Cuomos Budget Article Summary (Article Sample)

Article Summary
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The article selected is titled "Cuomo’s budget is said to include ethics and campaign finance reforms”. It is written by Thomas Kaplan and is accessible on the New York Times’ website as from January 2014. The article outlines how the number of corruption scandals has increased in Albany, an occurrence that has necessitated the governor to seek to institute legal barriers to curb the worrying trend. The ethical issue encompassed by the article is the corruption of Albany officials, with sourcing of campaign funds the pertinent issue. The public is the population that is at most risk, as these unethical behaviors could detriment the level of service delivery by public officials. The issue also involves political parties, the government, and those seeking to contribute to the election kitties of politicians.
In this instance, the parties involved have three pursuable options. The first option is to back the governor in his quest and come up with airtight Legislations that will end corruption. The Legislations should introduce excessive criminal liability against practices such as bribery, tighten loopholes in campaign fund laws and increase disclosure by legislators who hold other jobs outside the legislature. The second alternative is to resist any changes that the governor seeks to implement. This option is only viable to those who benefit from corruption, as it is detrimental to Albany’s progress. The final alternative is to adopt a neutral stance on the matter. The number of alliances one has determines their success in politics and in such a situation, introduction of disclosure laws and tightening sourcing of campaign fund could affect many politicians. On the other hand, one cannot resist these calls as their reputation could be damaged, meaning that adopting neutrality becomes a pursuable course.
If tasked to select an alternative to eradicate the issue, the best move would be to aim for the implementation of new legislation that will curb instances of corruption. Implementation of this alternative will involve extensive research of all the avenues through which corruption manifests itself. This will enable identification of the most prominent tricks used to evade capture, and the legal loopholes through which corruption exists. Identification of strategies and loopholes for corruption will make it easier to come up with laws that will eliminate these aspects. Analysis of current laws will also be done in order to identify areas that have become obsolete because of dynamics. For instance, new technologies might make some laws useless, or provide loopholes through which corruption occurs. Upon their identification, laws should be formulated in a consultative where all parties involved are sought for input. Contributions from politicians, the public and key government officials are important as it makes the process all encompassing. This is not only ethical, but also diminishes resistance. The final step of implementation is the hardest. Enacting of the proposal into law requires support from the legislato...