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That observation doesn't excuse allowing the Ponzi scheme to occur, or investors and lenders being hurt. We need to apologize for that. Could more have been done? Sure. Those who put trust in our state government need to be better served -- and by bringing all of what happened into the open as has been done and will continue to, our public will be better served in the future.
This entire matter, in my view, is about process, and not the personalities involved. From the Legislative Inquiry and the Attorney General's report, it's clear that new procedures and policies on handling complaints of fraud and audits need to be written.
But personnel to do that work is also needed. With limited staff which in a lot of departments of our state government has been skeletonized in the past couple of decades despite ever-increasing complexity of issues in this modern age, state government did quite well with the many tasks it has to do. And from my read of the reports at this point, the intent to serve the public with honesty was clear. That doesn't excuse the errors made, but it emphasizes that if government is to function well at all times, we cannot continue to shortchange our agencies with layoffs or furloughs.
Democrats in particular should feel especially proud of the way all this has been handled, especially in recent months. To name a few who deserve extra credit, House Speaker Terie Norelli and Senate President Sylvia Larsen saw late last Winter that an open public review was necessary, so they convened the current Joint House-Senate Legislative Inquiry on FRM over two months ago. The Inquiry has been done fully in the open, with all documents, reports, and even digital recordings of the meetings posted on the Legislative WEBSITE for all to see and listen to, with excellent leadership under Chair Sen. Maggie Hassan and Vice Chair Rep. Ed Butler. Would a legislature under another party's rule have done that? Did it ever?
Governor John Lynch insisted that all documents and records about FRM be released publicly. Would a Craig Benson have done that? Did he ever? Would a John Stephen do that? Hopefully we'll never know.
The open public review of this situation will result in regulatory laws being rewritten so that they are clearer, so they don't conflict, and so that the functions and tasks of our agencies are more specifically assigned. If we ever find a way to fund our obligations, it will also result in more staff and assets being given to Banking, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General so that they can do their jobs even better. Overall, despite missed opportunities to identify and stop the Ponzi scheme, the Banking staff under Commissioner Peter Hildreth and the Secretary of State Securities Division under Director Mark Connolly did most of what they could do. Improvements always come from having made mistakes if we try to learn from them.
Attorney General Mike Delaney, who also happens to be a Democrat and went to that office after years of being Legal Counsel for John Lynch -- (and doing important work on finalizing the language to make House Bill 436 succeed in final passage so we could have marriage equality in our state) -- dug deep to make sure all FRM information came out. He produced a report that uniquely assumed some responsibility for his own department. He's been there for just over half a year and has already done more than the previous Attorney General did in 10 times that timeframe. Maybe that's because he hasn't spent his time prosecuting a couple of death penalty cases or challenging California or Washington on equality issues. He's spent his time on the job, juggling too many important missions with too few attorneys.
All in all, these past few years of Democratic majority in Concord has turned government around. We've seen a freshness and an openness that for years we didn't have. Could government function better? Yes, of course. It always can. That's a goal that will always be a few yards ahead of us.
I've been watching TV commercials during the past few weeks by candidates from the opposing party, and they all have the similar theme: cut government and cut taxes. It sounds so good, but when you cut government, you allow people and corporations who are greedy like those behind FRM to operate between the cracks. Someone has to put up the "stop" signs, and that's a role for government. Taxes aren't a penalty placed on us by mean-spirited government leaders -- they are the way that we share in our responsibilities to fund government so it will have the resources to do what needs to be done.
What is the lesson of the FRM Ponzi scheme? It may be that there IS a role for government in protecting people and businesses, and that the anarchy that some politicians are expousing would accomplish nothing. Instead of efforts nullifying laws like they tried to do last week in the Legislature, we need more staff in our agencies of state government to make sure that the laws and functions we now have are followed. For way too long we've been sold the message that we can have government on the cheap. What we need is government by efficiency -- but that doesn't mean that "less is more," it means that we give it the staff and laws it needs to do its mission.
To me, by bringing all of this into the open the way that our good leaders in Concord have, it shows that there IS a need for government, and that for far too long we have been underfunding it and stripping it. In some very real ways, these past few weeks and months, as our state government has been undergoing a self-analysis, we have seen our government at its best. To do the mission of government -- that mission being to help people, prevent greed, and protect the interests of our business community and our taxpayers -- we need to give those in government the tools and resources required.
That might be the ultimate lesson of the FRM Ponzi scheme, and if so we may all be better off in years to come because of it.
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