House members "complaining" about legislation to ban campaign payments to spouses
On Monday, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would ban the use of campaign funds to pay spouses. CREW documented this abusive practice in our report, Family Affair. Yesterday, The Politico reports that some members of Congress who have utilized this practice are none too happy:
House members are complaining that their spouses could lose their jobs, their family incomes could drop and, perhaps, the entire pattern of their family lives could change if an ethics reform bill just passed by the House becomes law.
The bill would bar campaigns from employing a lawmaker's spouse. Its backers argue that employing a spouse creates an implicit conflict of interest, tempting lawmakers to overpay and tipping off contributors that some of their largesse will go directly to the lawmaker's family.
But what seems an obvious conflict to some is a way of life to others.
Rhonda Rohrabacher has 3-year-old triplets and a work-at-home job as campaign manager to her husband, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).
She made $57,000 in the 2006 election cycle, according to a recent report by the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Under the proposed ban, Rhonda Rohrabacher would be out of a job.
"It's gonna hurt me," Rep. Rohrabacher said. "My family would be deprived of that income. I think it's baloney. I think it's just a way of not having to look at issues by making it a personal matter."
Unlike other ethics reforms, which prohibit lobbyists from buying meals for lawmakers or curtail congressional travel, the spouse proposal strikes an intimate blow to a handful of legislators.
Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) paid his wife, Patricia, $110,000 in the last election cycle to do fundraising and prepare campaign finance reports, according to CREW.
He found the new reform proposal so alarming that he sought out one of the bill's original sponsors, Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.), to personally voice his opposition.
"It would definitely cause me some problems, probably financial problems," McKeon said. "And if I had to bring in someone else to do the same work, I wouldn't have that same kind of trust."
I want a job where I can stay home
and make $57,000. Can I have a job like that?
answer: NO - I am not the spouse of a congressman.
Ya' gotta be connected, stupid.
Miscellaneous ideas
Why not employ fellow congressmen's spouses from adjacent districts as campaign managers when possible? The next congressman will fire his/her fellow congressman's spouse if she/he doesn't perform their duties since she/he could cost a fellow congressman an election. Hence, party affiliation/loyalty will mean squat to the hiring congressman when winning an election is at stake.
This way the spouses get to stay employed but if they don't perform the checks and balances will exist to fire them since their boss won't be their spouse.
The fact is there are variations on this to keep the spouses employed in a business they allegedly already understand, but introduce some checks and balances to the process, so no one should show one iota of sympathy to the congressmen disgruntled by Rep Schiff's bill.
I am certain many of the family members in question really did perform their duties for their congressman spouse since a failure to do so could result in their spouse losing in election and having a time period of unemployment which would negatively impact the family. Unfortunately, the acts of a rotten few spoil it for the rest. I know for a fact the acts of the rotten few working congressional spouse duos contributed toward the congressmen being outright traitors to the U.S. where their loyalty was to nations such as Russia which is run by the Russian mob. Mob payoffs were made to congressmen such as Doolittle being able to collect 15 % of what the mob contributed via its US corporate (w/Russian operations) and lobbyist agents.
Rohrabacher of course would be complaining. His loyalties remain as they were...with DeLay, Ney, Doolittle, Renzi, Taylor, Weldon, etc...all Russian operatives who enabled the Russian Mafia to hijack the US congress and how the US federal government spends its money to buy from companies with the Russian Mafia as majority shareholders.
Rohrabacher has been in congress since before his wife could have gotten pregnant with the triplets. If Rohrabacher wanted to stay a congressman and felt he couldn't afford 3 more kids on the salary, then he should have used birth control! The Rohrabachers got pregnant by their own choice! If Rohrabacher can't afford the kids on his present salary then he should find another job. I hardly think he will be missed in congress! Since when did it become our responsibility to support his kids with the closest cousin to jobfare? At last check it was a Republican initiative to not pay for abortions with public funds, but to also not pay to maintain the kids people had that they couldn't afford. How un-Republican of Rohrabacher to have 3 more kids and expect the public financing of his campaign pay for their maintenance!
let them complain
take note and remember- that's how you cull out the worst.
they can team up with Doolittle
and complain together. Maybe some talk show will put them all on at once.
Syndicate this content
Mr. Rohrbacker,
Your wife, should be more than capable of getting a job just like everybody else- and being a professional lawyer or executive there in the state of California.
There is no reason for your wife to rely SOLELY on you as a member of Congress, to maintain the good life.
That is ridiculous. If you had never allowed Cheney et. all to outsource most jobs overseas to China, nobody would be IN THIS SITUATION TODAY- including your wife.
Nobody needs a free ticket and to be paid by their congressional campaign twenty-four seven all the time....
I see some of the corrupt Democrats like Mr Reyes complain as well, my goodness.
This isn't rocket science- All of us have had to get our own JOBS anyway not rely on someone's congressional campaign year round!!!
You folks have it EASY, just open a Legal Office.