State Ethics Commission

The following is from the Newnan Times-Herald, published 4/12/2012:

State ethics commission lessens fines for late, local politicians ATLANTA — The state board overseeing campaign disclosures decided Wednesday to let 7,400 politicians off with a minimum fine for filing late reports for a total of $3.6 million.

Isn't it interesting that on the heels of Georgia being named the most corrupt state in the nation (see earlier blog) the state ethics commission, whom I would think would be charged with upholding legal and ethical standards in government, decided to reduce fines for politicians who did not file financial reports or filed late reports. It is not clear to me if the total fines were reduced to $3.6 million or if the initial fines were that amount. Either way, that is a lot of money. It says to me that a lot (most?) of our elected officials do not take this requirement seriously. I am sure that the number above includes state, county, and city elected officials. Shouldn't we expect more from our officials? Don't we have a right to demand better action than this, both by the elected officials and the state ethics commission?