Ethics, schmethics. We’ll do what we want.
Pennsylvania politics just became a little more disturbing this week.
And no, I’m not talking about the buzz surrounding Santorum’s run for Governor in 2010 (he swears he won’t and this is one time that I hope he keeps a promise).
I’m talking about former Rep. Brett Feese’s no-bid contract to serve as in-house litigator for the GOP. You see, Feese lost his seat. And like many politicians, that didn’t stop him from taking taxpayer’s money, and even more of it than before. He managed to wrangle a $155k state salary on the day he left office (!) and secure a no-bid contract for $95k. At $250k, he is the best-compensated legislative staffer in Pennsylvania. Bully for him, no?
Only a little thing called ethics rules probably forbids Feese from having that contract in the first place. The GOP, lead by House Republican Leader Sam Smith, swears that (1) they aren’t sure it’s a violation and (2) if it’s really a violation, it wasn’t on purpose.
Okay, let’s grant them that. Mistakes happen. And despite the fact that they’re supposed to know the rules, maybe, just maybe, they didn’t understand them.
But the solution? You gotta love it. Smith said if the contract turns out to be a violation, they’ll rip up the contract… and raise Feese’s salary.
We, in Pennsylvania, should be proud to have politicians who are willing to think out of the box like that… If she can’t cheat one way, we’ll do it another way.