Corruption no excuse for less participation

I am sad for Pennsylvania. Yet another round of indictments for public corruption has rocked the Capitol.

Attorney General Tom Corbett on Nov. 12 filed charges against state Rep. John Perzel, former state Rep. Brett Feese and eight House Republican staff members. Previously, Corbett filed charges against former state Reps. Mike Veon and Sean Ramaley and 10 House Democrat staff members.

These investigations are ongoing and come while other investigators are trying to get to the bottom of the mind-numbing abuse by Luzerne County judges. And, for good measure, Pennsylvania has had its share of embezzlement and misappropriation by local government treasurers and public administrators in recent years.

It makes me sad.

Pennsylvania is not alone with its public scandals. Illinois has suffered its travails with former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The nation waited with bated breath for several days to find "missing" South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. This summer, 44 people in New Jersey -- including three New Jersey mayors and two state assemblymen -- were arrested and accused of being members of an international money-laundering ring.

Former Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson was sentenced to prison this past week. Former Ohio Congressman James Traficant was released after seven years in prison. Former California Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham is still in jail. And, for corruption on a per capita basis, the winner may be Rhode Island.

The legacy in other states does not excuse or diminish the problems in Pennsylvania. It just says we're not alone.

Corruption and wrongdoing certainly are not relegated to the government alone. In recent years, American news has been equally full of scenes of corporate executives in handcuffs or on the way to a courtroom. Five of the 44 charged in New Jersey were rabbis. And for a time, the words "television evangelist" were always followed by the word "arrested." Then there are the problems faced by the Catholic Church.

My mentor in graduate school used to look at his practicum class and say, "If you remain committed to a life in public service, all of you will be sued, and some of you will be charged." It was a stark dose of reality.

What saddens me most about public sector corruption is the taint it puts on government service and public policy.

Everyone I know in the businesses -- including those who have been charged and found guilty -- entered public service to do good, to improve the lot of others, to achieve higher aims. I'm not going to claim we were all priestly or took vows of poverty and chastity; but good things can and must be achieved through public service.

Government is about doing collectively what we cannot do individually. We cannot build our own roads or provide for our own national defense. There are many goods and services that are most readily and most appropriately "public." Government, if left unattended, can also wander into providing goods and services that many of us believe are most readily and most appropriately "private." And, government shapes the marketplace.

Corruption makes every government decision and every public decision suspect. The excessive partisanship of the remaining government leaders and the corrosive vitriol of the liberal and conservative political extremists further fuel the destructive flames of public scandal.

American alienation and cynicism regarding government began in the 1960s. Recent corruption has pushed those emotions to new heights. As a result, participation in government is at new lows. The Obama election notwithstanding, fewer people vote, fewer people volunteer for campaigns, few average citizens contribute financially to the elections of their local officials.

It saddens me that average Americans are so turned-off by politics and government. It frustrates me to no end that my member CEOs and senior corporate leaders are equally turned-off.

Business leaders absolutely must play a positive role in the public sector. Yet cynicism and alienation are causing more and more Pennsylvania CEOs to say they "don't care," it "doesn't make a difference," the system is "too broken for anyone to fix it."