The Walker investigation is the tip of the iceberg. For 30 years, Utah has been a one-party state. The Republicans have used their growing majorities to draw district lines to create as many safe GOP seats as possible and reduce areas where Democrats could be competitive. With total party dominance and guaranteed job security, the far right wing of the GOP has felt emboldened to impose its ideological will on Utahns whether they agree or not ó and too many legislators have succumbed to the notion that power equals entitlement. ##M:MORE##
If you chair a committee that controls the flow of bills, why not put the arm on lobbyists and tell them that theyíd better contribute money to your special project if they want their bills to see the light of day? After all, if you canít use power to throw your weight around, what use is it?
The story of Rep. Walkerís $55,000 salary increase proposal to Richard Ellis if Ellis would drop out of the treasurerís race is a classic example of powerís hubris-inducing dangers. According to Ellis, Walker told him that his (Walkerís) good friend ìhas assured me we can make this happenî and that it could be done in stages and covertly so that no one would know about it. Ellis blew the whistle and asked for an investigation. When the Lieutenant Governor declined to act, some legislators stepped forward and called for an ethics hearing.
Clearly, this was an instance where the corruptive use of power spilled into the media in a very public way, and what makes this episode unusual is that Walker had talked with so many people about his clever idea to eliminate an opponent that there were too many people in the know to cover it up, and there was also a paper trail of corroborative e-mail messages.
Itís fair to say that too many years of single-party rule have bred a culture of corruption, where powerful legislators feel they can do anything they wish. Whatís really going on when a powerful legislator asks a lobbyist to make a campaign contribution to the legislatorís good friend? The rule says, ìmembers of the House shall not use their official; position to secure privileges for themselves or others.î When that lobbyist has a bill in front of the Legislature thatís important to his employer, whatís the lobbyist going to do? Of course. Ask how much is wanted and write the check. This goes on all the time. Itís how pro-voucher legislators financed a pro-voucher political issue committee in 2007 to tell voters to pass the voucher bill.
Why do we, the voters, put up with this kind of unethical strong-arming? Because the perps like to keep it secret. Who, after all, will blow the whistle? The lobbyists who always need legislatorsí votes? Not likely. Thank goodness, in the Walker case, five courageous legislators, three Democrats and two Republicans said, ìif not us, who; and if not now, when?î
Walker had made many public statements denying any wrongdoing, but when it came time to deny it under oath and in response to several witnesses who had heard him speak candidly, he didnít want to defend himself ó and he didnít want to answer questions about which other legislator ó most likely in the GOP leadership ó had said ìwe can make it happen.î
Iím a Democrat in Davis County, and we work hard to find qualified candidates whoíll uphold the public trust. The best antidote against legislative corruption is the check and balance of a strong, competitive two-party system. We used to have that in Utah, and government worked better for it.
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