I sometimes wonder how people who conduct forward-looking studies come up with their estimates. Here’s another example:
At least one politician or public official would be busted every other year if the ethics legislation that passed the state Senate last week becomes law.
That’s not the estimation of some cynical statehouse ob-server or disenchanted activist. That’s the estimate of the state legislature’s own staff.
The ethics bill, which has different House and Senate versions but generally aims for greater public disclosure of lawmakers’ consulting work and connections to lobbyists, would apply to state lawmakers, the appointed members of the governor’s cabinet, and local elected officials to the city council level.
Seems to me that if you change the rules, most people inclined to take money–at least at the state level–will simply get more creative in their means of obtaining it. There are rules against taking money in other areas, and people rarely get caught unless one of the parties admits to doing it or is very careless.