Happy New Year – Time to Clean House – Buz Blog

“Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician and I’ll show you a crook.” – Harry S. Truman

Every New Year, many of our fellow Americans make resolutions which are intended to improve different aspects of their lives. Whether it is to lose weight, exercise more, read more or whatever, not many of those resolutions remain in effect after the first month or so. There is one resolution all patriots need to make this year, and that is to clean out those in our government who stay in public office for years and years and accumulate wealth beyond what their government salaries would normally determine.

This should be a bipartisan issue. An examination of the most senior politicians in Washington DC, would show that members of both parties have become rich or richer, while in office. In the Senate, most of the Senators are millionaires and almost all of them had obtained that status before being elected to that office. Avarice, being what it is, that doesn’t mean that they haven’t used their elected offices to increase their net worth. All elected officials should allow the public to look at the donations they have received from lobbyists for their reelection campaigns. These donations should then be examined in relation to how our elected representative voted in relation to those lobbyists and their donations. An independent press would already be dong this.

When Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate, he was one of the poorer members of that exclusive club. As of August of this year, the progressive media claims he is worth about $9 million. Others claim it could be much higher. Considering his propensity for lying, plagiarism and the money moving and laundering by his son, brothers and other family members, a much larger net worth is more than likely.

A former major company executive I know, related that it was an open secret in Washington that in order to get Senator Joe Biden’s support on an issue, a company and/or its lobbyist would have to “hire” Joe’s brother, Jim, as a consultant. How many other politicians hire their relatives, at exorbitant rates, as “campaign consultants” or “media advisors” or other jobs. It may not be explicitly illegal, but it is, at best, morally questionable. And, of course, none of these politicians want anyone publicizing this. Yet, the information is out there and Joe Biden’s relatives aren’t the only ones profiting by being related to politicians.

Obnoxious, vituperative, millionaire California Congresswoman Maxine Waters has paid her daughter, Karen, more than $1.2 million since 2003. According to the Washington Examiner, Waters campaign has paid this money to her daughter for functions listed as “slate mailer operations”, “fundraising”, “administrative services” and “rally expenses’.

Congresswoman Cori Bush has to confront several ethics violations for payments made to security guard, Courtney Merritts, whom she married earlier this year. Another report found that while Mr. Merritts was getting paid to guard the Congresswoman, he didn’t even have a valid security license.

This is not a new phenomenon. A 2012 item in US News and world report showed 82 Congressional Representatives had family members on their payroll. In June of 2020, the OpenSecrets.org website, reported on all of the incumbents, (Maxine Waters paying by far the most money) who had relatives on their payrolls in some capacity.

As voters, it is our responsibility to determine which candidates are the best for the job. That requires us to look into the past of each candidate and determine the candidates honesty and integrity before we vote. As citizens in a Democratic Republic, it is our due diligence and duty.