Press Club Tuesday, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.) began her remarks by highlighting two numbers: 73 and 18.

In 1958, Warren said, 73 percent of Americans responding to a poll from the National Election Survey said they trusted the federal government to do the right thing. By 2018, that number dropped to only 18 percent.

“I would love to stand here and tell you that this was some sudden drop after Donald Trump was elected,” Warren said. “But it wouldn’t be true. The problem is far bigger than Trump.”

Warren said Americans largely don’t trust their government because they think it works for the rich and powerful and not ordinary people.

“Here’s the kicker,” Warren said. “They’re right … our government systematically favors the rich over the poor, the donor class over the working class, the well connected over the disconnected. This is deliberate and we need to call it out for what it is: corruption, plain and simple.”

The Senator outlined her sweeping new legislation, the “Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act,” which she described as an “aggressive set of reforms that would fundamentally change the way Washington does business.”

Today, I’m introducing the most ambitious anti-corruption legislation proposed in Congress since Watergate. This is an aggressive set of reforms that would fundamentally change the way Washington does business. #EndCorruptionNow

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 21, 2018

Among other provisions, the bill seeks to establish a new U.S. Office of Public Integrity, increase transparency, curtail the influence of powerful special interests in government and “end lobbying as we know it.”

“Corruption is a form of public cancer and Washington’s got it bad,” Warren said. “It’s time for treatment, time to isolate and quarantine the ability of big money to infect the decisions made every day by every branch of our government.”

Warren said that the fossil fuel industry, “greedy insurance companies,” “big pharma” and the for-profit prison industry, among other sectors, have been able to exert undue influence in the federal government through campaign contributions and “shady” lobbying techniques.

The legislation does not address the issue of corporate campaign contributions because the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United decision that restricting them is unconstitutional, Warren said.

Top among the bill’s priorities is closing the “revolving door” of powerful business leaders moving in and out of government.

The legislation would institute a lifetime ban on lobbying for presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress and cabinet secretaries. It would also prohibit “corporate lobbyists,” or those who work on behalf of for-profit entities from taking government positions for six years.

Executive branch employees would also be forced to recuse themselves from working on issues that might financially benefit a company that employed them within the last four years.

To illustrate the necessity of these measures, Warren cited the example of Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs who served as Trump’s top economic adviser until May.

Before accepting the position, Cohn received a bonus of about $250 million, a payment Warren described as a “pre-bribe.” While serving as Trump’s top economic advisor, Warren said Cohn was a key architect of a tax overhaul that saved Goldman Sachs about $250 million in just one quarter.

Warren’s legislation seeks to expand the definition of “lobbyist” to include any person who is paid to influence government. It further seeks to “radically” expand disclosure requirements so that all lobbying efforts would be a matter of public record.

The senator cited comments made this year by Mick Mulvaney, a former congressman who serves Trump’s head of the Office of Management and Budget and acting director of the Financial Consumer Protection Bureau.

“If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you,” Mulvaney said about his time in Congress at the American Bankers Association conference in April.

Warren stressed that she believes the culture of corruption in the nation’s capital is not a partisan issue.

“This is not a Republican only problem … The Trump era has given us the most nakedly corrupt leadership this nation has seen in our lifetimes. But, they are not the cause of the rot. They’re just the biggest, stinkiest example of it,” she said.

When asked why she only cited examples of Republican officials in her speech, Warren quickly threw out the name of Mary-Jo White, a former Wall Street executive who served as President Barack Obama’s chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates investment banks.

Warren said White did a poor job regulating Wall Street banks, implementing only “the lightest touch of regulation” before moving right back into a Wall Street position after her appointment.

“There’s a pervasive culture of soft corruption that colors virtually every important decision made in Washington … we have a big systemic problem,” she said.

The senator expressed hope that the bill will receive support from people on both sides of the aisle, saying she is willing to work with anyone to pass anti-corruption reforms. She warned though that certain provisions will be unpopular with many officials who are doing well under the status quo.

“I’m sure that the people who make big money within this system will yell and scream and spend millions of dollars trying to stop these changes,” Warren said. “Inside Washington, some of these proposals will be very unpopular, even with my friends. Outside Washington, I expect that most people will see these ideas as no-brainers.”

The senator also preemptively criticized the media for its coverage of the issue, predicting that her bill will be widely labeled unrealistic.

“The all-day-long pundits … will say, ’this will never pass,’ and try to color me naive for even trying. But it’s that kind of self-serving groupthink that allowed corruption to spread through this town for decades,” she said.

Share18Tweet
Bryan Bowman

Bryan Bowman

Email Bryan at bryan.bowman@theglobepost.com or follow him on Twitter @TGPBryanBowman

Related Posts

President Donald Trump and US Attorney General William Barr step off Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland last September 1, 2020.
National

US Attorney General Says No Evidence of Decisive Election Fraud

by Staff Writer
December 2, 2020
Peru's President Martin Vizcarra faces impeachment trial.
World

Peru’s Vizcarra Faces Impeachment After Court Bid Fails

by Staff Writer
September 18, 2020
The Lebanese people have been protesting since October.
Opinion

Lebanon Must Root Out Corruption to Fix Its Economy

by Ishka Yadav
March 10, 2020
Smoke rises from the site of an attack on Tuesday after a massive explosion the night before near the Green Village in Kabul, Afghanistan
Featured

Afghan War Crimes Probe Must Go Ahead, ICC Judges Say

by Staff Writer
March 5, 2020
NATO to Review Iraq Mission After Parliament Votes to Expel US Forces
Featured

NATO to Review Iraq Mission After Parliament Votes to Expel US Forces

by Staff Writer
January 6, 2020
US President Donald Trump
Featured

How the World is Reacting to US Killing of Top Iran General

by Staff Writer
January 3, 2020
Next Post
Paul Manafort

Trump's Ex-Campaign Chief Manafort Guilty of Fraud

Michael Cohen

Trump Ex-Lawyer Cohen Pleads Guilty Implicating President

Recommended

Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

May 26, 2023
Customers queue to enter a re-opened Zara clothes shop

EU Targets Fast Fashion in Push for Durable Goods

May 23, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

May 16, 2023
A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023

Opinion

Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

A Supreme Folly 

April 24, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post