PolicyBlog has moved!

Thank you for visiting, PolicyBlog has a new address.

Our new location is http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog

Please adjust your bookmarks. Archived posts will remain here for now.

Thanks




Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Mark Cohen takes on James Madison

In Federalist #51, James Madison writes of the need to create laws and instititutions to protect citizens against abuses by ambitious men in government:

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

But state Rep. Mark Cohen disagrees, writing:
Deficits in character or judgment ... are unlikely to be cured by legal changes in the structure of legislative institutions.
Cohen is responding not to Madison - though I'm certain he is familiar with the Federalist Papers, given his $31,000 worth of books taxpayers bough him - but to Sen. Piccola's call for a special session of the PA General Assembly to deal with integrity in government.

Cohen thinks that no reform is needed - or would have prevented bonusgate.  Hmm... a ban on bonuses wouldn't have prevented misuse of bonuses?  What about eliminating the leadership-controlled accounts used to fund the bonuses; that wouldn't have prevented misuse of those funds?  Both reforms could, along with many others, be taken up in a special session.

Of course, eliminating the leadership-contolled accounts might eliminate Rep. Cohen's book budget, and maybe why he opposes reform.  Rep. Cohen speaking out against legislative reform is like John Gotti denouncing laws against racketering.

No comments: