Eyebrows were raised when Ohio's $55.4 million investment in a valuable coin collection seemed to have a mere $530,000 unaccountably loaned by Thomas Noe, record keeper for the coin collection, savvy businessman and active advocate and financial contributor for the Republican Party. This investment into valuable coins was created for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation in order to fulfill the noble duty of compensating those injured on the job.
However, 121 coins from the collection -about $12 million worth -have gone missing. Certain alleged improprieties on the part of Noe have prompted an investigation by the FBI, along with others, into which outlets the missing money might have gone. Noe has a lot of governmental ties to Columbus -he has contributed not only to Gov. Bob Taft and President Bush, but also to Attorney General Jim Petro, State Auditor Betty Montgomery and Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. That sort of coincidence has led to scandal. And the contradiction in moral incentives is a major embarrassment for the state and its dominant party -the Republicans.
Of course, money and politics go hand-in-hand, but one party rule through dirty money -and particularly money intended for noble causes -breeds anger and distrust among the public. The Ohio Ethics Commission rapidly has recognized that the ultimate goal of that sort of investment is to protect workers as well as the honest dollar of the American taxpayer. Thus a whole-hearted effort is being invested into reassuring the public that any unethical coin dealing (or any other random investment) is absolutely unacceptable.
In light of this scandal, Democrats are pushing for legislation to be passed prohibiting any individual handling state money from contributing to political campaigns. The Statehouse should pass this and any other legislation to prevent this sort of mischief from happening again.
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