Make dirty politicians pay big

For the jaded minority of elected officials in New York State who see dishonesty and thievery as acceptable options, crime clearly pays. If it didn't, there wouldn't be so many politicians engaged in corruption.

This fact has again come to the forefront thanks to accusations that two Democrats from Brooklyn, Sen. Carl Kruger and Assemb. William Boyland Jr., and a lobbyist and two corporate executives, were embroiled in the buying and selling of influence. They are the latest to be accused in a culture that seems to spawn new indictments every month. The list of state politicians who've left office recently thanks to corruption investigations wouldn't fit in this space, but the most prominent include former Comptroller Alan Hevesi; former Senate Majority leader Joe Bruno (R-Brunswick); former Sens. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx), Vincent Leibell (R-Patterson) and Efrain Gonzalez (D-Bronx), and the late former Assemb. Tony Seminerio (D-Queens) (who allegedly also had a role in the Kruger case).

That's not to mention those who diminished the legislature through nonfinancial crimes. They include Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens), expelled after his conviction for assaulting his companion, and Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), who did not resign after his conviction for scuffling with a photographer. And just over the horizon lies the bubbling investigation of influence peddling in Albany's selection of a company to operate video slot machines at Aqueduct racetrack.

We can lament the corruption of the body politic, but to create real change, we must do three things:

Make the penalties on abusers of public trust so severe that corruption is no longer a attractive play.

Create enforcement and oversight so tight politicians believe they will be caught if they stray.

Pass ethics reforms that force public servants to account for every penny they earn and every asset they own. The result would be a real wall between lobbying and influence peddling.

There are many politicians who wouldn't commit crimes. They are victims of the corruption culture as much as voters are, and would be particularly well served by strict laws on financial disclosure and allowable outside work for legislators.

A recent analysis concluded that about 10 percent of New York State legislators who've left office in the last 12 years did so following allegations of ethical misconduct or criminal charges. That's staggering. It gets worse when you consider that not every miscreant is caught, and those who are uncovered may only be nailed for a fraction of their misdeeds.

This most recent scandal is not, as Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said it should be, a "jarring wake-up call for Albany." Our officials, both honest and dishonest, are well aware of the decisions they face and the potential costs and payoffs of each.

This is a wake-up call for those being robbed, sleeping soundly as elected cat burglars steal the government.