With the indictment last Tuesday of Georgia Thompson, an official in Gov. Jim Doyle's Department of Administration, corruption continues to rear its ugly head in all levels of government. This, coupled with the Jack Abramoff scandal which has engrossed hundreds of members of Congress, will only lead people to distrust government further. Something must be done.
The indictment of Thompson concerns a travel contract which was awarded to Adelman Travel Group. Originally Adelman was outbid by another company, but Thompson is accused of purposefully inflating her score of the group to force a final bidding. Adelman ultimately got the contract.
Shortly before and after the bidding took place, Adelman chief executive Craig Adelman and an Adelman board member gave a total of $20,000 to Doyle's campaign. Did this contribution have anything to do with the contract?
The indictment states: 'Thompson intended her actions to cause political advantage for her supervisors.' It is possible that Doyle is this supervisor, although six people lie between the two on the corporate ladder, and he is responsible. However, Thompson is actually a civil service employee'not a political appointee'so it is hard to believe she would unconsciously do Doyle's bidding.
Let's be clear: Doyle has not been indicted. So far there is no evidence linking him to Thompson, and he seems determined to distance himself from the charge. 'I've made it very clear that I have zero tolerance for any ethical lapses in my administration,' Doyle said in a statement last week. But with other similar charges of 'pay-to-play' politics with gaming contracts still possible, many Wisconsinites may have lost confidence in our governor. This problem, however, reaches much further.
The looming array of possible indictments in Washington may prove to be much more damaging than any travel contract in Wisconsin. I'm not saying that these charges, if true, are not important; any corruption in government by no means should be tolerated. But the widespread influence of special interests in our national government has deeply hurt the confidence we have in our leaders, with a recent New York Times/CBS News poll showing 'more than half of the respondents said they believed that most members of Congress would exchange votes for money or favors.'
Jack Abramoff is the sleaziest lobbyist Washington, D.C. has ever seen. He personally donated money to 121 members of Congress, and 210 total members are connected to him. His lobbying practices are being investigated because it is believed he received legislative favors 'in exchange for tribal campaign contributions,' and also for giving top Congressional aides high-paying jobs at lobbying firms.
Republicans came to control Congress in 1994 with their 'Contract for America.' Its goal: to stop government corruption. In just 12 years, the GOP has managed to become even more corrupt than their predecessors.
Right now there is a crisis in all levels of our government. At the federal level, it is a Republican scandal that threatens our confidence. At the local level, it seems Doyle has some explaining to do. We need to put all the politics aside and really look at the problem here: Special interests control the money and money controls government. That must change.
We don't need new lobbying laws'we need our existing laws to be strictly enforced. We don't need politics'politics is all about money. What we truly need are leaders who are responsible enough to realize they serve us. Not themselves, not special interests, only us. If the allegations against Thompson are true, she should pay the price. So too should Doyle, if he is involved, and Tom DeLay, and anyone else who is guilty.
Maybe then, after we have purged our government of the corrupt, will responsible leaders emerge.
