I was talking to a seasoned lobbyist yesterday and he described how political corruption is spawned like cancer, then it metastasizes, and quickly spreads throughout all of government, from the very top to the rock bottom. He said at first the money-for-votes concept is justified by the premise of putting away a little extra cash to provide for their families, including their kid’s college educations.
Then it quickly metastasizes and spreads to include boats, cars, second homes, and lavish lifestyles. Once it is set in motion it seems there is no going back and it never ends.
Indeed the Bible warns:
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. – 1 Tim. 6:10
Ah but these corrupt politicians and the ones who tender the bribes are not concerned about the Bible, they are more interested in themselves.
It must have been my day for dealing with those involved with government, because later in the afternoon a high official in the state justice department stopped by Honey Lake and we discussed the deplorable situation in prisons.
He asked me if I knew percentagewise what portion of our population either had been incarcerated or currently was in prison. I told him that I understood that it was about 1 of 26 people nationwide. He said, “Do you know what it is in Florida?”
I didn’t, but he informed me that an unbelievable 10% of our population (1 of every 10 persons) has a felony conviction in the state of Florida, or is currently serving time. Then he went on to tell me some of the most ridiculous things that are happening. We have a large population of 80-90 plus year old incarcerated prisoners who are bed ridden. It costs $100K a year to care for them.
Why not let them go? Are they going to rape or rob a bank with oxygen tubes dangling out their noses? Perhaps 80% of all inmates are serving time in prison for drug charges, many relatively minor. Why not give them a citation similar to a DUI instead of convicting them of a felony for a first offense? My friend went on and on for an hour talking about all of the folks currently in prison who should be released. He stated that Florida has more people incarcerated than any state in America.
Why?
He answered his own question, because the powers that be in the powerful correctional lobby want large numbers of people incarcerated, because it means jobs and pensions for those power brokers and the correctional officers they represent.
It doesn’t matter to them that our tax dollars pay $30-100K a year per prisoner, (it goes up as the prisoners become older). What matters to them are their own selfish interests and the size of their bank accounts.
I saw this happen in a county that housed a prison that I have visited often. It along with other prisons in Florida was marked to be closed down to save taxpayer dollars. There was plenty of room in other prisons and the prisoners were to be moved to any number of prisons in the state with empty beds.
The small county was up in arms because it was a major employer and that tax base was important to city officials and their constituents. They made every appeal known, but were steadfastly rebuffed. So they went and hired a couple of well know lobbyists for a nice sum of money (which was written up in the local newspaper).
Not long thereafter, lo and behold miraculously the prison was allowed to stay open. I suppose it’s all about who you know. The county was overjoyed as were the correctional guards who worked there. (The taxpayers who are paying to keep open a prison that is no longer needed do not share their enthusiasm.)
It’s the same in every area of politics. If you hire enough well connected lobbyists, practically anything goes. I know a former politician who became a respected lobbyist after his political career ended, but quickly retired from it because of the corruption and his refusal to be a part of it.
He told me in the old days if a bridge needed to be built in your home county, if possible you would try to help swing the business to your local constituent because those are the folks that he represented, but these days he says the politicians expect a briefcase full of money to be delivered for those crucial votes and their support. He wryly added, “And you better be the last one to get there right before his or her vote is cast, because if someone else comes along afterwards with a bigger briefcase full of hundred dollar bills, then the vote just might go the other way.
It’s a nasty, dirty world that makes multi-millionaire criminals out of ordinary people, many of whom naively went into public service with great intentions to serve. But, alas, the temptations are often too great and they succumb to them and fall victim to their own greed and lust.
We all know how cancer usually ends. Unless it is removed or killed, it will kill us. There is a price that will be paid for the greed and corruption that exists in government today. It can kill our society. Somehow good people who love the Lord more than they love money need to be elected. The same can be said of the leadership for all areas of our culture. The major moral dilemma in our country is directly connected to the leadership of our culture in government, business, arts and entertainment, media, education, and yes even religion and the family.
The world is ruled by money and not conviction. If our country is to be renewed, we must find leadership that wants to build their empire in heaven and not on this earth. We need leadership that will vote their convictions in all areas of our culture.
Sound like a daunting challenge?
Matt. 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
April 15, 2014 – Click here to listen