The Huffington Post - Jan 9, 2006
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-reardon/congress-for-sale-dir_b_13504.html
Congress For Sale!
Dirty Dancing on The Thin Line Between Gifts and Bribes
by Kathleen Reardon
During an international finance conference in Zurich shortly after I'd
finished a study on business gifts and bribes some years back,* several
financiers were talking with me about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of
1977 (amended in 1988 and 1994). When one of them told me: "Your country is
hypocritical about gift practices and bribery," there were general nods of
agreement.
After I asked him to be more specific, he explained that the FCPA ties the
hands of those who worry about such things, but it doesn't stop those who
don't. He added: "There's always a way -- and your country finds those ways,
too. Yet, you look down your noses at us and make us appear unethical."
I defended the U.S. and it's bribery laws, saying "There must be efforts to
limit bribery internationally for both moral and business reasons. " And
"The U.S. was simply taking a lead by placing limitations on its own
businesspersons," I argued, "not suggesting that other countries were
comparatively unethical." My challenger nodded and smiled, satisfied that
his point had been well taken by those gathered around us. Until the advent
of the latest government bribery scandals, I'd nearly forgotten his
expression of veiled contempt for laws that are so easily broken and
spuriously applied.
There is a point at which gifts no longer reciprocate for courtesy or
kindness and become strategic - incurring some obligation or invoking a
favor - or ulterior motive gifts - obvious bribes. Distinguishing between
gifts and bribes is difficult at times, but critical to avoiding abuses in
government. The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 was never adequate to the
task. You could drive a truck through the loopholes. Russ Feingold's
proposed reforms still allow lobbyists to unduly shape decisions by members
of Congress. The amounts are lessened and there is more reporting of what
might be suspect activities, but clever lobbyists will get around these
rules as well. Trips can still be paid for by outside interests. Just make
sure they don't call themselves "lobbyists" and that no one who does is on
the plane.
Truly laughable is the "cooling off period" during which former legislative
and executive branch employees must wait before becoming lobbyists
themselves. The Feingold bill would change it from one year to an onerous
two years. It should be changed to NEVER! Surely these people can find jobs
that don't prey upon the connections they made while they were supposedly
representing us. This is just more nest feathering by people who should be
above such things. It's some Senators and Congressmen purposely using
government office to finagle their way into high-paying jobs and others
acting their shoe size rather than their age.
It is hypocritical for the U.S. government to pass and enforce FCPA
standards around the world, while the stench of massive domestic bribery
surrounds high government officials. It's time for a huge gift tag sale on
the Capitol mall. Can you imagine members of Congress and the White House
staff running about grabbing paintings off the walls and tossing sculptures
out the windows? We'd have another massive boon for charities -- Superbowl
tickets for Big Brothers of America and "fact-finding mission" plane tickets
to Paris for the Salvation Army.
Instead of such a thorough cleaning of our governmental house, reporters are
now telling us lobbyists will keep a low profile for a few months, while the
Abramoff scandal passes beyond media attention. Then they can go back to
finding ways to pay off the people we vote into office. You have to wonder
what ever happened to persuasion as a means of influence - using your brain,
not your wallet?
"I'm not an attorney," as Condoleezza Rice said on Meet the Press - but
there ought to be far stricter laws against this kind of thing. The Feingold
bill is a good start, but that's all it is. If you can buy Congress, why
bother with votes? The whole thing is hypocritical. Some poor kid in D.C.
who takes a loaf of bread off a shelf could be going to jail, but the fat
cats up the street are mincing words so they can still have luxurious
vacations.
If I again meet the man from Zurich, I will have little to say in our
defense and, no doubt, he will righteously -- and rightly -- smile.
*This was the first survey of international business gift customs which
became the source of guidance for corporations and governments, including
the The U.S. Chief of Protocol's office.
[Dr. Kathleen Reardon is a Phi Beta Kappa professor of management at the
University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. She is the
author of numerous articles on communication, persuasion, negotiation and
politics, including in the Harvard Business Review. She was awarded
membership in Mortar Board and Phi Kappa Phi. Her latest book is It's All
Politics: Winning in a World Where Hard Work and Talent Aren't
Enough(Currency/Doubleday) looks at advanced politics -- what people need to
know to offensivley, constructively use politics and to defensively
recognize and deal with destructive types.]
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