The Center for Public Integrity released the results of its 2015 State Integrity Investigation, which uses “extensive research to grade the states based on the laws and systems they have in place to deter corruption.” What they found isn’t pretty.
It’s not all bad, I suppose: our fair state ranked 12th. But then again, we only managed to score a D+.
“The comprehensive probe,” writes Nicholas Kusnetz in a related story, “found that in state after state, open records laws are laced with exemptions and part-time legislators and agency officials engage in glaring conflicts of interests and cozy relationships with lobbyists. Meanwhile, feckless, understaffed watchdogs struggle to enforce laws as porous as honeycombs.”
Think your particular brand of politics is immune from such fecklessness? You’ll search in vain for evidence that one side or the other is a better exemplar of good governance. Which can only mean that all politicians are terrible people. Q.E.D.
