AFTER THEY'VE TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE, WILL THEY RECOGNIZE THE RENT-SEEKING?

Margaret "University Diaries" Soltan hopes that the current election-influence imbroglio might lead to serious thinking about the way the Swamp operates.  Peter Schweitzer wrote a book, Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends. about the Swamp People you won't see on reality TV.

By all means read his column in full, but consider, dear reader, whether another Comprehensive Reform will really fix anything.

The personal financial disclosure rules for American public officials should be expanded to include details concerning all their immediate family members (and not just their spouses, as the law currently states), and any dealings with foreign governments.

To the public, closing a loophole this glaring seems anodyne, a no-brainer. But lawmakers set the system up this way for a reason; they will not stop the foreign cash influence game voluntarily. That’s why we need a Washington Corrupt Practices Act, one that clearly shuts down foreign influence and self-enrichment for some of America’s most powerful families on both sides of the aisle.

I suppose it's too much to ask that the corrupt practices be expanded to include domestic lobbying and reporting activities. Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush as national TV personalities without any seasoning in Little Rock or Longview or LaCrosse.

I also doubt whether laws that make it more difficult to cash in will discourage people connected to the political class from attempting to cash in.  Whether you agree with me, dear reader, on the usefulness of Technocratic Expertise, or not, consider that the spending of public money generates incentives to seek rents (or get in on the bezzle?) whether we're talking about setting the location where the Sierra slope begins, which affects payments for the construction of the Pacific Railroad, or whether we're condemning properties for a casino, or, for that matter, doing anything in Illinois.