On dark money
To the editor:
Was it not Mark Twain who said, “We have the best government money can buy”?
After reading your article on dark money, isn’t it nice to know some things do not change in American politics? When you consider that our congressmen spend about 30 percent of their time raising money for their next campaign rather than the people’s business, it becomes obvious that we have a government by the consultant, for the pollster and of the media propagandist. Is that the way a democracy is supposed to function?
— William Heitsman, Darlington, S.C.
Move forward on ethics reform
EDITOR’S NOTE: The writer sent this letter last week before the Senate moved forward on Wednesday on ethics reform legislation.
To the editor:
Lynn Teague is absolutely right about the need to move forward on the ethics reform bill, even if it does not require that all income amounts be disclosed. Having at least the sources named is a first step in the transparency and accountability recovery process.
As in learning to walk again after an injury and long-term inactivity, many legislators apparently do not have the strength to take a strong first step into ethical behaviors; they must first undergo “physical therapy” and, perhaps, use the “assistive equipment” that a good ethics bill would provide. Impaired legislators can lean on any requirements in an ethics bill, rather than have to admit they cannot do it on their own, thus avoiding the embarrassment of ethical weakness. The long-term effect of not exercising their ethics is that many legislators are not yet capable of full functioning.
While it is apparent that the “ethical muscles” of many legislators never fully developed—or perhaps have atrophied over the years—the process back to health will be a long and slow one.
The current bill is a big improvement over anything we now have in the Legislature, as Ms. Teague and the League of Women Voters have so strongly indicated and supported. I, too, want transparency in our government processes, but, while Senator Sheheen’s objection might be valid in an ideal situation, the reality of the depth of the problem and the intransigence of the “patients” in our legislature would prohibit disclosure of income amounts as part of the current cure.
I hope Senator Sheheen will not continue to hold up this bill; it is a necessary first step on the road to recovery.
— Sarah J. Harman, Columbia, S.C.
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