Junket leads Ward to say do as I say not as I do

We have yet another example of the ethically challenged Chris Ward telling you to do as I say not as I do. It was revealed in the Sunday Daily Press & Argus that Mr. Ward took an all-expense paid trip to Taiwan in August.

This all came about after Dick Devos said in a newspaper article last week that he thinks government officials should not take trips paid for by lobbyists. See the link here, http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060927/NEWS06/609270314/1008.
Mr. Ward was also quoted in that article as saying he is trying to get legislation like that passed, but in reality he introduced it only so he can campaign as a reformer, knowing it has little chance of passing, even though his party controls both the House and Senate. In taking this vacation junket he’s doing exactly what he says he’s trying to ban. (See posts for 9/14, 9/5, 7/5 and 6/28).

This reminds me so much of the current scandal with U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, who resigned after it came out he was sending obscene e-mails to 16-year-old House Pages. Foley is the co-chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus. He, like Mr. Ward, is trying to ban something he is guilty of. It makes you wonder if they are trying to draw suspicion away from themselves.

The funny part was not only was Ward quoted in the story, but so was the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association, who have bankrolled Mr. Ward’s campaigns in exchange for him trying to sneak a bill by that would have required anyone who wants to order a bottle of wine in Michigan to go through them. That action led one veteran and respected journalist to say this about Mr. Ward’s alleged campaign finance reform:

“That is the moral equivalent of Monica Lewinsky opening a charter school of chastity. If Chris were in another occupation, he might have a mattress strapped to his back.”

Mr. Ward’s justification for taking the all-expenses paid vacation is absolutely ridiculous. He says Taiwan is a foreign government that does not lobby in Michigan or have lobbyists, so Mr. Ward says they cannot lobby him. He also claims, correctly, that the House does not set foreign policy. That raises the obvious question; then why the heck did you go at all? Did you bring back a commitment from a company to move to Michigan? No.

Taiwan is a province of Communist China, and don’t you think they have government officials whose only job is lobbying? They could even be called propagandists. For Mr. Ward to say the Chinese government does not lobby is ridiculous.

I guess we now know why Mr. Ward refused to support an amendment banning all foreign sources of contributions to political campaigns in Michigan last month (see our post of 9/18).

He claims a benefit of the trip is because there could be an opportunity to “…sell waste products from agriculture in Taiwan – animal organs, that is, that local ranchers might throw away but are considered delicacies in Taiwan.” I’m no farm expert, but I know of no “local ranchers” that slaughter their own herd and produce and package their own meat. Also, I don’t think slaughterhouses and packinghouses waste any part of the slaughtered animal.

State Rep. Chris Ward, not surprisingly, came out in favor of DeVos' ideas — how, then, did the Brighton Township Republican get a free trip to Taiwan in August?
Ward spent a week on the island off the coast of China, courtesy of the Taiwanese government.
He said a delegation of 12 state lawmakers, three each from Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana, went on the trip, and visited business and government officials. Many expressed a desire to open up trade with the midwestern states, Ward said.
He didn't come home with any specific business deals, but said there is an opportunity to sell waste products from agriculture in Taiwan — animal organs, that is, that local ranchers might throw away but are considered delicacies in Taiwan. Ward forwarded that information to the state Department of Agriculture.
He also said Taiwan, like Michigan, is dealing with competition from China and trying to diversify its economy.
Is Ward contradicting himself by taking the free travel? No, he said, because the government of Taiwan doesn't lobby the Michigan Legislature, and the Legislature doesn't enact foreign policy.
"The line that's crossed is when it's a group that has the ability to lobby or impact public policy," Ward said. "We don't create foreign policy here in Michigan. I don't think there is an ethical problem whatsoever. If it was paid for by a group lobbying the Legislature, there would be a great deal of concern."
The other Michigan lawmakers on the trip were Republican Reps. Bruce Caswell of Hillsdale and Leon Drolet of Macomb Township.
Mike McGonegal, the Green Oak Township Democrat challenging Ward in November, questioned Ward's reasoning.
"This is the worst form of hypocrisy," McGonegal said. "No foreign government is going to pay for a junket without expecting something in return ... it doesn't pass the smell test."