Saturday, August 25, 2007

Clarion Ledger Tackles Blind Trusts

The Clarion Ledger:
When elected, Gov. Haley Barbour said he placed his personal assets in a blind trust.

That is a common step taken by top elected officials. It supposedly puts a wall between the official's acts in office and his or her own financial interests. A trust is managed without knowledge of the elected official. Former Mississippi governors have used blind trusts.

Recent news stories have outlined the spider's web of interests connecting Barbour's family to various government contracts that raise issues about how effective Barbour's blind trust might be.

No matter how "blind" a trust is it would be difficult to not know how various decisions would benefit your family. It's only human nature and is one reason that we should require far stricter ethics legislation.
Barbour says his money is in a blind trust. But if Barbour is benefiting from his former law firm's work, how "blind" is the trust? We don't know.

Mississippi's ethics laws are so weak, the extent of Barbour's connection to his old firm, if any, isn't known and Barbour hasn't been forthcoming - even refusing to reveal his income tax returns like the president and former governors routinely do.

I can understand a desire for privacy (something that seems to be rapidly disappearing with the advent of the internet), but again when family members are making millions off of the government's largesse. In addition family and friends are representing companies lobbying for additional government contracts. This much money requires transparency.
A bill to force disclosure of blind trusts died last session in the committee of GOP state Sen. Charlie Ross, who has called himself Barbour's "wingman." Was the bill a political shot at Barbour? Obviously. But, whether for Barbour or any governor after this election, the bill should be revived.

A "blind trust" should shield an official from conflicts for his own good and the public's. That's a far cry from a politician asking the public to blindly trust him. Mississippi needs its own blind trust laws.

Amen. As many have said before, sunlight IS the best disinfectant. Wealth shouldn't preclude people from participating in the political process, but it also should not be protected as something specifically personal when public dollars are at stake.

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