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Opening Arguments

Ethics

Hey, we can play bipartisan "Gotcha!" in accusing politicians of improperly using their office. First up is everybody's favorite anti-smoking legislator, State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, who accuses Gov. Mitch Daniels of "overstepping his role" by sending out a statement about his upcoming role as Purde president from the governor's office and using the governor's staff:

Brown contends that Daniels, a Republican, violated state ethics rules when a state government email list was used to distribute the statement in which Daniels said he had asked Purdue to halt those renovations.

He said Wednesday afternoon that Daniels' statement raised the question of whether the governor was acting in his role of governor or his future role as Purdue president — a question he said could come up again in Daniels' four remaining months as governor.

"That's the cloudiness there, this uncertainty as to which hat he's wearing at any given time. And all I'm asking is that the ethics committee clear that up for all Hoosiers," Brown said.

And then we have the accusation that Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius violated federal law during an official government event when she "accidentally" endorsed President Obama and a local Democratic politician:

The Office of the Special Counsel on Wednesday announced it was citing Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius for illegally making political comments at an official event, which is a violation of the federal Hatch Act.

The counsel found that she made the comments when delivering the keynote speech at the Human Rights Campaign Gala in February.

The law prohibits most federal employees from “engaging in political activity while on duty,” according to the special counsel, but some officials, such as cabinet secretaries, are permitted to make political statements in their personal capacity. The Office of Special Counsel is an independent government agency which can investigate and prosecute.

The counsel found that “the Secretary departed from her prepared outline” when she told attendees at the event, “it’s hugely important to make sure that we reelect the President and elect a Democratic governor here in North Carolina.”

On the surface, Brown's complaint seems the less substantive one. A Daniels spokesman called it "partisan nonsense" but "silly blather" seems closer to the truth. The governor issues a statement that he wished the renovation undertaken of his soon-to-be-office at Purdue be halted. He used a government office to request that a government-sponsored institution stop spending money. Scandalous!

Sebelius, on the other hand, is actually being cited by the government for a breach of ethics, and once her indiscretion was found out, she retroactively reclassified the event from "official" to "political" and reimbursed the government; sounds like a confession. But what she violated was the Hatch Act, which has become infamous in some circles as just another partisan tool used by both parties to harass their opponents. It's supposed to keep government officials from using their officies or "official duties" to influence politics, but it's frequently difficult to draw a line between the official and the personal. Sebelius was speaking at an event, and we're supposed to believe her position as a Cabinet official was so intimindating that her speech might have swayed votes it otherwise wouldn't have. That's on the order of, oh, thinking that the recitation of the "under God" part of the Pledge of Allegiance is going to intimidate some quavering little agnostic child into turning into a raving Christian. Doesn't pass the smell test.

Comments

Christopher Swing
Thu, 09/13/2012 - 5:40pm

Ah, Little Mitch Daniels, using his office for personal gain. Who would have thought?

"The governor issues a statement that he wished the renovation undertaken of his soon-to-be-office at Purdue be halted. He used a government office to request that a government-sponsored institution stop spending money" - on the office he is to be installed into via the board he installed himself.

I think you missed where the corruption is going on, and even there you're only skimming the latest in his long history.

Do you think as president of Purdue that he'll make sure students get the same pass he did when they're caught with marijuana? Will there be a new campus tradition of students hunting down Mitch every day and forcibly tossing his ass off campus?

/christopher Swing
Mon, 09/17/2012 - 4:35pm

BTW, as long as we're talking ethics and corruption, what about something a little closer to home? Like Paul Moss and Ken Fries?

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