Every contracting job I've ever had has had some kind of training document that said "hey if you ever go out to lunch or something with a government customer, just split the check please we don't want to be on the news"
Like the exact “gratuity” situation is well known to businesses who do public/private work, and it’s just universally considered to be—at best—clearly unethical.
To be clear, the exact "gratuity" situation here is a public official walking into a business that they constructed a multimillion dollar biased contract offer for and saying "I need money." (that's literal!)
This is so far beyond any "oh no should we split the check?!?" it's insane.
Yeah I meant that the majority seemed concerned that if this is criminalized then so would going out to a celebration dinner or something, but that scenario itself is already just generally considered obviously unethical by everyone.
Yeah, and the problem is that even if you wanted to make sure that that was now considered OK, you didn't have to make *this* OK! Jackson said it well in her dissent. They weren't asked "is this an OK gratuity?" They were asked "can _effing anything_ afterwards be a bribe?"
By the freaking reading of this opinion, a mayor could authorize a multimillion dollar contract for a company, immediately resign and be appointed CEO of said company, pocketing a huge bonus for it. Not a bribe! Just a gratuity! So long as you don't leave a paper trail!
This is true for every single corporate position. I’ve completed literally hundreds of hours of mandatory training in my multi-decade career which amounts to “No, you can’t accept that”. Repeatedly. I can do the tests in my sleep. The fact that this is even in question is madness…
Doctors can't take a pen or a lunch from a pharmaceutical rep lest it make us inclined to use the medication that rep is selling. The Sunshine Act for me, but not for theeeeese a***oles.
I used to be a contractor. I met a gov employee in the building coffee shop once, and without thinking paid for his $1 coffee along with mine. The look of panic on his face is still with me today.
Look, the court had to weigh competing factors. The risk is that if mayors aren’t allowed to take cash gifts from companies they give contracts to, a lot of people will give up on a career in politics.
Chris, please accept this gratuity in the form of a big bag of money. I give it to you in appreciation for previous work you've done.
Now, on a totally unrelated note, I wonder if you'd be willing to reconsider your stance on this so-called "corruption," hmmm?
As someone who has worked at public entity, and been harangued multiple times by Accounting that I can not use the company card to get gifts for my team (e.g., at the end of long project) that exceed **$25 a piece** because anything more would exceed the gift limit---this pisses me off.
What do you think the chances are of a SCOTUS question at the debate? It's definitely one of the most consequential political issues today, but as far as I know Biden has no stated plan for addressing it.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha, this is great. You think CNN is going to ask them about corruption? Nah. They’ll just harp on the border, Taiwan & Ukraine, and inflation. Calling it now.
Good call out, they for sure will talk about abortion. I am still doubtful they’ll mention the corruption angle, but who knows, maybe they’ll surprise us all.
I don’t even know what a gratuity looks like bs a gift when the person isn’t a waiter, driver, hairdresser, etc. Does the government employ get 15% of the value of the transaction? Do you tip the tech staff and contract officer?
