Jun 4, 2009 12:31 am US/Eastern
Keller @ Large: Finneran On Beacon Hill Ethics
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
In the wake of the indictment of former House Speaker Sal DiMasi, state leaders are promising tougher ethics laws. But some claim the media and the public are overstating the extent of the problem.
In an interview, former House Speaker Tom Finneran and I really went at it over this issue.
Finneran is understandably miffed that his perjury conviction in a civil case is being lumped in these days with a type of kickback corruption he was never accused of. But he also remains loyal to the institution he once helped run, and when it comes to ethics reform, he's willing to say what many in the political establishment are afraid to.
As morning show host at WRKO Radio, Finneran gets a daily earful of the public's view of state government. He says they're furious.
"(There's) a sense that the institution is deaf, indifferent, interested in self serving and self dealing rather than serving the general public," he said.
"That's true. Isn't it?" I asked.
"No it's not," he said.
But while he believes Beacon Hill should toughen up state ethics law and predicts they will soon, watch what happened when I listed some of the major criticisms of our state's political culture:
"Do you believe speakers should have less power?"
"I don't think they have undue power."
"You as speaker have dozens of different ways you can kill my bill, don't you?"
"Not as speaker, no, not as speaker."
"The system isn't rigged to keep incumbents in there?"
"I don't think so. No, I don't think so."
"Do you think the State Ethics Commission should have automatic subpoena power?"
"I don't know."
"Should state investigatory authorities have the same power as the feds to go after political corruption? They don't right now in terms of wiretap or statewide grand jury -- should they?"
"I haven't researched it as an attorney, Jon. There are attorneys who say, 'Gee, no.' What I don't like to do is have the Legislature stampeded into a policy based on an occasional incident."
Finneran has a point when he says the public sometimes fails to distinguish between corruption and the messy-but-legal business of politics. But if his skepticism toward pending ethics reforms is widely shared on Beacon Hill, all the current rhetoric about changing the culture up there may prove to be more hot air than substance.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
