Via Ralston, Mark Amodei’s statement on the Congressional Insider Trading scandal (is there a “-gate” for this yet?) reminds me why he’s one of the few politicians I’ve ever enthusiastically voted for:
“The American people don’t have a lot of trust when it comes to Washington, D.C. and Members of Congress. They say that sunlight is the best disinfectant. All of my investments and my mining interests are on my financial disclosures. And judging by their performance, I don’t think anyone can accuse me of insider trading.”
I love it. Genuinely funny, self-effacing, and effective in protecting the newly-minted Congressman from the whiff of scandal.
In the meantime, it’s worth it for everyone to remember that the smaller, less intrusive, and less powerful government is, the smaller the opportunity there is for graft and corruption.
And if we really want Big Corporations out of Government (in spite of their First Amendment rights), all you have to do is get Government out of Big Corporations. The more we try to regulate large, moneyed interests, the more worth it such interests will find it to feed regulators (politicians) money (or illegal information that LEADS to money).
