Gail Collins Quotes
Try spending a good chunk of your life as a reformer in the New York State Senate. See how you like it.
At the time, the New York State legislature was particularly corrupt. Those who tried to reform it from the inside were given a very hard time by those who benefitted from the status quo.
Gail Collins, Journalist & Columnist, “Is Yours More Corrupt Than Mine”, New York Times, May 12, 2013
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The Congressman, who had not been previously an enthusiastic leader for this type of reform, found himself with a chance to become Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. The previous leader was under indictment and was linked, along with other Republican Congressman to a Lobbyist who had pleaded guilty to bribing Congressmen. Another Republican Congressman had plead guilty to the felony of accepting bribes. The party that Controlled Congress was fearful of a voter backlash over the corruption—especially the role of lobbyists in giving money to Congressional campaigns. Bainor became a reform leader.
The Senator had intervened in the regulatory process on behalf of the Lincoln Savings and Loan. The bank owner had made large contributions to the senator's campaign:. The bank failed costing the taxpayers billions of dollars.
While New York City and a few other jurisdictions—states and local—have more stringent laws and ethical standards for politicians than does Congress and Federal Officials, but most have lower standards. In some of the jurisdictions judges can try cases and rule in favor of a company or wealthy individual who gave the judge the money to campaign with and get elected.
Even in modern times, almost all reform efforts succeed only if there is some villain or group of villains whose removal is the target of the reform effort. Then legislative changes are made to prevent future villains from being able to do the sane thing.
This is the reason that it is so hard to reform Congress.
See {640687}. He was then very worried about the influence of money in politics and was willing to risk his own reelection by limiting his contributions. And he was the Republican presidential candidate so his policy was particularly unusual. A century later money in politics had ballooned to a much larger problem as Taft’s action had little or no effect on the overall relationship between money and politics outside of his campaign.
Gail Collins is an American journalist, op-ed columnist and author, most recognized for her work with The New York Times. Joining the Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board, she served as the paper's Editorial Page Editor from 2001 to 2007 and was the first woman to attain that position.
