While I agree with Cotton in principle, the message he's sending is stupid.
It's "Hey, Numbnuts, if you -- as a professional politician -- value your job and want to further your professional career beyond this particular Congress, you'll pause and take another look at this pile of shit that you want to send to us, the REAL professional politicians. We can make you look real good, and we can make you look real bad."
We shouldn't have a SINGLE professional politician anywhere. Now we're infested with the damned things.

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Public servants are NOT public servants - they are public servants working for PRIVATE CORPORATIONS - which run this country.
Therein lies the layer, and source of corruption in this government. It is corporate-driven instead of citizen-driven, which is common knowledge.
Until the day laws are written to outlaw private lobbying by both elected and prior elected congressmen and senators we will remain in the ownership of the private corporations. Now, the 'corporations' are going global, meaning that not only can American owned corporations have central influence and power in our government, but now global (e.g., foreign) owned corporations want in on the pie also - as well as the corporate control that comes with it over US government operations and the span of control they/it has over the daily lives of the average American.
I think that is what we see playing out here, and you are right - these 'career' politicians hypocrisy glows bright blood neon daily as we see them (both worthless parties) jockeying and lobbying in public and broad daylight as they are plainly telling us they will, or will not act based upon HOW IT IMPACTS THEIR SORRY-ASSED future political fortunes and careers.
It may not be possible to clean this swamp. It is certainly not possible with this current 2-party/UniParty/OneParty system that continues to lie, cheat, steal (and even murder, now that we are finding out via the internet) it's way into remaining in its corrupt form, and with its non-impeachable power over the electorate.