The announcement reply was brief and to the point, “If you’re planning to be a “career” politician, you’d better be prepared to sell your soul.” Of all the advice that I’d take to heart in my run for higher office, in retrospect, nothing could be more prudent than the admonition of maintaining your integrity.

According to media research, the FBI’s focus on public corruption includes over 2,000 cases that are currently under investigation. High profile scandals include everything from IL Governor George Ryan’s conviction for racketeering and fraud, to the Jack Abramoff lobbying inquiry, to the multi-pronged corruption probes associated with House Representative Randy Cunningham’s guilty plea.

To counter the corruption, I’m running for the U.S. Senate (FL). And while I have no interest in becoming a “whistle blower” and have pledged not to engage in the politics of personal attack, my campaign is devoted to reforming the political process as it now exists in Washington D.C. Aside from policing human nature though, how can the institutionalized practices (that lead to abuse) be improved?

Said differently, independent of demands for character and qualifications from those who represent us, how can the complex legislative phenomena that our founder’s set in motion – as the primary value-mediating institution in American society, perform at a higher standard? The stakes are huge when our answer will yield either better accountability from Congress, or settling for rule by thieves.

Iron triangles – What invites corruption most are closed, mutually supportive relationships that often prevail between government agencies, special interest lobbying organizations, and the legislative committees that have jurisdiction over a particular area of government policy. These triangles are said to be as “strong as iron” versus other interests, which are excluded from policy-making.

Career politicians - The common welfare of the citizenry is also sacrificed when incumbents engage the practice of “pork-barrel” legislation, which appropriates public funding for projects that narrowly benefit their constituency. To increase their likelihood of reelection, insiders who rely on this type of appropriation also encourage “logrolling” or vote trading, to bring home the bacon – at our expense.

Pocketbook Issues – Why be concerned? Legislative “earmarks” (now $27-billion annually) also generate economic distortions by diverting public investment to capital projects where bribes and kickbacks are more plentiful. And corruption lowers the bar of compliance with public regulation and reduces the quality of public services. All of which adds to budgetary pressure to raise our tax burden.

Why reform is needed – Historian Alexis de Tocqueville said it best by stating “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” Conversely, Alexander Tytler suggested, “A democracy will continue to exist up until the time citizens discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.” As such, reform is overdue.

Principled leadership - To maintain the integrity that public service demands my campaign has accepted no special interest funding. And to mute the siren song of populist polls and career patronage, I pledge objective servant-leadership limited by a single term. Given the perils that threaten the American experiment, only someone who takes-on the tough issues, bearing the mantle of trustee, will do.

Platform independence – No one is debating the need of a vibrant two-party system, nor the senior statesmanship that aggregates subcommittee power. But given the rising levels of rancor and obstruction that pervade the capitol, only an independent, committed to leveraging non-partisan best practices, will be able to circumnavigate the factious environment that has slowed governance to a crawl.

Process improvement – Congress requires only a small percentage of non-partisan, public servants to hold our two-party system accountable. Only after sending independents to the Senate will “career” politicians finally understand that – it’s citizens that have granted you their power in order to serve the nation, and we are inclined to remove it from those who would rather serve themselves.

For more information on what you can do to keep "career" politicians accountable, visit us at www.TannerForSenate.com

While their agendas may be hidden, their affects are visible to us all,

Roy J. Tanner
U.S. Senate Candidate (FL)