Does Government Corruption Even Matter?

In my last blog I covered what corruption is in general.  If you haven't read it, I recommend that you do so.  You will find examples that happen every day and are committed by our leaders.  As example, falsified time cards, personal compensation and enrichment from official actions, and many more illegal or improper actions.  You will also see how some actions are illegal, while others are just unfair political corruption where their friends are benefiting for no other reason than a close relationship.  Most aren't even qualified for the position or benefit they unjustly are serving in.  In other words, 'The Good 'Ole Boys Club'.  That's a pretty quick recap, again, I encourage you to read it prior to this blog.  You can find it at Corruption. (sewardforcarrollcounty.blogspot.com)   

Let's move on to why or if corruption even matters or if it's important.  Maybe it doesn't matter to you, and you just believe that actions by government officials, no matter if they are illegal or very unfair, are just the way the world works.  If it doesn't personally affect you, it's just the way the machine works, and life goes on.  Hey, I get it.  We're all busy and have things to do without constantly checking on the officials we trusted enough to elect.  It's kind of like sausage.  You enjoy eating it, but you sure as hell don't want to see or know how it's made.  But where does it end?  

I don't know how many times I have consumed news reports about how this government agency or that government agency can't account for millions of dollars.  That money went somewhere.  If it didn't go to where it was budgeted, then it probably went in to someone(s) pocket.  Whatever happens on the federal level also happens on the state and even the local level, just at a different percentage.

Even more frequently than the last statement is how many times I've seen the sweetheart deals that some of our elected government officials implement while in office.  These range from getting special deals from contractors, companies, or individuals in order for them to get a project pushed through.  More commonly known as a kickback.  An executive official may look at a developer and tell them that they might be able to get their project passed, but they will need a little help.  Maybe the government executive has a personal or pet project of their own that may need a financial push due to hard times.  What a great bragging right that infusion of money would be for the executive!  

With these examples being stated, what does it matter?  Why should you care?  It's just the way of doing business, right?  Sadly, you and a lot of other people may look at it that way.  However, it's still wrong, be it politically or criminally.  When a person pays local taxes and when a person elects people to run and be in charge of their local government, that person is displaying a level of trust and confidence that the elected official is not a crook and will do the right thing.  When that trust is broken by theft, misuse, or something else described, the system starts to break down.  

When the system breaks down, you lose money.  How do you lose money?  You lose it because your tax money is the only way the government works.  Government is not a business in the sense that it raises money or creates money.  Government only has money because of your taxes.  Taxes that you, the citizen, pay into it.  When that tax money is stolen or otherwise misused by officials, what happens?  Your taxes go up!  If money is diverted from legal use to illegal use, projects don't get done, machines don't get repaired, or whatever it was budgeted for doesn't happen because now there isn't enough money. Or if money is spent on non-beneficial projects or just overspent in general, it has to be replaced. In other words, YOU, as a citizen, suffer in whatever shape or form.   

The other part of corruption is the sweetheart deal, conflicts of interest, or political corruption that I alluded to above.  You might think that at least this action is not reaching into your pocket and stealing your money, but are you correct?  Actually, it may be as bad if not worse.  By putting our friends, buddies, or families into positions they are not qualified for by whatever definition, your leaders, local and on up, are putting you at a higher level of risk both financially and safety wise.  By putting someone who is not qualified into a position, they are increasing situations that are not safe and can increase the chances for liability, not to mention wasting money and equipment that that person oversees and deals with.  When a private business hires the wrong or under qualified person, a friend or otherwise, the customers don't get the highest quality of service and products they pay for.  It's the same in government.  Except this time, it's the taxpayers getting cheated, and, since there's no other game in town, they have no other choice like they do in finding another store.  There are other parts to sweetheart deals such as picking a friend to cater or supply other services for a function instead of hiring through competitive bidding. Choices made like this steal or cheat the taxpayer and also cheat a better and most of the time cheaper private business.  Afterall, the friend, once chosen, can charge whatever they want.  You can bet this friend is super happy and might just split the additional income back to their friend in government that made it happen.  This is called a 'kick back'.  It happens more than you think, and it just doesn't happen on the State and Federal level.  Have you ever seen a decision get made for infrastructure or other government activity and think to yourself, golly, that just doesn't make sense.  It may not make sense for many different reasons.  When it doesn't make sense because there are simpler and cheaper ideas on the table, you can bet there just might be an under the table or kick-back taking place.  There are all kinds of these actions going on every day in most governments around.  FOLLOW THE MONEY!

How can you, as a taxpayer, figure some of this stuff out?  You have to watch, you have to talk, and you have to pay attention.  You also have to ask questions.  When you are discouraged from asking questions or just plain shut out of your government you should be concerned.  In other words, when your representatives start being sneaky like little kids you know they are hiding something.  These actions all be listed under a lack of transparency, which is another form of corruption.  If you go to a public meeting and you are not allowed to ask questions or make comments prior to a vote with the excuse that this is our 'procedure', you are being pushed out.  If whatever decision they are making is rushed and put through in one meeting instead of two or three meetings or more, the citizens are being cheated because they are not being allowed to catch up with the information.  When topics are being discussed and decided behind closed doors, you are being cheated.  How can you tell this is happening?  Very simple.  You watch the meeting and there are no questions asked by any of the officials, that's how.  That happens because they already know the answers.  (The meeting before the meeting.)  Again, I know we are all busy and it's hard to look into these activities, but we simply must.  I'm sorry but we can't just give blanket trust to our elected officials like we used to.  Ask for records, send Freedom of Information Act, (F.O.I.A.), requests in for records, watch videos of meetings, and don't let them talk down to you or belittle you in an attempt to get you to shut up.  If you can't do it by yourself, team up with two or three other people and work together to get to the bottom of what concerns you.  You are the boss, and you deserve better.  You don't work for them; they work for you.  You are the reason the government has money.  You deserve better for your money.  Other than essentials, how have you benefited from that money being spent by your local government lately?  Let's work together to bring open and honest government back to our communities on the local level.  Let's demand that fairness be the standard.