In the news
Wanted: Old Toothless Pals Only - The New Office of Congressional Ethics
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.), former House Chief Administrative Officer Jay Eagan, and the only member without close ties to Congress, Allison Hayward, former chief of staff for Federal Election Commissioner Brad Smith. The alternates are former Reps. Abner Mikva (D-Ill.) and Bill Frenzel (R-Minn.).
So much for a perception of independence. So much for sending a responsible message to local governments concerning whom to appoint to their ethics commissions.
Pick your former associates, Congress is suggesting, people you feel will be loyal to you and to the way things are done in your city. Make sure they have no subpoena power and cannot even recommend sanctions, just in case they actually want to act responsibly.
Thanks, Congress. That 9% good-or-excellent rating of yours deserves to go down another percent or two.
- Robert Wechsler's blog
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The Spitzer Report and the Need for Clearer Boundaries Between Public and Private Work
There are two issues I would like to focus on, both of which involve government employees (a police superintendent and a lawyer) doing private work for public officials.
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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An Upside-Down Conflict of Interest
Assuming this article is accurately describing the situation, this creates an unusual conflict of interest. Clearly, the commission chair was not using his position to give himself a financial benefit, because he obtained the financial benefit three years before he joined the commission. He also did nothing that would make it more likely for him to join the commission, all things being rational, because he had essentially cost the commission a half million dollars. This is the opposite of the usual quid pro quo.
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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The Ethics of Naming Public Buildings, Etc. After Serving Officials
Yes, why should anything, especially anything built with public funds, be given the name of a serving (or even recently serving) government official? You can't have a stamp, but you can have an airport or street or university center -- or several of each.
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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Local Government Dependency on Drug Asset Forfeiture in Texas
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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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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Trusting Public Boards of Trustees in San Diego County
Of course, the "they" here are local government agencies: five community college districts in San Diego County, whose boards of trustees are elected.
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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Rep. Charles Rangel and How to Be Above the Past, Appearances of Impropriety, and Annoying Things Like That
A determination in his favor by the House Ethics Committee would, Rangel feels, require a public apology from the Washington Post for writing unfavorably about his use of congressional stationery to solicit contributions for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York. The Post also reported that Rep. Rangel has approached, and obtained large contributions to the Center, from individuals and businesses with interests before the House Ways and Means Committee, which he chairs. He also obtained two grants, totalling $690,500, from HUD to renovate a building in his district for the Center. It's hard to find more appearances of impropriety in a single matter than in this one.
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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Update on Oklahoma Ethics Commisson Funding
I recently reported that the Oklahoma Ethics Commission was considering suing the legislature for more funds, on the ground that the state constitution requires adequate funding for the EC, and the legislature had, among other limits, permitted it to have only one investigator.
The latest news is that the chair of the House Budget and Appropriations Committee came before the Ethics Commission and essentially threatened them with a serious downside to the suit: "It is a great risk that this commission will be undertaking because if you file suit, if the court takes it up and then you do not prevail, what is the likelihood of your funding increases subsequent to the court's decision?"
And if the Ethics Commission accepts its funding as it always has (it sued the legislature back in 1992, but did not pursue the funding part of the suit), what is the likelihood that they would ever get adequate funding?
- Robert Wechsler's blog
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Campaign Finance and the Perception of Independence of a Chief Financial Officer
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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Should an Unaccountable Former Officeholder Retain Power over Public Information? - Personal vs. Public Interest
In 1989, President George H. W. Bush recognized this in Executive Order 12667. This Order directed that a former president could ask that information not be disclosed, but that the incumbent Attorney General and Counsel to the President make the final decision.
In 2001, President George W. Bush changed this in Executive Order 13,233. Now the former president can make the final decision. In other words, now the privilege is officially held by the individual, not the office.
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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