Just how out of touch is Sen. Jack Harper?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, has always been a few bricks short of a full load, if you know what I mean. This says more about the character of the voters of his district who continue to elect him to office than it does about him.

Yesterday, Sen. Harper convinced his Senate colleagues to let themselves take jobs as lobbyists the moment they quit or don't get re-elected. Yeah, you read that right. Ariz. senators drop all curbs on leaving office, lobbying:

The voice vote came after a plea by Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, to his colleagues to restore what he said is their right to make a living after their time in the Legislature. He said there's nothing inherently unethical about that.

But Sen. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Phoenix, who was a legislator when the restriction was approved nearly two decades ago, said that misses the point.

"It is not the ethical people for whom we make rules," she said. "It is those who perhaps choose to follow other paths of behavior."

The restrictions were enacted as part of a series of new restrictions on lobbyists after the AZ-Scam scandal of the early 1990s.

The population of Arizona has approximately doubled since 1991, so at least half or more of Arizona residents living here today are unfamiliar with Arizona's inglorious, embarrassing past. Here is how Time magazine described it in February 1991 Scandal In Phoenix – TIME:

Arizona has an image problem. Almost three years ago, Governor Evan Mecham was impeached for misusing state funds. Last November voters turned down a referendum to make Martin Luther King Day a paid state holiday, touching off boycotts that may deprive Arizona of the 1993 Super Bowl. Last week a major political scandal rocked the state as a grand jury charged seven legislators, five lobbyists and five others with felonies including bribery, money laundering and filing false campaign statements.

The product of a 16-month, $1.4 million investigation by the Phoenix police and the Maricopa County attorney's office, the indictment charged the accused with accepting $370,000 from an undercover agent posing as a Las Vegas "gaming consultant" building support for casino gambling. Police say the sting began as an investigation of an illegal gambling network that had attracted the interest of organized crime. "We didn't know at the time how earth shattering it would be," said Phoenix Police Chief Ruben Ortega, "until the evidence began to grow."

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At the center of Arizona's sting operation — quickly dubbed Azscam — was a flamboyant Las Vegan who called himself J. Anthony Vincent. According to the indictment, Vincent assuaged the legislators' fears about hidden cameras and once reportedly stripped in front of a lobbyist to show he wasn't concealing a microphone. In fact, Vincent was an undercover agent named Joseph C. Stedino. Ortega says that 95% of the evidence comes from audio-and videotapes. In one police videotape, state representative Don Kenney, who faces 28 counts, is seen stuffing $55,000 in cash into a gym bag and joking about cameras being in the room.

AZ-Scam eventually resulted in seven legislators indicted. Six reached plea deals; a seventh was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery and filing false campaign statements. Several other legislators resigned or chose not to seek reelection. Then Speaker of the House Jane Dee Hull instituted a number of ethics reforms to reestablish public confidence in the legislature. (In 1997 when Jane Dee Hull was Secretary of State, she succeeded to the governorship when J. Fife Symington III had to resign due to a felony conviction.) Here is a more recent report on the legacy of AZ-Scam.

McCune Davis said one problem with what Harper is proposing is that it opens the door to companies' and special interests' discussing future lobbying prospects with lawmakers while they are still in office – and still in a position to influence legislation. She said that "wouldn't be evident until well beyond the time that the individual leaves office." Ariz. senators drop all curbs on leaving office, lobbying

Harper, elected to the Senate in 2002, said there is no similar restriction on legislative staffers, people he said may have more influence and be more knowledgeable than lawmakers themselves. He said legislators need to look at the practical effect of the existing law.

"Obviously, there are many members in this body and in the House that are not running for office again," he said. "And I don't see why your economic liberty should be any more limited than a senior staffer."

And Harper said while there might have been a reason for the limit in the 1990, "it had it's day."

"Economic liberty" to be a corporate lobbyist? Go get a real job. And political corruption, special favors and bribery no longer exist today? Seriously, Dude? After the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC political corruption by corporate lobbyists has the potential to grow exponentially.

The American public is decisively against corporate influence in politics. On Wednesday, the Washington Post published a Poll: Large majority opposes Supreme Court's decision on campaign financing:

Eight in 10 poll respondents say they oppose the high court's Jan. 21 decision to allow unfettered corporate political spending, with 65 percent "strongly" opposed. Nearly as many backed congressional action to curb the ruling, with 72 percent in favor of reinstating limits.

The poll reveals relatively little difference of opinion on the issue among Democrats (85 percent opposed to the ruling), Republicans (76 percent) and independents (81 percent).

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"If there's one thing that Americans from the left, right and center can all agree on, it's that they don't want more special interests in our politics," Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)… said in a statement after the poll was released Wednesday.

We can all agree, except Sen. Jack Harper and his colleagues in the Arizona Senate who voted for this bill. They are out of touch with the public.

Contact your state legislators and tell them to kill this misguided bill.