Setting a Higher Standard for Integrity in Government

By Richard Earnest

Ours is the only campaign that's posting every campaign contribution on its website in "real time," and that's given voters a certified statement of my net worth. It's what I call "setting a higher standard" for integrity in government, part of an extensive agenda of reforms to restore the people's faith in Congress.

While every candidate in this race gives lip service to ethics reform, I'm the only one who is already "walking the walk" - setting a higher standard by disclosing my campaign contributions and personal net worth online.

Ours is the only campaign that gives real time disclosure of campaign donations - every donor, every dollar, every day. If you give me the privilege of serving as your Representative, I'll fight to make this common-sense reform the law. In the meantime, you can see this campaign's real-time financial disclosure right now.

I'm also the only candidate who's made public my net worth, posting on my website everything I own and every penny I owe - and to whom. The other candidates may believe the Congressional Disclosure statements are sufficient - but those forms are designed to hide more than they reveal. Even Duke Cunningham completed the legally-required Congressional Disclosure statement, and he managed to hide millions of dollars in bribes and illegal gifts. As your Representative, I'll push for quarterly posting of net worth statements prepared by licensed accountants. In the meantime, you can see mine right now.

Many proposals are floating around this campaign and Capitol Hill for cleaning up corruption and most of them have merit. But there must always be two sides of a corrupt transaction and removing some temptations is not going to be enough. Each of the Representatives we send to Congress must have strong, inner moral convictions. By making complete financial disclosures from the outset of this campaign, I want to prove to you, the voters, that I have nothing to hide and that my ethics are not situational - that they do not change with temptation. I have a lifetime serving our Country, the high-tech industry and my community to prove my commitment to the highest ethical standards.

Unlike the many Republicans in this race who've said they would vote to support term limits, I've pledged to voluntarily limit my own terms; I will not serve more than 10 years in Washington. I believe public service should be a privilege, not a career, and I support the Founders' notion of a `Citizen Legislature,' where Americans from all walks of life represent their communities - on a temporary basis. The notion of career politicians would be repugnant to the Founding Fathers, which is why I've limited myself to serving no more than five, two-year terms, or a maximum of ten years.

I certainly support a number of reforms in the way some in Congress have been doing business. I will vote to ban privately-funded Congressional travel, better known as "junkets," and reinstate the complete ban on Congressmen and their staffs' receiving gifts, meals or travel - and, this time, make the ban enforceable by creating a fully independent Inspector General in the House, whose job it would be to investigate complaints, making appropriate referrals to the House Ethics Committee for disciplinary action or, in the proper case, to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution or, if a conflict exists, for appointment of an Independent Counsel.

Not only do I favor banning the so-called `earmarks,' I'm the only candidate in this race who's pledged he will not take part in the process of soliciting them. So long as a Representative can dispense millions of dollars of government benefits with the stroke of a pen, certain people will pay good money for them to do it. We need to eliminate the temptation of `earmarks,' and, here in the 50th District, set a higher standard by not participating in this wasteful process. But while `earmarks' were the source of temptation for our local Congressman, let's not forget that a single sentence in the massive Tax Code can mean millions for a company or individual - or drive a competitor out of business. If we all could file our tax returns on a postcard (see my plans for tax reform), we'd eliminate half the lobbyists in Washington, and if we eliminated `earmarks,' we'd get rid of the other half.

Some might suggest that by refusing to participate in the `earmark' process, we'd be depriving ourselves of our fair share of federal dollars, but that's not the case. In fact, the `earmark' process only benefits those expenditures of tax dollars that couldn't survive the scrutiny of the regular, routine appropriations process and the vetting that is routine for all other expenditures.

I'm disappointed that the House has not taken the opportunity to slam shut the revolving door between high-paying K Street lobbying firms and the Halls of Congress. The one-year `cooling off' period before former Congressmen can begin working for lobbyists should be lengthened to four years - two full Congressional Terms. The long-standing custom of allowing former Congressmen into the House gym, Cloakroom and House Floor should have been ended years ago."

Let's also put an end to the multi-million-dollar privately-funded galas at Party conventions and Presidential Inaugurals. Who in San Diego can forget the obscene amounts of money that were spent on everything from garish receptions to luxury yachts during the 1996 Republican National Convention? I fully expected to see Robin Leach standing at the Marina! The corporations who spend millions on these excessive displays must think they will get a return on their investment through favors from the government. It's time to end the practice.