End business as usual in Washington

OPINION:

For too long, business as usual in Washington has thrived at the expense of the American taxpayer. We’ve all seen the headlines and the same lame excuses from politicians more focused on building their careers in Congress than serving the people who sent them to Washington.

How many times have you read about members of Congress making millions of dollars off their stock portfolios and crypto trades? Or using taxpayer dollars for self-promotion, lavish travel and entertainment? We all know this happens; meanwhile, politicians such as Jon Ossoff spend trillions of dollars of our money, fail to meet the most basic responsibilities of government, and put the priorities of hardworking Americans last.

Let’s be honest: For too many of these politicians, holding office isn’t about public service. It’s not even about making our country better. It’s about power, money and fitting in on the Washington cocktail circuit.

Washington’s “business as usual” is a completely different world from the one I grew up in and coached football in for nearly three decades. Football is a results-driven business where accountability still means something. If you don’t win enough, you get fired. If you don’t fight for your players and their families every day, you’re out. In fact, that’s what life is like for just about every American, except many of those representing us in the halls of our nation’s capital.

In Washington politics, failure is rewarded. You don’t deliver results? Don’t worry, just use taxpayer funds to tell everyone back home how great you are, even during a government shutdown. If you’re a member of Congress or a senator with some brilliant stock tips up your sleeve, trade on. It defies common sense, and it must stop.

Ending Washington business as usual starts with four simple reforms:

Ban all stock trading by members of Congress and their immediate families

Members of Congress vote on issues and sit in briefings every day that can move financial markets. Many Americans working in banking, financial services and even other government agencies face strict trading restrictions. Lawmakers should be held to the same standard and must not be allowed to profit from votes or privileged information. The same should apply to cryptocurrency: I support innovation and growth in the crypto industry, but no member of Congress should be allowed to buy or sell crypto based on inside knowledge of pending legislation or regulations.

End taxpayer-funded self-promotion

The “franking” privilege, established in 1789, allows members of Congress to use taxpayer funds to communicate with constituents about official government business. As you would expect, this has been abused by politicians to buy billboards, pay for glossy campaign-style mailers, and run radio or TV ads all on the taxpayer’s dime. It’s legalized self-promotion that amounts to a taxpayer-funded reelection campaign, costing the American people tens of millions of dollars every year. We need accountability, not taxpayer-funded advertising slush funds.

No budget? No pay and no play

Congress has one fundamental job: Fund the government. When it fails and the government shuts down, no politician in Washington should collect a paycheck or be allowed to leave town until the job is done. The consequences of their failure fall squarely on hardworking Americans. Our troops go unpaid, farmers lose disaster relief, food assistance stops and federal workers miss paychecks. But members of Congress? Senators like Jon Ossoff? No consequences. Full pay, full benefits and the freedom to spend time with family, vacation or even campaign for their next election while the country grinds to a halt. That’s not leadership. It’s hypocrisy, and it’s unacceptable.

Term limits

Too many politicians go to Washington, stay too long, do too little, and put their political careers ahead of the people they represent. Twelve years in the House and 12 in the Senate is more than enough time to serve your country, deliver results and then return home to the real world.

For 30 years, since the Contract with America, career politicians have blocked term limits out of self-interest. Grandfathering in current members would give them a chance to finally do the right thing and fix a broken system. Until we change the rules, Washington will keep rewarding the same insiders who milk the taxpayer and protect the status quo. It’s time to bring in new leaders who will cast their votes for the people they represent.

One of the best lessons President Trump taught Washington is that we need more outsiders: people who can’t be bought, who don’t owe the system anything, and who simply won’t accept business as usual.

That’s why I’m running for the U.S. Senate. I love Georgia, I love America, and I want my children and yours to feel the same pride in this great nation that I do. To get there, we have to clean up the corruption, end the careerism, and start demonstrating leadership that puts the people of Georgia and the United States first.

• Derek Dooley is a political outsider and Republican candidate for the United States Senate in Georgia.