We need a clear, plain language, simple piece of “REFORM LEGISLATION”. It could easily be titled:

 EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 Covered entities shall include the President of the United States, their executive staff, appointed Cabinet Members and their executive staff. Each covered entity as defined herein shall be responsible and accountable for undisclosed conflicts of interest by those person(s) or entities which from time to time may be retained, selected or appointed to represent a specific issue on behalf of the covered entity.

 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

 Covered entities shall include elected members of the House of Representatives, elected members of the Senate, and their respective individual staffs. Each covered entity as defined herein shall be responsible and accountable for undisclosed conflicts of interest by those person(s) or entities which from time to time may be retained, selected or appointed to represent a specific issue on behalf of the covered entity.

 FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM

 Covered entities shall include all retained, selected or appointed Federal Judges, U.S Attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorneys and their respective staffs. Each covered entity as defined herein shall be responsible and accountable for undisclosed conflicts of interest by those person(s) or entities which from time to time may be retained, selected or appointed to represent a specific issue on behalf of the covered entity.

 EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS

 1.  There shall exist no Conflict of Interest due solely to a covered entities particular political party.

 2. Nothing contained herein shall alter or affect in any way existing law, policies, procedures or rules governing the Federal Election Commission or the Federal Campaign Finance Commission rules of Disclosure.

 DISCLOSURE

 Disclosure of direct or indirect conflicts of interest shall be a matter of public record and shall include any mitigation noted by third party verification. The public record shall be kept current and updated not less than quarterly and distributed in such a manner as to be readily available to any citizen of the United States. Complete and full disclosure of any disciplinary actions taken shall be a matter of public record.

 DISCIPLINARY ACTION

 Publicly Elected Officials that fail to comply with this act shall be censured and a review of any official acts associated with the conflict of interest shall be examined. Additional censure and or recourse under law as applicable shall be applied.

 Appointed Officials that fail to comply with this act shall be censured and a review of any official acts associated with the conflict of interest shall be examined. Additional censure and or recourse under law as applicable shall be applied.

 The staff of any entity covered herein as well as any entity retained, selected or appointed that fail to comply with this act shall be censured and a review of any official acts associated with the conflict of interest shall be examined. Additional censure and or recourse under law as applicable shall be applied.

 Conflict of Interest Defined

    n.   pl. conflicts of interest

  A conflict between a person's private interests and public obligations.

 A conflict of interest is a situation in which any covered entity within a position of trust has competing professional or personal interests. Such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially. A conflict of interest exists even if no unethical or improper act results from it. A conflict of interest can create an appearance of impropriety that can undermine confidence in the person, the Executive Branch, the Senate, the House of Representatives, or the Federal Court System. A conflict can be mitigated by third party verification or third party evaluation — but it still exists.

 Codes of ethics Defined

 Generally, codes of ethics forbid conflicts of interests. Codes of ethics help to minimize problems with conflicts of interests because they can spell out the extent to which such conflicts should be avoided, and what the parties should do where such conflicts are permitted by a code of ethics (disclosure, recusal, etc.). Thus, entities covered herein cannot claim that they were unaware that their improper behavior was unethical. As importantly, the threat of disciplinary action helps to minimize unacceptable conflicts or improper acts when a conflict is unavoidable.