Cutting the Corruption

Cutting the Corruption

By Arthur Levitt Jr.

Monday, January 23, 2006; Page A15

Having served in Washington for eight years, I can't say that the current scandal surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff and various members of Congress comes as any great surprise.

During my tenure as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, I worked with many decent, well-intentioned representatives and senators. Yet on issue after issue, it was clear that the interlocking systems of campaign finance, lobbying and policymaking were breaking down. Indeed, because many of the issues before the SEC were far from the front of the public's mind, the influence of high-priced lobbyists on the system was easy to detect and especially brazen.


From battles over auditing reforms to the expensing of stock options, the concerns of ordinary investors often were subsumed to the interests of industry lobbyists by Republicans and Democrats alike. Every day the SEC would receive letters from lawmakers opposing some proposed regulatory change -- letters that eerily mimicked the rhetoric of one industry trade group or another. In addition to making thousands of dollars in campaign donations, companies would concoct phony "grass-roots" coalitions -- usually made up of executives and compliant employees -- to rally for the cause and pressure lawmakers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/22/AR2006012200950.html