At the core of sexual harassment and misconduct is an unchecked power dynamic permitting the abuse. No surprise, then, that our unaccountable Congress is rife with it.
What to do?
Our sicko congressmen must immediately stop using taxpayer funds to provide “hush” money to keep their victims from telling their stories, as I argued at Townhall yesterday.
Mandatory anti-sexual harassment training for all congressional employees? Normal folks don’t need special training to avoid acting in despicable ways, and as far as protecting employees goes, such training seems to serve perpetrators more than victims.
One thing Congress won’t do in response? Slap term limits on themselves.
But term limits, in this as in other forms of corruption, would be very beneficial.
First, they would mercifully limit the duration of any abuser’s reign. There is indeed some value here.
But requiring rotation in office creates another critically helpful impact. The expectation that a creep congressman will continue to wield power plays a major role not only in the calculations of that abuser, but also sometimes in the calculus of the victim … especially regarding the fear of coming forward.
And a limited time in power also has its affect on the thought processes of those around the congressmen, people who might be more likely to do the right thing in reporting misbehavior if they didn’t view their own advancement as so closely tied to the advancement of the member of Congress for whom they work.
But remember, Congress won’t impose term limits on themselves. That’s our job.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
2 replies on “Power Abuse”
In what universe is it allowed or OK to use taxpayer money to pay for hush money to victums ? Why aren’t we demanding that every penny is paid back to where it came from, with interest, and demand that these despicable people resign immeditately. And to top it of make public who they are, and what they did, and perminately close the door to them to ever holding public office again.
Would term limits really make “victims” more likely to come forward? Wouldn’t it only give the bureaucracy even more control? Don’t staffers move around when their employer retires or loses? Aren’t many of the staffers also participating in this scheme? News reports suggest the congressmen aren’t the only perpetrators. How many victims are intimidated by career office managers? Most career staffers don’t leave with their boss. They find a new office on Capitol Hill and they bring everything they learned with them. To solve the problem we would need a limit on staff tenure as well. X number of years and then you are banished from Capitol Hill. Can that be done?