Bonusgate

State Rep. Ron Miller, R-Jacobus, put it this way: "It cast a shadow over the Legislature and the whole state of Pennsylvania."

It must be really bad, considering, for a moment, the performance of our esteemed state Legislature in recent years.

A bunch of Republicans were indicted this week, including former House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, for orchestrating a complex scheme for political gain that ultimately cost taxpayers more than $10 million.

And that was on top of the indictments last year of a bunch of Democrats for handing out bonuses to state workers to conduct political business. Also in that investigation, it was revealed that Republicans also handed out bonuses. That scandal, according to reports, wound up costing taxpayers about $3.8 million.

So you can conclude that both parties were corrupt, but apparently, the Republicans were a lot better at it, and better at trying to cover it up since their malfeasance came to light in a non-election year.

Now, this might all smack of political gamesmanship, but it reveals something fundamentally wrong with our elected officials in Harrisburg. They seem to be much more concerned about winning elections, and staying in power, than actually governing the state.

And that's the real shame here.

And the real shame is, too, that nothing will change. Maybe some people will get convicted, maybe not. I would be willing to bet that none of these clowns will wind up in jail.

Meanwhile, it'll be business as usual in Harrisburg.