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I've begun a process of going back through the Model Code, adding comments, alternative language, and possible additional provisions inspired by the way various local governments have dealt with the issues involved. As always, any and all comments are welcome.

I will report on and link to these changes in this blog. The first changes and additions are as follows:

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The actual and perceived independence of an ethics commission is one of the most important aspects of a government ethics program.

The U.S. House of Representatives finally decided to be overseen by an independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Hallelujah!

And so who did the House appoint? The three Democrats are former Reps. David Skaggs (D-Colo.), Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-Calif.) and Karen English (D-Ariz.). The three Republicans are former Rep. Peter Goss (R-Fla...

The New York State Commission on Public Integrity released a report yesterday on the allegations relating to the Spitzer Administration's attempts to gather and make public the travel abuses of the Senate Majority Leader, in order to tarnish his reputation. See the New York Times article.

There are two issues I...

According to a recent article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the chair of one of the city's economic development commissions made an unusual deal with, and a half-million-dollar instant profit from (the purchase and sale transactions were filed at the same time), the commission three years before he became a member.

Assuming this article is accurately describing...

In my recent entry about Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, I said nothing about the fact that the university center he was seeking funds for has his name on it. An excellent entry by John Fund placed up on Huffington Post today focuses on this part of the story.

Yes, why should anything, especially anything...

The drug war is not really about drugs, it's about addiction. And dependency is what powers addiction.

As it turns out, dependency is also what powers the drug war, at least in Texas. Local government agencies, and often local governments themselves, are dependent on the money that comes from asset forfeitures related to the drug trade. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars.

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