Playbook-2- Corruption Money and power are at the heart and soul of corruption in the United States government. Money enables power, but it is power that drives corruption. Corruption today is pervasive. Playbook-2 will offer several ways to address corruption today in our legislative, judicial and executive branches of the U.S. government. Leadership is about doing the right thing. The key word being, doing. What is needed are tangible actions against corruption. We must go beyond punishing corruption. Accountability needs to meet or exceed the scale of the corruption. The perpetrator(s) must be accountable in a real sense, a tangible and visible sense. Words are not enough. We live in times very different than days gone by. The guardrails that have been relied upon in the past, are no longer dependable. Guardrails are largely an anachronism. The landmark cases, Citizens United v Federal Election Commission and the follow-on case SpeechNOW.org v Federal Election Commission are the two prime cases enabling the introduction of unlimited campaign finance contributions, the creation of Super Pac’s, and the introduction of “dark money” to political campaigns. This money enables a few very wealthy individuals in society to wield undemocratic amounts of power. The voices of the collective (the people) are minimized when money in unlimited amounts is contributed by a few very wealthy people and entities. Additionally, numerous surveys in the U.S. suggest that the influence of big donors to political campaigns is central to corruption in government. These surveys document that between 70% to over 80% of survey respondents identified corruption in government to be a major problem in the United States. The actions necessary to remove corruption are many. One approach is to return to the public funding of elections. This approach has both broad and deep public support. Again, well over 70% by numerous surveys. So what actions are necessary to effectuate transformative change? Amending the U.S. Constitution - is the optimal approach - to return to the public funding of elections. This amendment could limit campaign funding to public funding and eliminate private and corporate contributions; government contractors, labor unions and other non-human entities could also be eliminated from campaign funding; and lastly, dark money contributors must also be eliminated from contributing to political campaigns. An amendment of this magnitude would be transformative. As a starting point, we need to be clear about how to Amend the Unites States Constitution. Here goes: The first, and optimal approach. Proposing an Amendment An amendment must be proposed by one of two methods: Congress: A two-thirds supermajority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. (All 27 current amendments were proposed this way.) Constitutional Convention: A national convention called by Congress upon the application of two-thirds (34 of 50) of the state legislatures. This method has never been used. Ratifying an Amendment Once proposed, an amendment must be ratified by one of two methods (chosen by Congress): State Legislatures: Approval by three-fourths (38 of 50) of the state legislatures. State Conventions: Approval by special ratifying conventions in three-fourths (38 of 50) of the states. (This method was used only once, for the 21st Amendment.) As I stated above, amending the Constitution is the optimal means to address the core issue of corruption, however, this approach may not be achievable in the near term. The chasm between opposing political ideologies, polarization, an overarching lack of fortitude to do the right thing by both parties, and unfortunately, an ever-present need to display fealty to the President of the Unites States. Any one of these may be sufficient to derail an effort to amend the Constitution. A Second Approach- A Legislative Option to Mitigate Corruption Should the 2026 mid-term elections bring about a change in the majority of the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, then a series of legislative initiatives could be advanced into law. If the Democrats win a majority in both the House and the Senate much could be accomplished without an amendment to the United States Constitution. Among these initiatives would include an overhaul of federal ethics laws to include all members and staff of the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive branches of government with permanent funding and enforcement mechanisms. Included in these ethics’ laws would be the President of the United States and his staff and the Justices of the United States Supreme Court and their staff. The Foreign Emoluments Clause and the Domestic Emoluments Clause would need to be codified in a clear and enforceable way. Clarity in deeds, actions, funding and enforcement would need to be incorporated in a way beyond words. The elimination of stock trading, private placement investments, venture capital investments, or other investment activity while a member of congress, member of the judiciary or member of the executive branch of government. This would include both the President and Justices of the Supreme Court. All investments, while a member of any branch of government must be held in a blind trust. The perception of corruption must be mitigated. The blind trust must be verifiable and regularly audited and made available for public review. The overseer of each of these initiatives must be independent, permanently and fully funded with real authority to enforce, act and require change and accountability. Consistent with each of these transformative initiatives would be the empowerment of a free press and the encouragement of whistleblowers to speak up and speak out when wrongs occur. In summary, Playbook-2 begins the transformative journey for governing and leading for a pro-democracy vision for the country. Addressing and mitigating corruption is the necessary starting point. Incremental change cannot be the answer. To nibble at this agenda is not the call for transformative change. In today’s world, leadership - doing the right thing - is the bold and courageous call for action. Sourcing: Weiner, D. I., Zdanys, J., & Petry, E. (2026, January 20). Nine Solutions for Political Corruption, A new era of anticorruption reform is long overdue.
