Eric Opsal's Jan. 31 editorial, 'Enforce ethics laws to stop corruption,' was on the right track, but his contention that strict enforcement of our current ethics laws is enough to curb the growing corruption in Wisconsin politics is short of the mark.
Ethics enforcement is a long-overdue first step, and Senate Bill 1, which is currently being examined by the state Senate, deserves the support of Wisconsin citizens. SB1 will combine the current Election Board and Ethics Board into a single entity, with real teeth to investigate and enforce our ethics laws. However, this is only the beginning of what needs to be done, if Wisconsinites wish to return to our proud history of clean government.
The current lobbying laws leave loopholes'such as not banning campaign contributions from political appointees or companies receiving government contracts. Moreover, we still see a system dominated by special interest money 'where one person, one vote is trumped by $1, one vote. Unless the system itself is changed, attempts to purge the Wisconsin government of corruption will never succeed; citizens will only play a futile game of Whack-a-Mole, hammering corruption in one place only to have it spring up elsewhere.
The state's lobbying laws are strong in comparison to those of many other states, but we shouldn't settle for a passing grade when we can sit at the head of the class.
