Saying that “people want a government that works,” the Democratic candidate for Congress Paige Cognetti during Thursday’s press conference, she presented her anti-corruption program aimed at cleaning up Washington.
The Scranton mayor detailed her plan to fight for reform, transparency and accountability in Congress in creating a separation between her campaign and that of the incumbent Republican Representative Rob Bresnahan in the closely watched 8th Congressional District race.
“People want a government that works. They know the system is rigged against them and they are fed up with it,” Cognetti said. “I first ran for public office to take on a corrupt Democratic establishment that exploited local government to enrich itself. Now I’m running for Congress with the same mission to take on corruption wherever we see it. We are tired of Washington politicians enriching themselves while selling us out. Members of Congress have created a system where the rules apply to the rest of us, but not to them. We all know that’s wrong, and I’m running to change it.”
Cognetti’s eight-point plan includes:
- Trading in Congress shares prohibited
- Ban corporate PAC donations
- No budget, no salaries
- Term limits
- Government audit
- Prohibiting members of Congress from becoming lobbyists
- Prohibiting members of Congress from serving on corporate boards
- Prohibition of market gambling predictions related to war, elections and government activities
Many of these issues have been mentioned before by many candidates and elected officials with little or no positive movement, but Cognetti hopes a novel generation can push them forward.
Stock trading by members of Congress was a sizzling topic in the 119th Congress, and Bresnahan was one of the main targets. Cognetti said she does not own individual shares and does not plan to do so if elected.
“Corrupt politicians in both parties have exploited the trust of their constituents for too long, and Congressman Rob Bresnahan is just the latest case of a criminal,” she said. “Members of Congress consistently trade stock in companies that directly relate to their work on congressional committees. They attend secret briefings, hear economic forecasts before the public does, and vote on legislation that can make or break entire industries. This is the definition of corruption in society. I will fight to ban stock trading by members of Congress so that Northeastern Pennsylvanians and Americans everywhere don’t have to wonder whether their representative is working to serve their community or get rich.”
Bresnahan has made 652 securities transactions since setting foot in Washington and continues to claim that it has no role in these decisions. He has not made any transaction since March 6.
“All investment decisions relating to my personal financial portfolio are delegated to professional financial advisors. I have no role in, nor am I informed of, specific investment decisions prior to making them,” he wrote in a recent periodic trading report. “Accordingly, these transactions were planned and executed by a financial advisor.”
Cognetti also appointed a first-term congressman for accepted more than $267,000 from corporate political action committees claims he is “purchasing our elected leaders and using our federal government as a tool to protect his interests.”
“Large corporations have too much influence on our politics,” Cognetti said. “As a congressional candidate, I do not take a penny from corporate PACs. As a member of Congress, I will propose legislation to ban corporate PAC contributions to federal campaigns. The meetings our representatives attend and the priorities they fight for should be dictated by what is best for their districts, not a corporate lobbyist coming in with a check.”
Cognetti, 45, said she would fight for a constitutional amendment to set term limits for members of the House and Senate at 18 years. He also believes the same standard should be applied to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Too many politicians in Washington have forgotten who they work for. There are members of Congress who have become too comfortable and stayed too long,” she said. “We should also apply this standard to Supreme Court justices so that the structure no longer encourages judges to serve beyond their capabilities and the Court is no longer a place of constant competition.”
In addition to controlling the government and imposing greater restrictions on members of Congress during and after their service, Cognetti also wants to focus on forecasting markets.
“Prediction markets have exploded in the last year, offering the wealthy and well-connected a chance to tap into their insider knowledge of elections, wars and government decisions,” she said. “When the Iran war threw financial markets into chaos, insiders made millions on prediction markets by making shady bets on military attacks before they happened. Ordinary Americans watched their retirement accounts erode while well-connected people made money. This should be banned by members of Congress and their staffs.”
Bresnahan’s campaign quickly responded to Cognetti, saying the congressman has already proposed a bill to ban stock trading, signed a petition to force a vote on the ban and signed on to efforts to set term limits, according to the campaign.
“Paige Cognetti is as corrupt as they come, and not just because she tried to sell these recycled ideas as her own, including several that Rep. Bresnahan has already endorsed,” a campaign spokesman said Samantha Bullock. “Cognetti believes he is corrupt Paweł Kanjorski among her supporters, for whom she worked Hillary Clinton AND Barack Obamahe was standing nearby Joe Biden because he pardoned a Kids for Cash judge, he worked as a Wall Street insider for several years and landed attractive contracts that benefited her family and campaign throughout her tenure as mayor. This is a ridiculous and pathetic attempt to distract from her hopeless campaign.”
The Bresnahan campaign also highlighted the irony of Cognetti standing at the news conference Lisa Barrett (far left, below), onetime president of the Wyoming Area Education Association, who spent a year in federal prison embezzled $59,000 from the teachers union for the Wyoming Area School District.
Speaking at a union hall in South Scranton, Cognetti compared her work as elected head of “The Electric City” to what she hopes to do in “The District.”
“Now I’m running for Congress with the same mission to confront corruption wherever we see it, because we are tired of Washington politicians enriching themselves while selling us out,” she said. “Americans have lost trust in government, and politicians are more concerned about advancing their own interests than the interests of the people they represent. Members of Congress have more lenient ethics laws than hard-working Americans. They have created a system where the rules apply to the rest of us, but not to them. We all know it’s wrong, and I’m running to change it, just like I did in Scranton.”
The 8th District consists of all of Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike counties; roughly eastern Luzerne County, including Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, and Hazleton; and all of Monroe County, except Polk and Eldred townships and part of Ross Township.
