Presidential ethical reform going forward

Politics
1

To avoid the crap we have seen, which there is obviously no need to recap here:

  1. Upon announcing his/her candidacy for President of the United States, but before beginning any fund raising or campaigning actively:

a. Said candidate shall divest all owned business interests 100%. That includes selling all stock owned of any kind, selling all interests in any partnership of any kind, selling any single proprietorship of any kind.

b. Said candidate shall resign from any and all boards, including boards of any non profit institution.

c. Said candidate shall resign from any officer level position in any company, to include, but not limited to the positions of President, Vice President, CEO, CFO, CIO, etc.

d. Said candidate shall cause the proceeds of all the above sales to be placed with an independent wealth management firm, which shall immediately set up a blind trust and invest such assets in a safe and prudent manner. The candidate shall thereafter only know the yearly proceeds and the wealth firm shall report the proceeds to the IRS and to the candidate in such a manner as to prevent the candidate from discerning the individual assets.

e. Said candidate will produce all tax returns for the previous 10 years and successful candidates shall continue to produce all tax returns during their continuance in office and for 4 years after leaving office.

f. Unsuccessful candidates may resume normal business immediately upon termination of their campaign or defeat in the party convention or general election.

g. Successful candidates, upon leaving the Presidency, shall be required to maintain their assets in a blind trust for 1 year after leaving office and will be barred for assuming an officer level position or board position in any company for 1 year after leaving office.

h. Successful candidates, upon leaving the Presidency, shall be forever barred from owning stock of any kind in any company that either does business or solicits to do business with the United States Government. They may, after 1 year, begin to reacquire stock in other companies.

  1. Foreign Heads of State/Heads of Government/diplomats/trade representatives/etc. shall only be received in the official facilities of the United States, such as the White House, Camp David, etc. If necessity requires a private facility to be utilized, bids shall be taken among competing facilities and the lowest and best bid, as discerned by a career United States contracting officer shall prevail

This is really only the beginning.

The United States needs new and tough ethics statutes in the worst way. And Congress should be looked at as well.

7 Likes
2

I’m on board.

But it’ll never actually happen.

3

No. Success shouldn’t be punished.

4

Not punishing success.

Nobody is required to run for President and they should be prepared to make sacrifices if they do.

This is all about ethics and good government.

16 Likes
5

I don’t disagree in general but do disagree with the above.

I think “a” should read: a. Candidates may maintain all owned business interests during primary periods, but upon selection as a political parties nominee OR qualification for any state or territorial ballot, whichever comes first, said nominee shall divest all owned business interests 100% within 30 calendar days from said nomination or ballot qualification. That includes selling all stock owned of any kind, selling all interests in any partnership of any kind, selling any single proprietorship of any kind. Failure to comply will result in the nominee being held in violation and therefore not qualified to appear on the ballot.

I think requiring candidates to relinquish all business interest prior to becoming a nominee or qualifying for a ballot is unreasonable. And then to say they can resume their business interests after they have sold all their stock, interest in partnerships, or their sole proprietorship business doesn’t make sense.
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6

I am willing to negotiate the details, if they seem unreasonable, as long as the end result results in ethical government.

7

The Clintons have been running their shell game up until 2016. But now this is a problem? Not that I disagree with everything the op states. I would love if our federal government didnt seek office so they can pad their pockets. I am just wondering why it took so long to say enough is enough?

2 Likes
8

I agree it would be nice to have a set of Presidential guidelines. How are they going to be enforced without essentially adding requirements for being President that aren’t included in the Constitution?

How about adding one where your son doesn’t sit on the board of foreign companies that you distribute money to?

1 Like
9

I completely agree. Is not becoming President an example of being successful? And a President will clearly be successful once they leave office. If someone is not willing to make sacrifices and put their business interests on hold while they are serving the American people, they should not become President.

To draw the parallel, Trump clearly is unwilling to make any sacrifices with his personal business interests.

10

We have ethics laws already and there is nothing unconstitutional about ethics laws even for the president.

11

I mean I could quibble about some of the small details but I’m totally on board for this overall.

12

Seems eminently reasonable and why it won’t pass

14

Where is it punished.

15

Eliminating conflicts of interest and potential corruption is not “punishing success”

16

The kind of reforms needed would eliminate a huge majority of congress on both sides. Not that is a bad thing I would love for a majority of them to take a hike.

17

OP, I think the Trump loyalists are turning on you.

18

No one is forced to be president

19

Sounds like only crooked lawyers and professional politicians can be pres.

Is that what YOU want?

20

How can you negotiate something that you don’t have?

21

Their last 2 nominees were Hillary and Obama before her. Enough said.

2 Likes