In the second scandal in recent weeks — where palms were allegedly greased to gain political favor — New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has announced he is withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's Commerce Secretary because of a grand jury investigation into how one of his political donors won a lucrative state contract.
The first scandal in recent weeks was, of course, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich allegedly attempting to sell President-elect Obama's recently vacated Senate seat.
The federal grand jury is investigating how a California company, which contributed to Richardson's campaign, won a $1 million transportation contract.
Governor Richardson — who like Governor Blagojevich is not stepping down from his position as governor — has stated he is confident the investigation will reveal he acted properly in the matter. His rationale, as stated in this Washington Post article, is that the investigation could take a long time and he doesn't want to get in the way of important work that needs to be done.
President-elect Obama accepted the resignation with deep regret and cited Richardson's long history of service to the country, both at the state and the federal level.
The federal grand jury investigation in question was announced in mid-December and revolves around whether or not CDR Products was awarded a 1.4 million contract after making contributions to Richardson's political action committees. The contributions of $100,000 were made in 2004 by CDR (based in 90210, Beverly Hills, CA) shortly before they obtained the contract.
Reports indicate that this case is part of a larger one involving the FBI's investigation into "pay to play" practices involving governent bonds. In another part of this investigation, the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, Larry Lanford, has been indicted for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and loans that led his city into bad investments and ultimately, bankruptcy.
Al.com just reported that corruption has dominated the news in Alabama in recent history. In a telling statement, the article noted that corruption deserved top billing in 2006 and 2007, also. Alabama Governor Don Siegelman continues to try to overturn his 2006 conviction on bribery charges, and their Chancellor, Roy Johnson, plead guilty in a federal investigation of corruption in the state's two-year college system.
Article comments
1 - Doug Hunter
Politicians and bureaucrats (and to a lesser extent CEO's and corporate management) are spending other peoples money . You will always have poor management and corruption in that situation. It is human nature to give friends and family a break whether it's a policeman passing on a ticket, a city council granting a variance, or a governor suggesting who to give a $$$multimillion contract.
The way to minimize it is to cut the amount of power the government has over us and make everything government does absolutely transparent. Make lack of privacy part of the job description for a public servant with every communication, every meeting, and every document recorded and posted for public consumption. Make it illegal for officials to talk state business off the record and offer very large rewards for those uncovering fraud waste or abuse. When these rules are violated make the punishments at least as harsh as those in the 'drug war'.
2 - pablo
Excellent comment.
3 - Baritone
While I certainly agree that corruption in government is (and pretty much always has been) a serious problem, I don't ascribe to a drastic reduction in government oversite. It is just that "hands off" notion promoted largely by the Bush administration that allowed our economy to plop into the shitter.
Keep in mind that for every public servant found with his or her hand in the till, there are probably several more in the private sector who are prompting and guiding that hand.
Transparency is important in government, but it is also necessary in the private sector to the extent that it has dealings with government and the public sector.
B
4 - Baronius
"Transparency" is the new buzzword, which usually means that its importance is overrated. Crooked people will find a way of committing crimes, and decent people will keep behaving properly. Blagojevich wouldn't have been made more ethical by stricter laws.
That being said, and leaving aside the matter of presumed innocence, there's nothing out there to indicate that Richardson has done anything wrong.
5 - Joanne Huspek
Unfortunately for us, a person with a sense of ethics is hard to find.
6 - Baronius
Joanne, I was thinking about you when Obama appointed Governor Granholm to his economic transition team. Do you think we can duplicate the Michigan magic on a national scale?
7 - Glenn Contrarian
Doug -
By this, do you mean less oversight of our financial system?