The GOP Congress is back in power, and back to doing all sorts of stupid things that are bound to make them look bad. As Townhall’s Katie Pavlich reports:
Early Tuesday morning, the GOP controlled Congress voted to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, an office independent of Congress, and moved it under the House Ethics Committee. Effectively, this makes it harder for American citizens to file complaints against Representatives, taking power away from the voters to oversee their government.
The decision has already come under fire by a number of media outlets and independent government watchdog groups. The President-elect is also displeased with the move.
With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
……..may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
Donald Trump, master of messaging, is right again, and since he’s tweeted and the world has largely agreed with him, the GOP is now backing off.
But why did he have to say anything at all? This is a totally puzzling move. The GOP is in for the fight of its life when it comes to any number of things. They’re going to have to fight for Trump’s nominees, they’re going to have to overturn Obamacare, and here they are, creating the public perception that they don’t give a damn about government corruption.
The American people believe government is too big, but they also voted against Hillary Clinton largely because they recognized her rank corruption and serial dishonesty.
And who knows, this might have been a good move. This might be an effort to reform an inefficient agency and streamline it. Congressional insiders say that the organization is a nightmare to deal with, nothing more than an opportunity for activists to pursue hits against legislators for engaging in entirely legal behavior. Maybe…
But it certainly doesn’t look like that, and perception matters. In failing to have any sort of reasonable explanation for the American public, the GOP provides easy ammunition to Democrats that will help stall real conservative reforms.
