Cutting off the political corruption machine, once and for all

The Hill

2 days ago

I didn't write this to get clicks. I wrote it because I'm tired. I'm tired of watching public service turn into a stepping stone for private gain. It's not just a partisan issue. It's everywhere.
Corruption isn't the exception. It's the operating system. And we can't fix that with anger alone. We need actual rules.
The truth is, outrage has become a commodity. Media feeds on it. Politicians use it to stall. Writers, too often, get stuck pointing fingers instead of offering something better. Somewhere along the way, solving problems stopped being the point. Keeping them alive became the strategy.
Corruption isn't new, of course. But in Donald Trump's second term, it feels like the curtain has been ripped down entirely. Whether you support him or not, the self-enrichment is hard to ignore. He's backed a meme coin, charged for VIP dinners, and posted market-moving comments like they were punchlines. Since returning to office, estimates say his net worth has jumped to nearly $5 billion — up from $2.3 billion when he started. That kind of leap doesn't happen from a government salary. It comes from turning influence into income.
And yes, before you say it, the Bidens should be scrutinized, too. So should Nancy Pelosi's decades of well-timed stock trades. Trump doesn't get a pass just because others played the game. That's exactly the problem. Everyone's playing.
This isn't just a double standard. It's a broken standard. One that's hollowed out public trust, one ethical compromise at a time. And once that trust is gone? It's almost impossible to get back.
I don't think we can completely eliminate corruption. But I do think we can make it harder to get away with. That's why I'm proposing the Elected Official Investment Fund, or EOF for short — a neutral, practical tool to prevent public servants from profiting while in power. It doesn't punish success. It just separates it from the job.
Here's what the fund would do:
Transfer assets at entry. Every elected official, from president to governor to senator, would move their investments into the EOF upon taking office. This includes stocks, business stakes and real estate partnerships. You keep your checking account and your house. But your portfolio goes in the fund.
No tax penalty for rollover. Want to move your Tesla stock into an index fund when you join? Fine. No capital gains tax. But once you're in office, you can't buy or sell anything specific. No exceptions.
Withdrawals get taxed. Need money from the fund? Sure. But it gets taxed like ordinary income. No sneaky liquidity plays. No gaming the tax code.
Full public visibility. The public sees what's in the fund. Voters deserve to know if their representatives are getting richer on the job.
No family workarounds. If you can't buy Nvidia the day before a hearing, neither can your spouse or your kids. Influence doesn't stop at the dinner table.
No private market deals. While in office, you can't invest in private equity, hedge funds or venture capital. These are the murkiest corners of finance, and the easiest to abuse.
No gifts over a symbolic threshold. A framed jersey from a school visit? Fine. A luxury trip from a donor? No. Draw the line clearly, and don't make it flexible.
This isn't radical. Companies already do this. Major CEOs can't trade stock without triggering disclosure. Some can't give gifts at all. Business caught up to the ethics of influence. Politics hasn't.
And the defenses are getting more absurd. Speaker Mike Johnson actually said Trump's profiteering wasn't a problem because it was 'out in the open.' As if transparency turns bad behavior into good behavior. That's like saying, 'Sure, I robbed the store, but I smiled for the security camera.'
We're grading corruption now based on how shameless it is. That's not accountability. That's surrender.
In the corporate world, you can be fired just for creating the appearance of impropriety. You don't have to break a rule. You just have to make people think you might. Because perception matters. Leadership is supposed to mean restraint.
I care about this because I've run a business. I've seen how power warps decision-making. How proximity gets monetized. And how easy it is to justify. But more than that, I care because we're running out of time.
We need to stop asking whether someone got rich from power. We need to build a system where the answer is that they can't. The Elected Official Investment Fund won't solve everything. But it's a good place to start.
That's not idealism. That's baseline democracy.