Sarah Palin: How Congress Occupied Wall Street

(h/t @IL4Palin)

Sarah Palin has just penned an absolutely fabulous piece for tomorrow's Wall Street Journal that clearly explains and articulates the points that were made by Peter Schweizer in his new book, Throw Them All Out. Even the most politically astute among us will find her op-ed helpful in tying together what we have been hearing in the news regarding insider trading in Congress and how crony capitalism works within the walls of government.

Alaska's former governor looks at the issue of how elected officials enrich themselves even though their government positions don't pay the kind of salaries that would support such enrichment. Her familiarity with how all of this works comes from her own experience in Alaska.

The corruption isn't confined to one political party or just a few bad apples. It's an endemic problem encompassing leadership on both sides of the aisle. It's an entire system of public servants feathering their own nests.

None of this surprises me. I've been fighting this type of corruption and cronyism my entire political career. For years Alaskans suspected that our lawmakers and state administrators were in the pockets of the big oil companies to the detriment of ordinary Alaskans. We knew we were being taken for a ride, but it took FBI wiretaps to finally capture lawmakers in the act of selling their votes. In the wake of politicos being carted off to prison, my administration enacted reforms based on transparency and accountability to prevent this from happening again.

She goes on to elaborate on her calls for sudden and relentless reform.

I've learned from local, state and national political experience that the only solution to entrenched corruption is sudden and relentless reform. Sudden because our permanent political class is adept at changing the subject to divert the public's attention—and we can no longer afford to be indifferent to this system of graft when our country is going bankrupt. Reform must be relentless because fighting corruption is like a game of whack-a-mole. You knock it down in one area only to see it pop up in another.

Palin also provide solutions in her piece. Congress should not be allowed to be exempt from laws governing insider trading and disclosure nor should they be allowed to benefit from certain types of deals and campaign contributions.

No more sweetheart land deals with campaign contributors. No gifts of IPO shares. No trading of stocks related to committee assignments. No earmarks where the congressman receives a direct benefit. No accepting campaign contributions while Congress is in session. No lobbyists as family members, and no transitioning into a lobbying career after leaving office. No more revolving door, ever.

She calls on Congress to have to follow the laws the make and encourages the grass roots on both the right and the left to embrace her solutions. It's a great read. Read the whole thing here.

Those who called her dumb and inarticulate might find it too substantive a read for them to understand.

Governor Palin once again demonstrates her ability to lead on the issues. She's clearly intellectually engaged in the political conversation. She has guided the national discussion toward addressing crony capitalism and the real problems that confront America. The American presidency would surely be enhanced by someone of her caliber.