Some people pay a small fortune to cruise in luxury around Alaska to see the breathtaking beauty. Is it too much to ask them to pay the state $46 to help keep it that way? Apparently so.
Recent allegations add another member of half-term governor Sarah Palin’s defunct administration to the list of officials accused of ethics violations. The Anchorage Daily News reported that Mike Tibbles, Palin’s former chief of staff, was accused of violating provisions of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act while working as an active lobbyist on behalf of the cruise ship industry. The allegations focus around a provision that bars former state officials from “representing, advising or assisting a paying client on matters that were considered by the officer’s administrative unit.” Soren Wuerth, a teacher and community activist, wrote a letter to Alaska’s Attorney General accusing Tibbles and Parnell of attending a cruise industry convention and meeting with cruise line officials where they allegedly discussed ways to increase cruise ship business.
This is what is called the revolving door – personally cashing in on the contacts you make in government.
Politicians like Mr. Tibbles enter politics and make connections with industry people, invariably giving them corporate handouts and stewarding beneficial legislation for them. Then, after they’ve grown complacent with all the great benefits that come with public service, they leave. They don’t resign like you and me, with goodbye lunches or best wishes, but with high-paying new jobs and expense accounts that essentially allow them to lobby their friends – you know, the close friends they made in government. It’s a system that we have come to accept – a system that is predicated on our unwillingness to demand tougher lobbying reform.
Mr. Tibbles says he did nothing wrong, so does Goldman Sachs.
Well at least Mr. Tibbles’s gross exploitation and complete greed didn’t help facilitate the collapse of the U.S. economy…Robert Rubin
