As I am sure you are aware, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted yesterday on 17 of 20 felony counts stemming from his illegal use of his power as governor to influence (or attempt to) political outcomes - such as the selection of a replacement for now President Obama's former Illinois Senate seat. In summary, Mr. Blagojevich apparently felt he could sell the seat to the highest bidder, or otherwise obtain some form of compensation, whether through monetary gain or otherwise, as consideration for his appointment to the Senate seat.
Let's back up - lobbying in politics is as old as politics itself. Lobbyists are an important function within a democratic system whereby constituents elect representatives to their government to create and enforce laws that affect those very constituents. Lobbyists are individuals or groups of individuals that represent various specific positions relating to those laws/affects, and who attempt to influence politicians so that those politicians will support those positions in the formation and enforcement of such laws. How lobbyists "influence" the voting is key and has long been a source of concern for the government.
The US Federal Government has long attempted to restrict lobbying from being viewed as having an undue influence or "backdoor" political favoritism, which is of course, looked down upon by constituents. In 2007, Congress passed a major modification to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 - the revised law became known as the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007." The primary mission of the law was to "provide greater transparency in the Legislative process." In summary, the law attempts to regulate lobbying by requiring several different stages of disclosure for those in the lobby business. It also restricts former legislators and senators from certain activities upon their departure from Congress.
In short, the effect is to minimize the ability of lobbyists to have an undue influence over politicians through the use of favors, gifts, bribes, jobs, etc. Why? Because politicians should be elected (or in the rare cases appointed) based upon skill, experience, knowledge, and their ability to provide for their constituents based objectively on various factors, not bought to serve those in powerful positions.
Politics have long been looked down upon because of these very virtues - the fact that if you rub my back, I'll have yours down the road. But, while certain tit for tat is normal, when the parties up the ante by suggesting that an interested person need only pay someone else, then it becomes more than favoritism - it becomes bribery, extortion, or simply fraud of the system.
Former Governor Blagojevich thankfully has a big mouth, as well as the underlying belief that he was too powerful to get caught. The latter belief is quite common with white collar criminals, and organized crime comes to mind. Unfortunately, it is also quite common that politicians believe that they have the ability to trade their use of politics to favor individuals, groups, or organizations over others in exchange for monetary gain. Governor Blagojevich is not the first to be caught, and he certainly will not be the last. Indeed, in California, there are several recent incidents of local governing officials being indicted for similar conduct.
Hopefully, Governor Blagojevich will be sentenced to a long prison sentence; unfortunately, I do not believe that the sentence will deter future conduct, because governmental power - the feeling of being above the law - is too great of a drug.
What are your thoughts?
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