Good post; thanks for putting it up. I was completely unaware of this.
While reform is in the wind, how do we end the “pay for play” fundraising requirements to keep a chair position? They have a friken menu-list thing—public info— on what a member of congress needs to donate to the GOP reelection fund to keep their chairmanship each year! That should be illegal as hell.
Agreed...The pay to play thing has been a monumental problem for years, there are some corrupt politicians who make an entire career out of it.
The Office of Congressional Ethics is a good thing but they don’t have the power to sanction, only referrals/recommendations. Perhaps their powers should be strengthened.