| Imagine reading this (slightly modified) in your local paper:
ALBANY - Governor Obama moved swiftly on Wednesday to impose new rules on government transparency and ethics, using his first full day in office to freeze the salaries of his senior aides, mandate new limits on lobbyists and demand that the government disclose more information.
Mr. Obama called the moves, which overturned two policies of his predecessors, "a clean break from business as usual." ... the actions were another sign of the new president's effort to emphasize an across-the-board shift in priorities, values and tone.
"For a long time now there's been too much secrecy in this city," Mr. Obama said at a swearing-in ceremony for senior officials at the Legislative Office Building, adjacent to the Capitol. He added, "Transparency and rule of law will be the touchstones of this governorship."
Obama understands the basic breakdown in American politics, I think. It's not just ideology, but trust.
The past thirty years have seen an accelerating breakdown of trust in government. Much of that is because Republicans are shouting "don't trust the government" to their followers while behaving in ways that make non-Republicans doubt all of the rest of what they're saying. However, while I'd like to say it's a Republican problem, it's far from solely their responsibility. Democrats have unfortunately also abused trust on a regular enough basis to be unforgettable.
It's an open question whether or not Obama can reverse that slide at the federal level. Rebuilding trust after it's been lost is a tremendous challenge, and redemption doesn't come easily.
At the state level, though, I fear we're not even trying. Spitzer was all about reform, but even beyond the scandal that removed him, he seemed to enjoy the cloak-and-dagger of backroom politics in ways that might even have damaged trust more severely had he stayed in office. Paterson, while I applaud his openness about the explosions coming in the state budget, seems extremely comfortable with three men in a room and the current status quo.
The same is true of our legislators, in both parties. Silver and the Assembly Democrats hand out little tokens of openness when it seems that enough people notice what an absurdly closed process they run. Senate Republicans barely even did that until they were in the minority. Their grandstand of proposing the same rules reform that the Democrats had offered in 2007 did very little - except demonstrate how resistant those with power can be to change. (The Senate Democrats now unanimously voted against their earlier proposal.)
We can't have Obama for governor for lots of reasons, I understand. We have a long ways to go to see how his efforts at the federal level change the government and citizens' trust in it.
Still, I hope our own Governor and state legislators will note that it's possible to change direction, to seek a clean break, and to work toward building broad trust rather than narrow coalitions of donors and constituencies.
I know, I know - it's a dream. One worth pursuing, though! |
