BuckeyeBlog

There is a mini-furor over what appears to be a cozy relationship between the mayor of Parma (who happens to be the state Democratic Party treasurer), the chairman of the state Democratic Party, and the chairman’s wife (a lobbyist for the city of Parma). Some are wondering if there isn’t something improper with a state Democratic Party official using taxpayer dollars to employ the wife of another state Democratic Party official.

While this certainly has the appearance of impropriety, to me it’s not the real scandal. What the Dispatch should be focusing on is touched on in its story:

Hiring the lobbyists has been a good investment for the city, [Mayor Dean] DePiero said.

“They were able to help us with some capital bill stuff and some of the (federal) stimulus stuff.”

What Parma is doing (and what many other government entities do) is use the city residents’ tax money to hire a lobbyist whose job is to get other politicians to send taxpayer money to that city. In essence, it’s using your money to convince politicians to take even more of your money.

Taxpayer-financed lobbying is a major reason why government spending is so high. Local organizations and businesses that receive tax dollars hire lobbyists to get more of these dollars. Local governments hire lobbyists to get more state and federal tax dollars. States hire lobbyists to get more federal dollars. Politicians at all levels are hearing from these lobbyists that they need to tax more and spend more. The interests of taxpayers are not being represented by these taxpayer-funded lobbyists; instead, the it is the interests of tax-consumers that is being rewarded.

That is a much bigger scandal than any conflict of interest these three people may have.

What an amazing spin put out by Stephen Koff of the Plain Dealer on AG Marc Dann’s lobbying office in Washington, DC. He writes in regard to this office that few have noticed Dann’s “pioneering ways.” [The Columbus Dispatch runs the article today with the sub-header of "Ohio Attorney General's Innovation".]

Sorry, Steve. There is nothing pioneering about one government entity lobbying another government entity for handouts. This is a well-established, pernicious process that costs taxpayers both in needlessly inflating demand for government spending and in the intrinsic waste of government spending money to get money from…government. This process is highly susceptible to pork-barrel politics and in general defeats the kind of efficient, transparent government Ohioans deserve for their tax dollars. (more…)