Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 12, 1992 TAG: 9202120341
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAL THOMAS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
REFORM BEGINS AT BALLOT BOX
THE U.S. attorney's office is investigating allegations that employees of the House of Representatives Post Office, and possibly some members of Congress, have been involved in cocaine sales, embezzlement and check kiting. As shocking as these allegations are, even more is that, according to federal officials, staffers in House Speaker Tom Foley's office have known of a Postal Inspection Service audit since last September but did not tell anyone else, including members of the Republican or Democratic leadership of the House.Foley is in tune with the thoughts of Chinese dictator Li Peng, who responds to every charge of human rights abuses that such things are the "internal affair" of China. Foley likes to assign inquiries into charges of wrongdoing to committees and offices controlled by Democrats. That's what happened when news broke of check kiting at the now-closed House bank and overdue restaurant bills in the House dining room. Months after the story broke, a full accounting of members who wrote checks on insufficient funds and who ran up unpaid restaurant tabs has yet to be produced by the House Ethics Committee.
As with the previous incidents involving checks and meals, it would have been business as usual had not the abuses been discovered by the press.
Besides the U.S. attorney's involvement, House Minority Leader Robert Michel wants the speaker to appoint an independent counsel to investigate the House Post Office, whose postmaster, Robert Rota, earns $115,092 a year. Foley is holding off on any action while he confers with others on the Hill, no doubt a euphemism for covering the posterior of Congress to make sure as few Democrats as possible are hurt.
The arrogant behavior of some members of Congress ought to be a campaign issue. It is tailor-made for Republicans, who have not controlled the House for 55 of the last 59 years. The House has been turned into a political fiefdom for Democrats. As Michel writes in the current issue of Policy Review magazine, " . . . the House has changed from a relatively small and efficient institution into a chaotic, bureaucratic empire of 11,000 staff members and 1,800 support staff, including shademakers, Venetian-blind technicians and upholsterers, not to mention 27 committees and 136 subcommittees."
In the past 30 years, the House legislative budget has grown from $131 million to $2.24 billion. Michel pledges that if he ever becomes Speaker in a Republican-majority House, he would see that committee staffs are cut in half, saving $26 million. He also promises to get rid of the select committees and drastically reduce the number of subcommittees. And he would improve the legislative process by changing the rules to allow more members to offer amendments to legislation, a process now heavily regulated by the Democratic majority.
The stench from congressional scandals and arrogance that stems from a dominant ruling class almost impossible to defeat will continue unless Americans become outraged enough to rise up and "throw the bums out." Whether it is deficit spending, special-interest stroking, scandalous behavior or voting themselves pay raises, Congress is out of control.
Congress is not going to reform itself. The only thing that can is voters angry enough to mount a sustained campaign for reform. They can do it either by demanding that congressional terms be limited or by throwing most of them out at the polls this November. Doing nothing ensures even more disreputable behavior in the future.
The most recent Gallup Poll on public attitudes shows that the American people have less confidence in Congress than any other institution. These latest allegations involving the House Post Office can be expected to further erode what confidence remains.
Los Angeles Times Syndicate