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| Sheldon Silver, Courtesy of AP/Wenig via CapitalNewYork |
The sad thing is that with a Democrat-controlled legislature and a Democrat governor, there is little, if any effort being made for ethics reform; they seemed to argue that you can't eliminate evil in human nature, no matter what set of rules you set up. As the brother and uncle of two CPA's, it's sad to realize they are expected to live up to a higher standard of ethics than officeholders. (Accountants are forbidden from any appearance of a conflict of interests with their clients. I've worked for management consulting affiliates of two CPA firms and I had to report things like any relative working for a long list of clients or ownerhip of even a modest number of client shares, even though I had no contact with audit personnel. If I did hold any pre-employment shares, I had to divest them ASAP.)
Silver edged out PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane; this involves a kerfuffle involving alleged grand jury leaks for political purposes, abuse of power, conspiracy and pejury, which has led to suspension of Kane's law license. She has been plowing through state emails for evidence of wrongdoing and discovered a pattern of politically incorrect, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate emails, which has led to some high-profile resignations, including a state supreme court justice; she is seeking to characterize the case against her as a plot of a resentful corrupt good old boy system and an attempt to halt her sensational fishing expedition. It seems a trial against Kane is likely next year. For purposes of this post, it doesn't seem fair to name her until she's been convicted, So her nomination will carry forward into the new year.
