Jensen's Jail Time and the Spice Boys

The Amtal Rule points out how Spivak and Bice failed in their attempt at "balance" today. You know the kind of "balance" I'm talking about--one from one side, one from the other, and it's even! They write,

What does it take to make a bunch of bloggers from the right sound like a group of liberal defense lawyers from the left, praising a defendant and whining about a judge's unfair rulings?

That's easy, simply convict one of their own [. . .]. Then watch the the lefty bloggers do their own about-face, calling for a tough jail sentence and praising the prosecution, which was led by Brian Blanchard, who just so happens to be a politically ambitious Democrat.

Then the Spice Boys go on to cite some in the right half of the Cheddarsphere who did, indeed, bemoan Scott Jensen's conviction. (They did this, I would guess, without checking what those same conservatives said about, say, Chvala's or Burke's convictions.) Hypocrisy proved! they gloat.

And, to provide "balance," they almost echo Jensen himslef in trying to prove that "everyone did it." They pull out a few liberals who were harsh on Jensen (and his Republican supporters) without bothering to check if they were simlarly harsh to the convicted Democrats. The Amtal Rule finds this disheartening:

They don't mention that we've had the same standard for Democrats found guilty in the caucus scandal. The Amtal Rule chimed in here and here.

Spivak and Bice don't see a reason to do their jobs and back up what they write. Instead they trot out hackneyed stereotypes (conservatives are for "law and order" and liberals are for "defending criminals") and masquerade it insightful journalism.

It's a good thing the Spice Boys didn't try to use me as an example, either, since there's no hypocrisy here.

Remember, these are the big-shot political investigative reporters down to the daily paper . . .

Wisconsin Democrats take responsibility for crimes;

Wisconsin Republicans don't, sit on Joint Finance Committee instead

At least, that's the headline I would write if I had a better job. Chuck Chvala pleaded out:

Former state Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) today pleaded guilty to two felonies for having a state worker campaign while on state time and for funneling illegal amounts of cash into the election fund of a fellow Democrat in 2000.

Chvala’s sentencing was to be held soon but was postponed until December, to give his attorneys time to prepare a proposal to have him complete a community service project that he hopes would substitute for any time behind bars. [. . .]

In exchange for Chvala’s pleas, 11 other felony corruption charges — including two extortion charges that accused Chvala of asking lobbyists for campaign cash to schedule votes on their pet projects — were dismissed. Six additional counts that accused Chvala of campaign finance violations and of having state workers do on-the-job campaigning were also dismissed, but the judge can consider them when he sentences Chvala. [. . .]

Chvala and four other legislators were charged in 2002 — more than a year after a secret John Doe investigation was convened by the Dane County district attorney. The initial probe into the use of state workers to campaign on state time mushroomed into pay-to-play allegations that involved possible violations of state extortion laws.

Those "four other legislators" include one Democrat--Brian Burke, who also copped to breaking the law--and three Republicans--former Assemblyfolk Steve Foti and Bonnie Ladwig, plus current Assembyman Scooter Jensen, who sits on the powerful Joint Finance Committee. The Republicans have yet to admit to wrongdoing, though reports at the time of Burke's plea indicated that Foti might plead, too. Foti, Ladwig, and Jensen are all accused of abusing power the same way Chvala did. Why is it so hard for them to take responsibility for it? Must be something in the Republican blood--watch the spinning tomorow when the Plame indictments come out, and you'll see what I mean.

Campaign Finance and the Culture of Responsibility

Right Cheddarsphere denizen Lance Burri picks up on the Brian Burke Goes to Jail story, with a focus on calls for stricter campaign finance laws. He's against 'em:

We’ve already got laws on the books, and in [Burke's] case, those laws did their job. But never mind that. A pittance. A trifle. Not worth mentioning. No. We need more laws.

True, there may be episodes like Burke’s that go unprosecuted and unpunished. For example, this dreadfully underreported story: Wisconsin’s state government gave a travel contract worth $750,000 to a company that didn’t earn it, after the company’s owner gave $10,000 to Governor Doyle’s campaign.

Chicken feed, compared to the $700,000 the Indian casinos spent on Doyle’s 2002 campaign. But then, their payoff was supposed to be bigger.

Was pay-to-play involved? It sure looks that way. According to Madison’s Channel 27, at least 5 out of 7 members of the committee responsible for choosing a bidder preferred another company – the one that gave them the lowest bid.

But, when the smoke cleared, the state gave the contract to the Governor’s contributor.

It’s not likely we’ll ever prove pay-for-play. Linking a criminal act back to Governor Doyle and his administration would be next to impossible. So: that’s proof that the laws we’ve got aren’t enough. Right?

I suppose you could make that argument, but consider: in Burke’s case, a District Attorney aggressively pursued allegations of wrongdoing, which resulted in serious consequences for a powerful State Senator.

In the Governor’s case, a news team is aggressively pursuing a story. A story that looks dirty, even if all involved are really as clean and white as a Christmas Day snowfall. A story the voters deserve to hear.

End result? We – the voters – can make up our own minds when election time rolls around again.

Legal consequences in the first case. Potentially, political consequences in the second case. Because our legal system did its job, in the first case. Because our professional journalists did theirs, in the second.

To a real extent, Lance's argument makes sense. If what Burke (and Jensen and Foti and Chvala and so on) did was illegal, there are legal consequences that can be applied. If the voters disapprove of J-Dizzle's pandering (or that of Gard or others), they can vote him out. In traditional Republican parlance, this might be considered the "culture of responsibility"--when people do wrong, punish them.

I, on the other hand, take a more traditional Democratic position; I would rather see the motivation to do wrong reduced or eliminated. Take the war on drugs, for example. Republicans salivate at the thought of imprisoning addicts and dealers, while Democrats would rather bring jobs to drug-addled neighborhoods and heal, rather than punish, addictions.

In the realm of campaign finance, the Democratic solution is to eliminate the culture of corruption that led Burke (et al.) to break the law, and led J-Dizzle (and Gard) to skirt the law in his deals. Public financing of campaigns--a system like Arizona's, maybe--would eliminate the constant need to trawl for more money, stopping before they begin the kinds of crimes or ethical challenges that Doyle (and Gard) and Burke (and friends) were doing that led to prosecution or journalistic scrutiny.

Right now, Madison is so deeply mired in the business of campaigning, rather than the business of governing, that the people's business is not getting done. Republicans are too busy posturing for the Pro-Life Wisconsin crowd to effect real change, for example. Every day I get an email from some Democrat asking for money. While I could remind them that I am a humble public servant and can't afford it all, I'd rather remind them that they were elected to govern, not solicit.

So, there you have it, Lance. I'm not looking for more laws for the sake of more laws; I'm looking to change the culture of corruption in Madison. And that's not a pittance.

Burke's probably going to jail; Scooter's still in the Assembly

Former State Sen. Brian Burke pleaded guilty yesterday to misconduct:

For the crimes, [Burke] could serve jail time and be ordered to reimburse the state tens of thousands of dollars--funds that could come from his still-open campaign account. [. . .]

The plea deal comes less than a month before [Former Democratic State Sen. Chuck] Chvala is slated to go on trial on allegations of exchanging action on bills for campaign contributions and illegally controlling an independent political committee.

Three Republicans are scheduled to go to trial early next year on charges of having aides campaign on state time. They are Rep. Scott Jensen of the Town of Brookfield, former Rep. Steven Foti of Oconomowoc and former Rep. Bonnie Ladwig of Racine. Jensen's lawyer, Stephen Meyer, said there had been no plea bargain talks on behalf of Jensen, who faces three felonies and one misdemeanor charge of having Capitol aides campaign on state time. Earlier this week, Foti's attorney said he was trying to negotiate a plea deal for the former Assembly majority leader who faces one felony of having aides campaign on state time.

Chvala and the three Republicans were in leadership positions at the time of the charges. Jensen stepped down as Assembly speaker but unlike the others, ran for re-election.

All of these charges stemmed from the same investigation of the same kinds of practices by all those in power in Madison at the time. In fact, there was speculation that before Burke reached his deal, he was going to go with an "everybody was doing it" defense. With Foti likely to plead, too, and things looking ugly for Chvala (and probably Ladwig) after Burke's deal, one has to wonder about Scottt Jensen. It's possible he was caught by accident in the investigation that netted the others in conduct that will likely send them to jail, but I bet Scooter was one of the everybodies doing it when they all got caught. So why is he still in office? The others had the sense to hang it up in the face of these charges, while Scooter's still writing law and sitting on the powerful Joint Finance Committee. How is that right?