An Anti-Ethics Reform Rant Worth Reading

People frequently belittle government ethics reforms as meaningless
window dressing intended to make politicians look like they're being
ethical, something I have said myself in certain contexts. Yet it is
worth reading an extreme view of this, which oddly comes from a
journalist writing a blog that takes "an evangelical Christian
viewpoint."<br>
<br>

The journalist is George Belkin, and he writes a blog for nj.com, the
principal online newspaper site in New Jersey. His <a href="http://blog.nj.com/njv_george_berkin/2009/08/chris_christie_and_jon_cor…; target="”_blank”">blog
on ethics reforms</a> that the state's gubernatorial candidates are
pushing concludes, "ethics laws so popular among candidates target only
a very narrow band
of bad behavior. Behaviors which, when compared to larger issues of
moral behavior, have far less negative impact, both in terms of dollars
and moral example."<br>
<br>
The immoral behavior he explicitly compares ethics conduct to is
divorce, which he finds much more damaging. He also believes that
ethics laws do nothing to deter unethical conduct, using as evidence
the fact that several NJ mayors were found to have taken bribes anyway.<br>
<br>
Belkin's blog post is worth reading to see so many anti-ethics
arguments squeezed together in one place, as well as to experience the anger
that drives them.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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