Commission for corruption
Republicans finally have an idea about dealing with corruption.
Eliminating no-bid contracts? No.
Getting rid of AG slush funds? No, that stays too.
Having an independent attorney general? Obviously, that doesn’t work for them.
What is their big idea? More government bureaucracy.
The Associated Press reported today that Mike Crites wants to form a bipartisan “Corruption Commission.” Notice first that IT WILL BE PARTISAN. It will just be doubly partisan, which supposedly would make everything all better.
Columbus lawyer Mike Crites said he hopes to convince the Legislature to establish an Ohio Public Corruption Commission that would investigate possible wrongdoing by state and local officials if there is evidence of potential felonies.
He made the announcement in Cuyahoga County, where last month’s FBI and IRS raids on the homes and offices of a commissioner and auditor touched off concerns over whether public officials routinely breach the public trust.
Crites is running against Democratic Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray and independent Robert Owens.
Cordray said authorizing a commission to prosecute crimes should be “handled with great care.”
“The rights of all of our citizens are at stake,” he said in a prepared statement. “It should never be used for political grandstanding. That, I believe, will emerge as one of the core differences between my opponent and myself.”
Crites, a former U.S. attorney for southern Ohio, dismissed Cordray’s response, saying his Democratic opponent hasn’t been a prosecutor.
“I don’t think he has the practical experience to really understand the basis of this proposal,” Crites said in Cleveland.
“It’s such a mistake,” Owens said about the Crites’ proposal. “It could end up mired in bureaucracy that hides corruption. I’m concerned that it would lack transparency.”
The corruption issue is big in Ohio’s attorney general race. The state’s former Democratic attorney general, Marc Dann, resigned in May after a sexual harassment investigation at his office revealed unprofessional behavior by Dann and some of his top aides.
So, what prevents the commission from being filled by the same people who created the corruption in the first place? We wonder.
This was the best quote from Crites, on the orgination of this proposal:
“This is in response to many people in the state of Ohio saying we’ve got to address this,” Crites said. “We Ohioans are embarrassed and outraged at the parade of incompetence and public corruption that we’ve seen in this state, Republicans and Democrats alike. It’s not grandstanding. It’s simply a proposal to deal with public corruption.”
Well, it’s about time! Indeed, a mere thirty-some months have passed since the Republican-fed Coingate scandal was exposed by the Toledo Blade and other investigative journalists. Although Republicans were quick to condemn Marc Dann’s actions, they still have offered no solution to the SYSTEMIC ISSUE of corruption. They are finally responding because the people of Ohio are demanding INTEGRITY FOR A CHANGE. The people of Ohio deserve principled leadership - they deserve an independent attorney general not tied to powerful special interests.
Join us in a true campaign to restore integrity!
