Some Wisdom on Gifts from a Former Lobbyist
Former lobbyist, now jailbird, Kevin A. Ring shared some valuable
words of wisdom in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/for-virginia-ethics-advice-from-…; target="”_blank”">an
op-ed piece in the Washington <i>Post</i> this week</a>.<br>
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He says that the gift limit should be zero, because any other limit
will be abused (what he doesn't say is that any exception will also
be abused). He also notes that "Numerous psychologists and
behavioral economists have confirmed the principle of reciprocity:
People are hard-wired to repay even small favors or gifts. For
officeholders, this benign, evolutionary instinct could come back to
hurt them."<br>
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Ring also notes that all rules that apply to officials should
also apply to lobbyists (he should have added, "and their principals
or clients"), because "Every lobbyist knows that conflicted feeling
when a lawmaker whose help you need asks you for something you know
he or she probably should not take. You want to say 'yes' for your
and your client’s benefit. And, let’s face it, if a gift prohibition
applies only to the officeholder, a lobbyist will find it easy to do
the wrong thing." In other words, gift bans protect lobbyists from
pay to play.<br>
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Ring then points out one problem for officials in depending on criminal
enforcement to deal with ethical misconduct:<blockquote>
If [state legislatures] don’t act, the feds will. A career-climbing
federal prosecutor enjoys nothing so much as playing white knight to
the scourge of public corruption, especially the corruption found in
an opposing political party.</blockquote>
Ring realizes that it's how the public thinks — the appearance of
impropriety — that counts. He knows that all the insistence that "I
can't be bought" is meaningless, and only adds to the public's
cynicism. And with respect to criminal enforcement, officials and
lobbyists are in trouble because "Most employees (read: prospective
jurors) are not offered free meals, tickets and trips at their jobs
and see no reason that public servants deserve such freebies." In
other words, no one sympathizes with elected officials who want to
be allowed to accept gifts.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
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