© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. It's no secret money and power flows
to and from politics. Lots of it. This has been the modus operandi of our political system for much of our country's
history. Countering those politicians and money waving influencers are supposed
to be the mainstream media.
They're supposed to watch for bad
behavior in politicians and take the side of the citizens. But now they are
taking sides for themselves in the political fights. They are vicious against
the politicians they oppose while absent from the watchdog role with the
politicians they support.
In the last twenty years the
Internet has blossomed in a watchdog role despite taking no vows to be
accurate. With all of these eyes watching politicians you would think scummy
behavior by elected officials would be as dead as television rabbit ears.
However, scummy behavior in
politicians seems more rampant than ever. With the next session of the New
Mexico Legislature set to start shortly there are many initiatives looking to
reign in the influence of money in politics. Transparency watchdogs are pushing
for tougher reporting of campaign donations.
What it shows is that few people really
understand the scummy side of politics. Paper shufflers and those who look at
the paperwork only get a tiny look at scummy behavior. Filed paperwork only
shows mistakes made in reporting but not the real intent.
The real players when major money is
given and taken do not intend for it to be seen. When a willing bribe giver and
a willing bribe takers exchange there is not any paperwork filed. If both
parties are happy no one will talk about it. The same is true for those politicians
who sell out for sexual rewards or jobs for relatives.
To see the real effect of money on
politics you must look at a measured effect of the money. Not the decisions
elected officials make because there are always explanations. If someone is on
the take, their net worth goes up. But the watchdogs are not looking at net
wealth increases.
If watchdogs don't look at the
wealth effect, they will not see it. What needs to be done by the investigative
reporters is very mundane and labor intensive: chart every year of service as
to the net worth of the person serving. Start with the year before elected and
keep a running tab on how their wealth changes.
There are ways to hide wealth with
spouses and children and other relatives. But wealth sticks out in our society
because to have wealth is to use it. Just piling up numbers in an account
doesn't do anyone any good. To have money is to spend money.
So when looking at a public servant
on the take there will always be evidence of unbridled increase in wealth. This
is especially so when you compare them to colleagues. Some people in politics
will have a similar wealth before, during and after their years in service.
Others hit the jackpot and pile up wealth.
Of course there will always be
explanations such as: I started a new way of investing. It is returning a
thousand percent per month... Can we see your market report? Ah no.
It is important to treat each wealth
inquiry fairly and not with partisan zeal so that some slip through and others
are caught. For this to be useful we must catch everyone who spins up their
wealth briskly while in office.
Questions of fantastic increases in
wealth are not proof of taking bribes, but it certainly opens the door to
looking very carefully. But if this inquiry is automatic to all who are elected
it will discourage bribes because when caught politicians turn on the bribe
givers. There is no one thing to clean up politics but this will help.
Most importantly, it is unfair to
the honest servants of the people to look at them like they are a chicken
killing dog. The effect of the time served on honest politicians shows they give
citizens a great gift of their time and effort while not taking any advantage
of their position.
We owe them this inquiry to catch
scummy politicians. We are left with honest and faithful servants.
Email: drswickard@comcast.net
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