Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Fighting for Reform
Less vile but more common than criminality is the influence of lobbyists in state capitols, where they can outnumber legislators by as much as 24 to 1. These influence peddlers have deep pockets. The Center for Public Integrity estimates that lobbyists spend over $1 billion annually cajoling state governments to pass this bill or that.
Some states are trying to crack down. Tennessee has created an ethics commission and put new limits on lobbyist gifts and contributions to lawmakers' campaigns, while Louisiana has forced legislators to report all sources of outside income over $10,000.
Lobbyists are clever about circumnavigating reforms, of course. In California, state law bars public officials from accepting gifts valued at $390 or more. So some energy and tobacco companies skirted that rule by underwriting junkets organized by nonprofit groups. According to a San Francisco Chronicle report, recent getaways for California pols have included a cruise near New Zealand for five members of the legislature, golf at a Maui resort for a state senator, and dinner in Rome and a stay at a Rio de Janeiro resort for the state assembly speaker. In Georgia, lobbyists have spent thousands sponsoring conferences for legislators on the beaches of Florida and the Cayman Islands.
This would all be less troubling if we could see exactly what our representatives are up to. The Center for Public Integrity recently graded the financial-disclosure laws in all 50 states. The scale was based on how, and if, legislators disclosed their jobs, business activities, clients, investments, property holdings, and involvement in other organizations. The report card: Not one state got a perfect grade. Out of 100 points, a majority scored under 65. In most classrooms, that's a D.
David Donnelly of the political reform group Public Campaign Action Fund says it's time to take private money out of politics, reducing the role of big-money lobbyists who prop up corruptible power brokers. "Legislating human nature away is impossible," he says. "When so much power is invested in so few, and with so little accountability, the system will breed corruption like a swamp breeds mosquitoes."
To reformers like Donnelly, the answer is more public financing of elections. Whatever the solution, something has to change. For every wayward politician we expose, how many are out there living it up at our expense?
***
Learn More
Read the Center for Public Integrity's rankings for your politicians at publicintegrity.org/oi.
Smell something rotten, such as a lawmaker living suspiciously beyond his means? Visit reportcorruption.fbi.gov, where you can file a report and find a number for your local FBI office.
Contact your legislator to find out whether your state has updated its ethics laws. If it hasn't, ask why.
Get involved. Many national government watchdog groups have state chapters that monitor legislatures and offer fresh information to the public. One of them, Common Cause, offers links to its state groups from its website (commoncause.org).
Advertisement 
Your Comments
See all
...
Post your comment