Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., perfectly demonstrates the difference between two types of Republicans. Some support free enterprise. Others, including Collins, advocate “pro-business” policies.
In other words, Collins and those of his ilk who are often flattered with the label “moderates” want government to embrace business intimately. His indictment Wednesday on charges related to alleged insider trading, and frankly his entire record in Congress, remind us how intertwining industry and the state multiplies corruption.
Collins has been charged with tipping off his son that the drug of an Australian drug company, Innate Immunotherapeutics, had failed a clinical trial. Collins denies the charges, and he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
But even aside from these charges, there’s plenty that indicts Collins ethically if not legally. It’s tied up with the blending of business and government, something he wants more of.
He was a member of the “Tuesday Group” of Republican congressmen, and his voting record placed him near the left end of the GOP spectrum. His lifetime score of 51 percent from the Club for Growth means he supports free markets less than all but 24 of his colleagues. He regularly champions subsidies for exporters, telecoms, farmers, fossil fuels, and drugmakers. He cheers President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, and it was Trump’s promise of economic nationalism that drew Collins to endorse Trump early in the primaries.
While he votes with conservatives on tax cuts, he votes with left-wing Democrats on spending and subsidies. He thinks government should actively help business rather than get out of the way of businesses.
In getting Congress to help business, Collins has tried to get government to help his own bottom line. He profited from at least $8 million in subsidies from the Export-Import Bank, and is leading Republican crusading with Democrats to revive the agency that Republicans reined in.
Collins is also the big shareholder in Innate Immunotherapeutics, and he sits on the company’s board, which is extraordinary for a sitting lawmaker. He has pushed legislation to help the company.
In late 2016, Collins reportedly inserted a provision into a bill called the 21st Century Cures Act. His measure created a fast-track approval process for investigational drugs. Innate’s sole product, a multiple sclerosis drug called MIS416, stood to benefit from this provision, and the company’s stock jumped on the bill’s passage. Before passage, Collins bought another million dollars in Innate stock, and reportedly convinced some of his House colleagues to buy, as well. The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation of this last year.
Drug approval has long been a job of the federal government, and probably should be. But Collins’ career has been dedicated to maximizing areas where private profits depend on government action. The more such intersections of business and government, the more opportunities for self-dealing and corruption by politicians.
If Collins is convicted or driven out of Congress, it will be a victory in the endless fight against corruption. But it will be like crushing an ant at a picnic. As long as there is a banquet on the ground, more ants will come.
The late Timothy Wheeler of National Review put it well: To get rid of the corruption in high places, get rid of the high places.
