Good idea from Romney
August 7th 2007 07:23
Mitt Romney, campaigning in Iowa last week, had a very good suggestion. He called for Congress to eliminate pensions for politicians who have been convicted of a felony. This idea has been floated before, but Congress (unsurprisingly) has never acted on it.
While there have been a number of politicians convicted of felonies, the most obvious one is James A. Traficant (D - OH):
Despite being in prison, Traficant is still getting paid a nice piece of change:
So Traficant goes to Washington, betrays his constituents, and violates his oath of office by committing a felony, and he still gets $37K per year -- even while sitting in jail. I'm sorry, but we taxpayers should get a refund on the money we paid in to support this man in his "retirement". We deserve more and folks like Traficant deserve much less. I realize that stripping Traficant and others of their pensions wouldn't exactly erase the federal budget deficit, but the failure to act on this issue speaks volumes to the voters about the nexus between corruption and accountability in Washington.
Romney, to his credit, was particulary critical of his own party, which has had several members with ethical lapses recently.
I don't know if Romney can or will get elected to the presidency. However, if he does, I hope he remembers his suggestion about pensions and felonious politicians and pushes Congress to act on it. It wouldn't win back the public trust, but it would be a step in the right direction.
While there have been a number of politicians convicted of felonies, the most obvious one is James A. Traficant (D - OH):
James Anthony Traficant, Jr. (born May 8, 1941) is a former Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio (from 1985 to 2002). He was expelled after being convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington, D.C., and is currently serving out an 8-year prison term with a projected release date of September 2, 2009.
Despite being in prison, Traficant is still getting paid a nice piece of change:
...don't feel too bad about his situation; he's sentenced to eight years in prison, but he'll still be raking in plenty of dough: until he is convicted of treason or some similar high crime (bribery not being among these), he is still eligible to collect $37,000 a year in pension.
So Traficant goes to Washington, betrays his constituents, and violates his oath of office by committing a felony, and he still gets $37K per year -- even while sitting in jail. I'm sorry, but we taxpayers should get a refund on the money we paid in to support this man in his "retirement". We deserve more and folks like Traficant deserve much less. I realize that stripping Traficant and others of their pensions wouldn't exactly erase the federal budget deficit, but the failure to act on this issue speaks volumes to the voters about the nexus between corruption and accountability in Washington.
Romney, to his credit, was particulary critical of his own party, which has had several members with ethical lapses recently.
I don't know if Romney can or will get elected to the presidency. However, if he does, I hope he remembers his suggestion about pensions and felonious politicians and pushes Congress to act on it. It wouldn't win back the public trust, but it would be a step in the right direction.
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