New Government Ethics Organization Mischaracterizes the State of Government Ethics, and Acts Politically

Yesterday, my attention was drawn to a new organization called Foundation for Ethics in Public Service, Inc., which operates as the website www.reportpubliccorruption.org. On February 11, its executive director, Leslie W. Merritt, Jr., a former North Carolina state auditor, sent out a statement to newspapers across the country about state and federal ethics commissions. He argued that they are weak and ineffective, and concluded that "government will never do an effective job of policing itself." He further concluded that "there is an ethics void throughout government, and only independent oversight and action by non-partisan media and law enforcement can restore the credibility of our public institutions and the confidence of our citizens."

This is a mischaracterization of the state of government ethics. For the most part, government is not policing itself, and there is not an "ethics void throughout government."

Since the 1970s, government ethics professionals and good government organizations have been seeking to improve ethics programs across the country. And in many ways, in many places, they have succeeded. In fact, there is a great deal of ethics reform going on right now, and ethics commissions are becoming increasingly independent and sharpening their teeth. And where they are not, they are the target of increasing public criticism.

The foundation's mission is "to bring a new level of transparency, accountability and integrity to all levels of American government ... by receiving and independently investigating allegations of corruption in government, providing reports of corruption to investigative journalists." There is certainly value in bringing unethical conduct to the attention of the news media and, where relevant, law enforcement agencies. But it does not appear that the foundation is going about this in a responsible, nonpartisan manner.

The foundation has been around since July, but it waited until yesterday to focus on one governmental action that it felt presented unusual potential for fraud and abuse. It did not start with a local, North Carolina initiative, or with the serious abuse potential of the stimulus bill's rushed approval process. No, of all things it chose the health reform bill, and chose to announce its initiative the day the bill was signed.

The foundation doesn't even try to argue for its choice of the health reform bill, other than saying that "any law of this size presents the potential for fraud and abuse."

What characterizes the health reform bill is not its potential for fraud and abuse. There's more than enough abuse already relating to Medicare and Medicaid. What characterizes the health reform bill is the extreme partisanship surrounding it.

Announced the same day that fourteen state attorney generals filed a suit to declare the bill unconstitutional, the action of a foundation led by a recent Republican elected official can only be seen as an act of politics. In other words, there is a clear appearance of impropriety.

This sort of politics does not belong in government ethics. It undermines the trust people need to have in those who are trying to raise the level of trust in our governments.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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