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Dear Mrs. Speaker,I applaud your newly enacted ethics reforms measures as far better then any efforts by the previous administration.
But the measures were vastly incomplete - I am speaking about the longstanding, painfully obvious relationship between legislators, lobbies and corporations, which directly detracts from the simple concept of legislators representing the interests of American citizens. This not only squanders our tax money, it compromises our safety and is antithetical to the idea of our government being run by and for The People.
Trusting Americans have been seeing insanely blatant conflicts of interest on display with impunity. I'm speaking about the contracts awarded to corporations that donate to political campaigns or PACs, or those that benefit from changes in laws and regulations by politicians "aligned" with their "ideologies".
The Congressional ethics review committee has been a laughingstock for years. Why must we accept that it's "understood" the committee supposed to police corruption and gladhanding is specifically picked to look the other way? We desperately need a committee with teeth, with transparency and with zero tolerance.
We need tough laws prohibiting lobbyists from entering our lawmaking processes. We all know many for-profit industries have infiltrated our government and virtually rewritten the laws to suit their desires, to the immediate and wholesale detriment of our people.
Please consider ways to correct the harm being caused by the Congressional-Lobbyist-Corporate "revolving door".
Please consider ways to correct the tainting of the campaign and election process so every encouragement is given to candidates who intend to represent the public, not make themselves and their families and friends rich by favoring special interests.
Please consider ways to make the entire process of government finance as transparent as possible, so people can see at a glance where our money is going, where corporate/lobbyist money is coming from and going and which politicians respond to the public and which respond to other interests.
I understand you face powerful opposition, but please do not compromise the basic principal that our people deserve leaders who are not corrupted by greed. The "sleeping giant" is awake, watching, hoping for results, and prepared to get more and more active for the sake of our children.
A concerned citizen.
