A few lawmakers recently worked with "60 Minutes" to expose the worst-kept secret in Washington: Members of Congress are pressured by their parties to spend more time fundraising than doing official work. The duo — a two-term congressmen and a veteran member — had the same reaction when directed to spend 30 hours a week raising money: We are done dialing for dollars. It is time to get back to work.
Think about this for a moment: The officials we entrust with making laws that govern our country are directed to spend more time in a cubicle, calling vested interests and big donors, than they do leading our country. It's no wonder they struggle to find compromise on handling the national debt, or even allocating funding to combat the spreading Zika virus.
Perhaps even worse: Reporters, congressional staffers and retiring lawmakers treat this as business as usual or simply claim that Washington is broken and kick the can down the road to the next election cycle.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have a tremendous opportunity this year to listen to the majority of Americans who repeatedly say this is a problem and to focus on meaningful political reform. These same voters are flocking to presidential candidates Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, in part because they have all taken strong stances against crony capitalism and the overriding influence of money in our elections.
Has it always been this way? No! U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, Minnesota's son and public servant, did not recognize Congress when he returned to the U.S. Capitol in 2013 following a 32-year break. Speaking to "60 Minutes," he said, "the Congress of the United States is hardly a democratic institution anymore."
Why? All the money in politics.
So he reached across the aisle to Florida Republican Rep. David Jolly to take a meaningful first step and send a message to both parties: Put the phone down and get back to the job you were elected to do. It is probably not a coincidence that Nolan has come out so vocally on this issue, since he is one of only two "Watergate babies" left in Congress. Certainly, we ought not to repeat history.
Outside of Washington, this is not a partisan issue. According to the Pew Research Center, 76 percent of liberals and conservatives say money has more power than ever before. When asked, Americans said they fear corruption of government officials more than anything else, including bioterrorism or economic collapse. We, the people, have lost faith in our elected leaders, and it is time to change that.
