Web Development and Technology Blog

While I wait for a backup to finish so I can completely rebuild a server (my favorite task :-<), I thought I would post this quick thought. DISCLAIMER: The opinions contained in here are Ed Pearson’s alone and do not reflect the opinions or views of any employer or contracting company.

I read an article today about the changes to the congressional ethics laws and they have this strongly worded section over candidate’s spouses and other family members being paid by the candidate’s committee or the family member’s employer being paid by the committee. I come to most of these articles different than most Americans. Having worked with and met many candidates and their families, I have found most to be honest and the family members often extremely talented and smart in their own right. Often they have skills that, while not alone, are very valuable to a candidate and for which they would otherwise be well-paid in the open market. All committees meet pretty stringent and frequent reporting requirements, so they employees and vendors for a candidate are well known (the only exception would be in the case the vendor currently doesn’t have to disclose that they employ a family member, then okay make that a reporting requirement, in the interest of full disclosure).

If the candidate’s donor are okay with the arrangement, why should the House Ethics Comm. care. This isn’t taxpayer money, but donor’s money. If it is an appearance thing, like Caesar’s wife, then okay. But for these “government watchdogs” to get all concerned over how this private money is spent and in the process lambaste these private citizens who are, for the most part, only trying to help their family member do a good job and get elected is a travesty.

Moreover, I don’t think this will alleviate the past lobbyists scandals, or the current Alaskan scandal, but I hope it gives everyone warm fuzzies that a law was passed that made no practical difference (isn’t that most laws these days???).

I will now get off my soap box and go back to my servers.