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Can We Do Without Pay-to-Play?
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
Robert Wechsler
In third world countries, corruption is said to grease the wheels of
commerce. We don't like to believe that this is true in the U.S., and
we certainly don't have to grease the palms of ordinary government
employees in order to get any service.
But what would happen if pay-to-play were truly brought to its knees?
This question arises from a column by Bob Herbert in Tuesday's New York Times. The column is about the attempt to build a third airport in the Chicago area. The effort is being led by the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission, a public-private partnership. The project would be financed by two private firms, and it would serve primarily low-cost carriers. It all sounds too good to be true, just the sort of project politicians and businesspeople are always talking about.
But it doesn't seem to be able to get off the ground. According to Herbert, behind the scenes local and state politicians are dragging their feet. Why? Because they won't have control of the jobs or the contracts. There's nothing in it for them. Jesse Jackson, Jr., congressman for the southern part of Chicago and the biggest mover on this project, wants the jobs for his district (the airport would be near but not in his district). But taking the project out of the pay-to-play traditions of Chicago (matched in many places throughout the country) seems to have made it a difficult sell.
According to the executive director of the the airport commission, there have been attempts to bring the project into the grand ol' Chicago tradition, but so far they have failed. Maybe the sudden and, most likely, short-term interest in ethics in Illinois will get the project going.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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But what would happen if pay-to-play were truly brought to its knees?
This question arises from a column by Bob Herbert in Tuesday's New York Times. The column is about the attempt to build a third airport in the Chicago area. The effort is being led by the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission, a public-private partnership. The project would be financed by two private firms, and it would serve primarily low-cost carriers. It all sounds too good to be true, just the sort of project politicians and businesspeople are always talking about.
But it doesn't seem to be able to get off the ground. According to Herbert, behind the scenes local and state politicians are dragging their feet. Why? Because they won't have control of the jobs or the contracts. There's nothing in it for them. Jesse Jackson, Jr., congressman for the southern part of Chicago and the biggest mover on this project, wants the jobs for his district (the airport would be near but not in his district). But taking the project out of the pay-to-play traditions of Chicago (matched in many places throughout the country) seems to have made it a difficult sell.
According to the executive director of the the airport commission, there have been attempts to bring the project into the grand ol' Chicago tradition, but so far they have failed. Maybe the sudden and, most likely, short-term interest in ethics in Illinois will get the project going.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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