Melanie Sloan
Melanie Sloan
Melanie Sloanis the former Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit government watchdog group...
changes oversight rule virtually
Without oversight or enforcement, rule changes are virtually meaningless.
against both complaint deny ethics existence fact file member nobody parties since terms truce
That's because there's an ethics truce. Both parties will deny this, but there is in fact a truce that's been in existence since 1998. And under the terms of the truce nobody will file a complaint against a member of the other party.
people public relations seem smoke tax
It doesn't seem to me that someone should get a tax deduction while they're writing public relations memos about how people should be able to smoke in restaurants.
enforce enforcing ethics interest problem
The problem is, they don't want to enforce the ethics rules, and they don't have any interest in enforcing ethics rules.
abuse deliver democrat foolish money power
You have to have power to abuse it. You would be foolish to give money to a Democrat because they wouldn't be able to deliver anything.
based decide decline holding insider june knowledge order sale sell senator stock suddenly value
Why did Sen. Frist suddenly decide to sell the stock in June after holding the stock for so long? Also, did the Senator order the sale based on insider knowledge that the value of the stock was about to decline precipitously?
breaking breaks campaign commission election federal funds house member prevent requires rules travel using
It's breaking house rules which prevent a member from using travel funds for anything but their own travel. And it breaks federal Election Commission law, which requires that only campaign funds be used for campaign expenses.
committees congress corruption engage ethics level matter members national
No matter what level of corruption the members of Congress engage in, the ethics committees do nothing. It's a national embarrassment.
both detriment ignored members obligation parties police political themselves time
It is time for our representatives to take their constitutional obligation to police themselves seriously, an obligation that members of both political parties have ignored to the detriment of the American people.
bill hoping name reform
It's a reform bill in name only, and they're hoping no one will notice.
complaints-and-complaining congress file outrageous outsiders police since
It is outrageous that outsiders can't file complaints, since Congress has demonstrated its unwillingness to police its own conduct.
cover disaster government greatest inadequate natural response scandalous trying
It is scandalous that our government is still trying to cover up its breathtakingly inadequate response to the greatest natural disaster in our nation's history.
arguing brief complaint court days endless federal fight file honored information prepare regular request resources violation
The only way to get an FOI request honored these days is to go to court. We can go to court and win, but some regular person is not going to know how to file a complaint in federal court and prepare a brief arguing that the administration is in violation of the law. And no one has endless resources to fight every denial. It's very effective, what they've done. They keep the information hidden.
cottage intend lives man mansion million move since washington
A man who lives in a $1.1 million mansion in Washington does not intend to move into an 814-square-foot cottage that he's rented out since 1997.