Of course, he has every right to leave Congress. No one can make him stay. But his cash-out to the world of the lobbyist should not be at a cost to the taxpayers.
And if he doesn't see this -- if Dickstein Shapiro LLP doesn't see it -- then someone with standing ought to pursue the matter, perhaps to court.
Certainly there must be some grounds for action.
This is like a divorce, requiring settlement.
Or how about an injunction to keep him from taking his new job until he's settled his obligations to the one he currently has?
I asked some friends who are members of the bar -- and frequent the one I go to -- for their opinions.
They were nice about it. They gave their opinions, but didn't want their names attached to them because (a) they did not feel expert in this realm of the law or (b) I wasn't paying enough.
"Congressman Wynn has the right to resign for any reason he wants to offer," wrote one. "He may have broken his `contract' with the voters of his district, but his only punishment is the end of his political life. If someone with standing in the affected counties where the special election was going to be held wanted to file a taxpayers' suit to prevent the cost of another election -- now that may be possible."
Here's another opinion: "Courts could order a prematurely resigning employee to pay damages for breach of contract. But I suspect they would only do this when the contract explicitly called for the payment of damages in the case of premature resignation -- or such was not quite explicit but nearly so in the contract -- and there was plenty of precedent for doing such in the particular circumstances. I would be very surprised to see a court take such action in the Wynn situation, because there is no such provision and not really even a traditional legal contract that members of Congress enter into."
So you see where I am today. No word from Al about doing the right thing and paying his bill. (We're open to an installment plan, Pal!) I've got nothing but discouraging legal opinions, and no interest from officials, particularly from Maryland Republicans, in fighting the fight.
Maybe I have this all wrong. Public approval of Congress is at all-time lows.
So maybe we should look at Al Wynn's premature departure as addition by subtraction. In fact, we should encourage all members of Congress who want to go work for a lobbyist to go now. We can save the costs of special elections by not having them. Leave their seats empty until next January. Empty seats would be better than the representation we have now.
I rest my case.
dan.rodricks@baltsun.com
Dan Rodricks can be heard on Midday, Mondays through Thursdays, noon to 2 p.m., on 88.1 WYPR-FM. Adults with criminal records can obtain information about re-entry programs and jobs by leaving their full names and mailing addresses with Rodricks at 410-332-6166 or the e-mail address above.
