The Best Congress that Money Can Buy

 Like a lot of Americans, I’ve come to the realization that most of our politicians do not see themselves as public servants, but rather as members of a smarter, wiser, more capable group that must save us from ourselves (after they take care of themselves and their friends). My political awakening was fostered by people like the legendary, late Chicago columnist, Mike Royko. He once suggested that the official Second City motto be changed from “Urbs in Horto” (“City in a Garden”) to the more accurate “Ubi est mea?” or “Where’s mine?” 

Royko, a Chicago native, had a quick wit and a pen as sharp as a rapier blade that cut to the quick. He was of course alluding to the payoffs and envelopes stuffed with money that are part of the city’s history. When placed in the right hands, they produce the “city that works” for those who know how to grease a palm. 

Over the years, countless news commentaries in Chicago papers have tied the phrase to the never ending list of crooks that make it into both Chicago and Illinois politics. But lately, some commentaries have popped up that apply the phrase to Congress. They point an accusing finger at the Obama, Axelrod, Emanuel team, suggesting that it exported the dynamic of “Ubi est mea?” to Washington  and “poof” it took root. 

That’s nonsense. The Beltway has long played by self-serving rules; political corruption has had its way in Washington for more years than we like to recognize.  Mark Twain tried to alert the nation to that truth when he wrote: “America has no criminal class except her Congress.'' Will Rogers expanded that thought when he said: “We have the best Congress money can buy.” 

What the O-team has brought to Washington is its distinct our way or the highway, take no prisoners, scorched earth, Chicago way of doing business, which was palpable throughout the Democratic primaries in its treatment of Hillary Clinton and evident again during the Presidential election with  its treatment of McCain and Palin. The Obama Whitehouse is determined to have its way, and it never pulls punches. It has embraced political payoffs and bribes because they work, and it found early on a willing accomplice in Nancy Pelosi. Harry Reid came into the fold more recently, but he caught on quick. 

The Washington Post had a recent story on the backroom deals cut by Senator Reid to attain the  60 votes he needed for the passage of his $900B health care bill. The paper gave each deal a pithy name to underscore its sleaze. The Post dubbed the $100-$300m in extra Medicaid money given to Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu the Louisiana Purchase, while it called the free Medicaid forever deal given to Nebraska for Senator Ben Nelson’s vote the Cornhusker Kickback. The paper used U Con to name the medical center deal cut for the vote of Connecticut’s Chris Dodd. Other deals included Vermont, Massachusetts, Montana, Iowa, Michigan, and Florida. 

Congress once had the shred of decency necessary to internally limit its corruption, but that’s gone by the wayside since our current executive branch gave it a wink and a nod. Corruption is so prevalent and systemic that Majority Leader Harry Reid had no problem gushing over the special interest bribes doled out to ensure votes for the Senate’s version of health care reform. In his best senatorial voice, he remarked: “I don’t know if there is a Senator that doesn’t have something in this bill that was important to them. And if they don’t have something in this bill, then it doesn’t speak well of them.” 

Just in case you missed this defining moment in our history, listen to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate proudly share his view of the way the legislative branch of our government should operate: 

With his comment, Reid underscored the vast abyss that separates us from our elected leaders. They have dug the divide deep and filled it with half-truths and lies. They have disgraced themselves, but lack the integrity necessary to feel shame.

On the campaign trail, Obama said that he would work to limit earmarks, but he has done nothing to limit them. John McCain called Obama out in March of last year for representing “business as usual” by allowing over 9,000 earmarks that totaled $5.5 Billion in the Omnibus Bill. The Arizona Senator ticked through earmarks in that bill that included $951,000 for a sustainable Las Vegas, $207,000 for a tattoo removal violence program in Los Angeles, and $238,000 for a Polynesian voyaging society in Hawaii.

At the time, McCain said: “Americans all over this country hope for change. They hope that the corruption and the earmarking and pork barrel practices will stop. What are we giving them? We're giving them a slap in the face. And if it sounds like I’m angry, Mr. President, it's because I am.” (If McCain was angry then, he must be livid over the Senate’s pillaging of its health care bill.)

During his campaign, Obama promised to change the way things are done in our nation’s capital. In Virginia and elsewhere, Obama promised us his public health care overhaul would be transparent. Like many of Obama’s promises, these died in his mouth.

We our nearing the end of his first year in office, and “business as usual” in Washington is on steroids.  Despite his promise to reduce their role, lobbyists have secured their place in the hallowed halls of Congress. To add insult to injury, our leaders add to our national debt by proudly paying legislators kickbacks for their votes. 

Over the last decade, political leaders from both parties warned us that Medicaid and Medicare were insolvent. Spurred on by President Obama and his henchmen, the 111th Congress plans to correct that problem by creating a more expensive, broader set of government  programs. It has followed that course of action, despite the failings of the past. 

Only 29% of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction. The Senate health care bill calls for greater taxation and more regulation; it increases the scope of government and the personal power of our leaders. Given the graft that is now embraced as part and parcel of any legislation, and the insatiable greed of our leaders and their benefactors, the case can be made that health care reform is being created so that it can fail again. Thus, Congress can constantly tweak health care in the future as it has in the past, perpetually expanding its scope and increasing the graft. ( How does that sit with you?)

Our elected officials don’t respect us; perhaps they never did. They see themselves as better than us, elitists protected by power and position, who will not be impacted by the health care legislation that affects the rest of us since they have elected to keep their Congressional plan. Many are millionaires, far removed from the worries that average Americans share. Most of those who aren’t wealthy are working hard to change that dynamic at our expense.  Will Rogers had it right many years ago: “We have the best Congress money can buy.”