It's bad enough that we have problems at the federal level with Congress people retiring or losing their elections and then ending up as lobbyists making more money than they ever did serving their country. Makes me wonder if some run so they can establish a position of power and make connections that they can then use to get rich in their subsequent career--as a lobbyist.
Now, the Roanoke Times is shining light on what some members of our own Virginia General Assembly are doing, and for some, it's not pretty. Frankly, I was a little surprised that no one was watching the ethics of Assembly members such as Del. Phil Hamilton, the Republican from Newport News whose financial indiscretions came to light last summer. As you recall, as a member of the GA he was helping create a teacher program at Old Dominion University by providing state seed money while he was "pressuring" the school for a job in that program. He didn't even wait for the school to possibly work a little quid pro quo--no, he insinuated himself into a job in the program. Thankfully, Hamilton did not win reelection in November.
Now, the
Roanoke Times is running a piece by Bill Sizemore of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot about the outside jobs some legislators hold allegedly because of their political connections. Can't these people just serve us, the citizens of Virginia, who elected them to represent us? Of course, we all know that Virginia has a part-time legislature, and that our representatives have full-time jobs or positions. But, those jobs should not be very, very well paid positions that are patronage from judges they have appointed. Read the entire article--perhaps you think this insider politics is OK, perhaps not. For my part, I know we have a cleaner state government than many other states, but that doesn't mean that we don't have room to improve. Let the bills to clean up this mess come before General Assembly members, and let's look at how
members vote on them.