ICYMI: Rep. McDonald Rivet Outlines Plan to Combat Government Corruption

FLINT— This week, Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08) outlined her platform to combat corruption in an opinion piece for the Detroit Free Press. You can read the full op-ed below. In it, Congresswoman McDonald Rivet highlights how Washington insiders are able to rig the system for themselves, and against hardworking Americans in mid-Michigan and across the country. 

Congresswoman McDonald Rivet also joined WJRT ABC-12 (Flint, MI) to discuss the agenda. You can view that interview here. The agenda has received praise from pro-democracy groups, such as Defend the Vote.

If you have questions or would like to schedule an interview with the Congresswoman, please contact her Communications Director, Tom Grandon, at tom.grandon@mail.house.gov.

DETROIT FREE PRESS: I'm a Democrat representing mid-Michigan in Congress. 'The Swamp' is real. | By Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet 

“The Swamp.” That’s the nickname Americans have given Washington D.C., where I proudly represent mid-Michigan in the U.S. Congress. Eight months into my first term, I have found that the swamp is real. 

America made a promise to its citizens: Work hard, and you’ll have a path to the middle class. Today, most jobs in mid-Michigan pay less than $50,000 per year, and families face out-of-control costs of food, medicine, housing and childcare. America’s promise is not their reality. In my first year, I have been working hard on solutions to lower the cost of eggs and medicine, preserve Social Security and create high-paying jobs.

Meanwhile, insiders in Washington have made matters worse, passing an agenda that rigs our economy for themselves, the well-connected, billionaires and big corporations, and against hard-working people in mid-Michigan and across the country.

Big Oil gets massive handouts while your utility bills skyrocket. Billionaires get historic tax cuts, paid for by more expensive health care for everybody else. Members of Congress make a fortune trading stocks while ripping away school lunch from hungry kids. Everywhere you look, across all branches of government, we are hurt by a system that lets public officials put their self-interest above yours.

So long as “The Swamp” lives, mid-Michigan will pay the price.

We must root these practices out of Washington before any more damage is done to Michigan and our country.

Countless commonsense solutions are on the table. We just need the willpower to pass them.

Let’s start here: Ban Congressional stock trading, end conflicts of interest in the White House, pass stronger ethics rules for our courts and shine a light on money in politics.

Ban Members of Congress from trading stocks

When members of Congress vote, they should weigh only one thing: What’s best for you. But when members from both parties trade stocks ― with prices that go up and down based on laws we pass ― it’s a massive problem. This year alone, one member has made more than 600 trades totaling $7 million, calling into question his motivations and our entire system.

He's not the only one. Congressional stock trading is astonishingly wrong, and it’s out of hand.

Time to end it.

Get conflicts of interest out of the White House

Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp, but since he took office, things have gotten worse. He gave the world's richest man ― somebody with billions in government contracts ― the keys to the government and access to taxpayer data, turned the White House into a Tesla showroom, made a fortune launching a Trump meme-coin, confirmed a billionaire-stacked cabinet with endless financial interests and that’s just the beginning. Oh, and we’re still waiting on the Epstein files.

We need to ban conflicts of interest, no matter which party controls the White House. Let’s start with a no-brainer: the Stop Millionaires Using Service for Kickbacks Act, which prevents White House employees from engaging in policy where they have a financial interest.

Clean up the Supreme Court

In recent years, U.S. Supreme Court justices have accepted lavish vacations, gifts and even school tuition for relatives from the well-connected with business before them.

So when the court rules in their favor, the public questions whether that was for the law or their friends and boosters. Let’s pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act to create a basic code of ethics, define when justices must legally step away from a case and outline the process to do so.

Clamp down on money in our politics

It’s out of control, as billions of dark, unaccountable dollars flood our system. We need to get the money out of the dark and into public view. Let’s pass the Disclose Act, which shines sunlight on political donations and spending, and takes critical measures to keep foreign money out of our elections.

I know we can do this, because we’ve done it before. When I served in the Michigan Senate, we passed a reform package to improve transparency in state government. And while we got it done, we put working people first, with a historic tax cut, more housing, pre-K for all and much more.

Today, my constituents don’t trust “The Swamp.” They are right not to ― this system is designed to benefit the wealthy and powerful, not them.

I may be new to Congress, but I wasn’t born yesterday. This is commonsense reform. Let's get self-dealing out of Washington, re-e stablish trust with our voters and pass an agenda that puts working people first, not special interests.

WJRT: Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet pushes to remove corruption from Washington politics

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