Southern Scandal Watch

Another day, more scandal. It's hard to keep up with all the ethically-challenged behavior, but here are some highlights:

* In NORTH CAROLINA, the AP reports on the latest involving House Speaker Jim Black (D) and his connections to the state lottery: "A former political director for House Speaker Jim Black is one of three former lottery company workers who have been charged with violating state lobbying laws, according to court documents released Monday."

* In FLORIDA, the woes of senate candidate Katherine Harris continue to grow:

Rep. Katherine Harris wound up embroiled in a firestorm last month after acknowledging she had a $2,800 meal with a defense contractor convicted of bribery.

Now it turns out that wasn't her first fancy meal with corrupt contractor Mitchell Wade. Harris had dined with Wade previously at the same tony Washington restaurant and failed to pay her share as required by congressional rules, her campaign acknowledged Friday.

(Hat tip to Florida Politics, which labels this news with the headline, "A girl's gotta eat.")

* And then there's LOUISIANA Rep. William Jefferson (D), who is getting thumped in the media today for taking a couple hundred thousand dollars in bribes from a Kentucky businessman and stashing $90,000 of it in his freezer. No fancy Cayman Islands money-laundering here -- he just popped it in next to the ice cream! Which, as Wonkette points out, was in line with the grassroots flavor of the entire operation:

The FBI has a video of Jefferson himself meeting an unidentified witness outside an Arlington hotel (we hope this one) and, you know, placing a suitcase containing $100k into his waiting 1990 Lincoln Town Car. That’s why you’re in the lesser house, guys — a Senator would never pick up his own laundered money.

Of course, corruption and scandals are about more than the stories of individual transgressors -- fascinating as they may be -- it's systemic. What are the policy solutions that can help make corruption easier to expose (disclosure) and less necessary (campaign finance reform)? Without such lessons, focusing on scandals just breads cynicism.

UPDATE: If you're in North Carolina and are wanting to figure out what to do about the "corruption epidemic," come to a Crucial Conversations luncheon with NC Policy Watch and the NC Coalition for Lobbying Reform: "Lobbying and Ethics Reform: Taking steps to restore public confidence." Wednesday, May 24, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Exploris Museum, 201 E. Hargett St., Raleigh, NC 27601.