Higher Standards for Congress

When I was a senior in high school, our class of approximately 250 students voted for more or less twenty "superlatives." There was a male and female nominated in a variety of categories such as: best all around, most likely to succeed, best personality, most talented, etc. A classmate was nominated and elected by the students for most school spirit. But, the principal of our school wouldn't allow him the victory because he had changed a grade on a school computer when he was a sophomore.

Even in high school, we learn that superlatives are held to a higher standard; that the mistakes that are made even years ago will stay with you. So, why are our lawmakers not held to the same type of higher standards? Why is it that of the first few people Obama chose to lead his staff, several had unpaid taxes - some as much as $150,000. And more importantly, why are they still in office? Why are they deciding what to do with our taxes, when they don't pay their own?

The answer is, they shouldn't be. And, when we really look at the members of congress we realize that they are the last ones we should be looking to for leadership. An organization known as Capital Hill Blue researched public records in 1999 and found a little dirt on a few of the members. The following is a summary of what they found that has made its way through the Internet and various forwarded e-mail jokes for several years:

• 29 members of Congress have been accused of spousal abuse.
• 7 have been arrested for fraud.
• 19 have been accused of writing bad checks.
• 117 have bankrupted at least two businesses.
• 3 have been arrested for assault.
• 71 have credit reports so bad they can't qualify for a credit card.
• 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges.
• 8 have been arrested for shoplifting.
• 21 are current defendants in lawsuits.
• And in 1998 alone, 84 were stopped for drunk driving, but released after they claimed Congressional immunity.

When reading this, my first thought was what is Congressional immunity and why in the hell is that a viable excuse to get out of an offense? I work for MTSU, the largest university in the state of Tennessee, and I am certain that if I committed a crime at work, campus police would not let me off because I am an employee.
The report goes into more detail about how these same members that cannot qualify for a credit card are given a government issued Am Ex card for expenses. Furthermore, many have financial troubles so serious that they would be denied security clearances if they had not been elected into office.

The organization completed the research again in 2005 and found similar statistics. Many of the same members were still in office - and still are today. I understand that people make mistakes, I have made mistakes. I understand that people have financial difficulties, I have had financial difficulties. But, I am not running for a federal position. I am not making laws that will effect the lives of millions of Americans. I do not understand why their mistakes do not follow them the way that my classmates mistake followed him through high school. Why are lawmakers not held to higher standards?

I think that the candidates should not be allowed to run for Congress with anything more than a misdemeanor on their record. I think that if a member of Congress breaks the law while serving his/her term, they should be excused from their position. I think that members should have to pass the same security clearances as anyone else and should not be given a free pass because they are an elected official - if they cannot pass the clearance, then they simply don't qualify for the job.

As it stands now, there are only three qualifications for someone to be elected to the House of Representatives; 1) must be 25 years old 2) be a United States citizen for seven years, and 3) live in the state that they will represent. As for the Senate, the age limit is bumped up to 30 and years as a citizen increases to nine. I am not sure how you read this, but I take it that there is no background check, no drug testing, no credit check, or even a cleared driving record - all of which are standard checks done at a large percentage of jobs across the country.

Of course, it only gets better when we start talking about their pay. Members of Congress recieve an annual cost of living increase unless they themselves vote against it. And, they are eligible for lifetime benefits after serving only five years. Five years! So, why do I have to work at my job for 30 years before I am fully eligible? C'mon, enough already!