Tennessee's Rep. Zach Wamp doesn't like the spousal pay ban
Of course Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) doesn't like the ban on paying spouses from campaign funds. He benefits from the practice. Campaign contributions pay his wife, which means campaign funds actually enrich his family directly. That's the problem, although Wamp doesn't seem to see it:
For the past four years, Kim Wamp has worked on the campaign of her husband, Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., helping with fundraising and event planning.
But under a bipartisan bill the House passed last month, she and all other candidate spouses no longer would be allowed on campaign payrolls. Rep. Wamp said that, should the Senate pass similar legislation and President George Bush sign it into law, he will abide by it, but not without protest.
"She's the person I trust the most," he said of his wife. "There have been some abuses (under current law), and that needs to be weeded out, but this is the most transparent way because it's public record. It's listed how much she makes. We have kept that compensation low."
Well, there are two sides...
... if an honest middle-class politician's spouse wants to quit their job to work full time for the campaign, doing an honest day's work for an honest day's pay, they should be able to be paid for it just like any other campaign employee. In this day of separate credit records, separate property, separate incomes, etc., the legal barring of spouses from a gainful employment opportunity seems a bit backward. If I was an honest politician prevented from doing that by blanket regulations aimed at stopping the abuses of others, I'd be offended by it, too.
I disagree. You have used
I disagree. You have used the word honest three times to justify paying campaign money to spouses for campaign work. There is nothing honest about it. This was never done until recently because all spouses gave help as something naturally due, without expectation of pay. Paying spouses is part of the culture of corruption which has grown to huge proportions, greedily fostered by politicians like Zach Wamp.
I agree that Wamp should not be returned. He clearly has problems with perceptions in matters of ethics. He is the future Cunningham, Ney, Delay, Long. Note that the House voted 418- 6 to bar wives from receiving such pay. Eliminate from Congress those who paid family members and we will see less corruption.
I agree that the present system of campaign finance needs to be completely restructured so that candidates do not have the opportunity to sell their influence for contributions.
It was no accident - honest
How is it dishonest to pay a campaign worker for work?
What if a person hires a sibling to run a campaign? A son or daughter? How about a cousin? A Friend? A friend's neighbor? Where do you draw the line? Should NO campaign workers be paid for their work? If that is your position, then I have no quarrel. If it isn't then you have serious issues with internal consistency in your argument.
Regulations like these simply reinforce the barrier to entry for anyone not independently wealthy.
I'll go you one better: I think non-incumbent candidates should be allowed to draw salaries up to equal the salary of the office they seek while running for office - so long as it is openly disclosed.
Anyone who thinks running for office is some kind of key to financial windfall has never seriously considered such a move themselves. It is a tremendous gamble, and a financial hardship for anyone who needs to work to live.
CREW should stick to worrying about the conduct of those IN office, instead of nit-picking at everyone who aspires to be there.
Consulting Fees!
The solution to the problem is consulting fees! We elected officials and candidates can pay ourselves consulting fees for our own political expertise, etc. We pay others for the same, do we not? Could we not demand money of others (or of our campaign treasurer) for the same? We can attach some obscure rider that excuses these fees from income tax provisions so that they don't have to be reported. Our spouses too could be paid consulting fees and our children as well. The dog! We could take the dog to a political rally to lift his paw to shake hands with voters! That's worth something- in Hollywood a trained chicken goes for a thousand bucks a day! No question we elected officials are entitled to pay ourselves a little bonus. To hell with the damn nit-pickers who know nothing of how hard we work and how little we make!
Four times
he used the word "honest" four times, not three- honest.
Seeds of Corruption
If the politicos get away with stuffing campaign funds into their wives pockets, next to come is the rationale for stuffing it into their own- after all, they work the hardest and do not they deserve pay too? Do not be fooled by the pretense that their wives pockets have nothing to do with them, the candidates.
The seeds of corruption and must be plucked up as they sprout, before they grow. Some politicos are naturally corruptible and can be read if you know the signs. Wamp is a weed.
Wamp the weed
Wamp cannot see that his self-justifications ring hollow. He will be weeded out next election.
Zach Wamp is NOT a weed!
Zach Wamp is an honest representative for his district that does good honest work for his constituents and the country. So what if he slips his wife a few hundred grand? she's honest too and besides he deserves to pay himself a bonus for his good work.
Wamp Is Not A Weed
You must be either jocking or you are incredibly naive.
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Uneducated people.
You have to know a little about the campaign process to be able to comment on this blog.
Wamp's wife does most of his fundraising. That means she does alot of work with his supporters and donors. Somebody HAS to do this job so why not let all of these people get to know his wife along the way? When Congressmen have a fundraiser its nice for donors to be able to send an email directly to the WIFE for questions... My question is, why wouldn't the wife be able to do it?
And a couple blogs up someone made the comment about "why can't he slip his wife a couple hundred thousand?"... There is no "couple hundred thousand" involved. Wives that work for their husbands get paid the same as any other campaign staffer which would take years to add up to equal even $100,000.