Consider This...

August 3, 2006

Bags of cash? Secret IHOP meetings? Is this a legislature or a low-budget spy movie?

In the aftermath of former Rep. Michael Decker’s guilty plea in federal court this week, one thing’s for sure: Everyone in North Carolina should wish we could go back in time and pass a better ethics reform bill in the just-concluded legislative session.

Despite the best efforts of reform advocates (such as Common Sense), the N.C. General Assembly passed a reform bill that made only minor changes in the way business is done in Raleigh. Loopholes still abound, including loopholes that allow for unlimited fundraising by lobbyists for campaigns.

For the past year, we’ve all been talking about the golden opportunity for reform presented to us by the series of humiliating scandals in state government. Now that the embarrassment is reaching its peak, it sure would be nice to have a newly-passed, tough-as-nails ethics reform bill to wave before the TV cameras and say, “Never again.”

Maybe next year.

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