U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach wants businesses to help fight corruption by taking ethics pledge

[Yeahyeah]

Source: plain dealer

Published: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 8:00 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach wants local companies to pledge to fight corruption.
Today at a meeting of business leaders, he will ask for more than just lip service. He wants real commitment to a series of steps designed to help companies -- big and small -- stand up to dishonest public officials seeking bribes and other unethical temptations that arise in the course of business.

The unusual undertaking comes amidst the largest public corruption trial in Cuyahoga County's history, not to mention scandals that have infected the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

"I have long held the opinion that this is something we ought to be doing," said Dettelbach, who prosecuted Nate Gray, a friend to former Cleveland Mayor Michael White, in a major public corruption scandal several years ago.

Dirty dealings between private contractors and government officials have come into sharp focus ever since federal investigators went public two years ago with the investigation of former county Auditor Frank Russo, Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and others involved in a massive corruption probe. >



Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/countyincrisis/index.ssf/2010/10/us_attorney_steven_dettelbach.html#_login

[xchrom]

1. and you would believe them? i wouldn't. nt

[burning rain]

2. Maybe he should ask them to come to church with him, too.

That, or do the old "Cross my heart; hope to die; stick a needle in my eye" thing.

:rofl:

[valerief]

3. Oh, yeah, that'll work. Just like junkies who promise just one last fix. nt

[No Elephants]

4. Corruption will soon be a thing of the past. Why did no one think of this sooner?

Like, in 5000 B.C.E.

Back then, I guess, only the pinky swear had been invented and it wasn't effective. But and ethics pledge will work for sure.

[sofa king]

5. Can we file this with other abstinence programs?

And what would a businessman know about ethics, anyway? The most any of them have heard the subject discussed is in the first two minutes of Miller's Crossing.

I seriously doubt there is a Business Ethics major available in any major college or university in the U.S. Most schools don't teach such a thing at all. There is no recognized authority that watches over businessmen, like the AMA or a state bar does. And if there were, it would be immediately penetrated and turned as quickly as the Iraqi Army was.

Business is the art of unethically separating people from their money. Sure, you might be an honest businessman, but you do the bidding of an evil businessman, or you sit on a town council with them, or you're a member of the Chamber of Commerce with them, or you back a political party that is controlled by them, and so on.

Making business honest will be a multi-generational project that is designed to change our entire culture and which will be fought against a wealthier and more powerful adversary. Asking businessmen to sign a pledge saying they'll be honest is just like asking a hormone-amped teenager not to have sex--all it does is temporarily divert your attention from the bad behavior until the consequences are obvious.

Edit: Just to underscore what I mean, do you know how many Ethics & Compliance Officer Association members there are nationwide? One thousand, one hundred. That's as close to zero as you can get in the U.S., where that many people vote for Yoda as President each term.

[greiner3]

6. And when they are caught bribing and other nasty things;

They can use the christian excuse 'I sinned and I was wrong. I ask god's forgiveness and I'll pray for my salvation-and return to those hefty profits bribing and other nasty things.'