It May Not Work In Politics: Congressional Ethics

It May Not Work In Politics Student Name Institution Affiliation Congressional Ethics Members of the congress in the US are not above the law despite their persistent efforts to exempt themselves from regulations they have set to apply on the other people in the society. Representative Maxine Waters, a Californian Democrat was charged on August 28th, 2017 by the House ethics committee for violating several ethical rules. Patten in his article shared “This time, Waters is accused of helping a bank in which her husband owned stock in secure federal bailout funds” (Patten, 2017). The statement also relates to the fact that she had previously been engaged in various corrupt dealings during the term period she served as a California Democrat. In regards to the charges that were then brought against her, she was accused of using her position and office to assist OneUnited bank to get the government bailout cash which would safeguard her husband’s interest in the banks stock market. Waters at that point also sat on the financial services committee where the members were mandated to act creditably. She went against the government ethics statute that banned the awarding of special favors and the usage of one’s position as a lawmaker for financial gain. Moreover, one of Waters grandsons was employed by OneUnited bank and was at the center of organizing the meetings between Waters and the bank officials. Waters vehemently challenged the allegations and pleaded her innocence at the ethics trial. She cited that she was only advocating for minority banks and that she didn’t benefit in the whole ordeal. However, it has been proven that her husband had substantial amounts of stock with the bank that would have otherwise been useless had the bank been declared bankrupt. She further violated the ethics house rules by using her grandson to facilitate the deal with the bank. Watts in her article shares on the anti-nepotism rule that Waters violated and states “The family and business relationship is just so close it defies credibility that he would be acting on his own without her knowledge” (Watts, 2016). Basing on the two aforementioned reasons, Waters has a case to answer. Congress rarely and is often seen as reluctant in passing severe punishments to the errant members. A case like Waters dictates the punishment of expulsion and in accordance with Article 1 of the constitution. The other forms of punishment include censure, reprimand and suspension (Watts, 2016). Members of Congress are not entitled and should not receive special treatment for wrong doings that would otherwise see other members of public face jail term or worse. Members such as Waters should be harshly punished when found guilty to deter and provide a lesson to the others that they are not above the law. Such actions would further create more trust in members of the public in the institutions and members they elected to guide them. Third Party Candidates The American elections have for the past 150 years been a two party contest with the Republican and Democratic parties fielding candidates that the US citizens are to choose their next president from. Nonetheless, there has been an array of third party and independent candidates on the ballot for the presidential ra...