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So - njnewsgrrl weighs in on the big picture, with some very specific course corrections to suggest. What do you think, Blue Jersey? - - promoted by Rosi
While explaining the atmosphere in the Garden State following the indictment of 44 individuals on corruption charges, an NPR reporter appearing on PBS's "The News Hour" last week compared the situation to the launch of the space shuttle. When it first began, everyone was interested, everyone was talking about it, and it was a big deal, she said. But now, we're so used to it that we just shrug our shoulders and go about our business.
Sad, but true.
We've been dealt this deck of cards. And it's pretty embarrassing, not to mention harmful to our state and communities. So what can we do to change the situation? How can we make it better?
First, we have to accept the fact that there are too many people who profit - financially or otherwise - from the current system. These people run the system, whether they be elected officials, political operatives or lobbyists. And they have zero motivation to affect the kind of substantial, systemic change that our state really needs. Sure, they will talk about reforms in the law enacted in the past few years. But clearly, the little that has changed is not enough.
Second, we will have to accept that as long as politicians need money to get elected, there will be corruption in the system. A functioning system of publicly financed elections is crucial to reducing the influence of money in politics. There have been noble efforts to institute such a system, but it's been very, very slow in development. Wonder why? See the previous paragraph.
What we really need is a complete overhaul of state law to reduce the influence of, for lack of a better term, skuzzy politicians, in our government. In an ideal world, that overhaul would do the following: |
| 1. Eliminate the "line" in partisan primaries. The line does not exist in every county, but where it does, the county committee chairmen and women have an exorbitant amount of influence that allows them to play kingmaker. By eliminating the line, you curb that influence and allow the voters to decide who their candidates will be, not the power brokers inside the smoke-filled back rooms.
2. Reduce by half the contribution limits to the state partisan committees, legislative leadership PACs and municipal and county parties. Money is how the inside players build their power base and wield that power like a sword against the underlings who they want to do their bidding. Money is the reason why people like George Norcross and Mike Perrucci continue to wield enormous influence without a formal title. And money leads to corruption. The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently upheld federal contribution limits under the rationale that, though a political contribution is "speech," the government has a compelling interest in curbing corruption and preventing candidates from being bought. It?s well beyond the time for New Jersey to get with the program. There is no reason why we should allow limits of $25,000 and $37,000. Yet, that is what current law allows. And we're supposed to believe that a politician, once elected, isn't going to bend over backward for the people who wrote those checks? Right. I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd love to sell to you.
3. Forbid elected officials to collect pensions. The pension system should be limited to government employees - civil servants, assistant county prosecutors, assistant attorneys general, policy experts, accountants and tax collectors, etc. To prove my point, allow me to present Exhibit No. 1: Wayne Bryant, who was convicted and recently sentenced to four years in prison for using his influence as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee to get a no-show job at UMDNJ so that he could boost his pension. And if that's not enough for you, ask yourself this: Do you want your elected representative to run for office because he/she has good ideas and truly wants to help your community, or just because he/she wants that nice bump in pension eligibility that comes with a higher-paying job?
4. Don't give politicians health insurance unless they are full-time employees, like the governor and?. No, that's it; just the governor. Anyone who is a "full-time legislator" is still a part-time employee, and if they want to get in on the state's health insurance plan for themselves or their families, they need to pay for it. The taxpayers should not be footing the bill for health insurance so some lazy politician who is too corrupt to get a real job can put his or her entire extended family on the insurance rolls that exist for full-time state government civil service employees.
5. Most crucially, voters MUST pay attention and MUST perform their duties as members of a democratic society by holding elected officials accountable for their actions. Write letters, make phone calls, circulate petitions, picket outside the State House. Let them know that corruption will not be tolerated, and follow up your threats in the voting booth. Two weeks ago, I wrote on Twitter that Governor Corzine had narrowed his choice for Lieutenant Governor to two people: A tool of the Middlesex County machine who only asks how high when told to jump, or a badass reformer who pissed off the Bergen County bosses by speaking her mind. I said that if Corzine chose the former, I would vote Republican for the first time in my life, and I meant it, because I was serious. I know many people reading this will think I'm crazy - after all, Chris Christie is wrong on the issues we care about. That's true, but to me, I can stomach (albeit reluctantly) a hypocrite of a Republican governor for four years if it means sending the message once and for all that we will not tolerate corruption, or anything that smells like corruption.
We can put an end to corruption in our state. But, as voters, we must to be willing to put in the hard work on our end to make sure it happens. We must not just complain about our lot in life and accept things as they are; we must demand that government changes to be what it should be: an entity to serve the people, not profit from the people while no one is looking. As Anne Maiese, president of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, wrote in an op-ed this week, voters must remind politicians "that the people they serve are looking over their shoulders, meeting after meeting. It's our right and our duty."
I've been in the caucus room when legislators were debating ethics reform. And I can tell you for certain that, among very powerful members of the Democratic caucus, they fear two things and two things only: the U.S. Attorney and losing re-election. The reason for the former is obvious. If they're able to escape investigation and indictment, they could very well lose their offices and with that their power, influence, source of income and ego-inflation. Voters must make those fears a reality for corrupt politicians. If we pay attention and take action on a consistent basis, what may now seem like a far-fetched, Pollyana proposal about how to curb corruption may very well become a reality. |
