Virginia's Lax Ethics Laws

Want to see blatant corruption in action? The type of corruption that isn't even questionable as unethical? Check out Dahlia Lithwick's post over on Slate about Virginia's lax ethic laws.

Lithwick gets right down to brass tacks:

"Embattled Gov. Bob McDonnell has probably just cratered a once-promising political career over $145,000 in undisclosed gifts—each worthy of its own episode of Real Housewives of Richmond—including a $6,500 Rolex, a New York shopping spree for his wife, limo rides, catering for his daughter’s wedding, and a ride in a Ferrari. Is it shocking that McDonnell and his wife twisted themselves into pretzels to shill for the donor company’s weird tobacco-based nutritional supplements?"

She also discusses Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's unbelievable clearance of a recent ethics probe pointing out the only reason that Cuccinelli was cleared was because of the ridiculously hollow nature of Virginia's ethics laws. Highlighting Jessica Tillipman's work on the FCPA blog:

“Per the State Integrity Investigation, [Virginia] is one of only nine states without a statewide ethics commission and one of four states without campaign finance limits. Moreover, according to the National Conference of State Legislators, Virginia is one of just ten states in the country that, as noted above, does not limit the value of personal gifts provided to elected officials.”

There is a reason that the American people are so cynical about the people they send to their respective capitols to represent them.  Even with stringent ethics laws there tends to be a number of politicians willing to test the boundaries of the system. When there is almost no ethical infrastructure at all, when there are little to no tangible consequences for blatant ethics violations, what could anyone expect the outcome to be?