Hank connects the dots

Congratulations to WW's Hank Stern, who nicely explains just exactly how legislators and lobbyists can keep screwing the public sideways:

So lemme get this straight: Several state legislators negotiate pocket-change settlements for failing to report lobbyist-paid trips to Hawaii, and now Secretary of State Bill Bradbury's office tells The Oregonian that those lawmakers can tap their campaign accounts to pay those fines.


So if you're scoring at home, that means:

A) Lobbyist donates to legislator's campaign account.

B) Lobbyist bankrolls unreported junkets for legislator.

C) State Ethics Commission slaps legislator on wrist with fines between $150 and $450.

D) Legislator needs to pay fine. Go back to Step A.


And the punishment for the legislator is......?

Hmmm...that WW nonblog-blog is looking more bloggy all the time.

Update: Steve gets it too. With all this ethics crap reaching the boiling point, I wonder if any legislator will go balls to the wall and end this?