I was reminded of Dale Hannah’s recent post political plea bargains on What If? over the weekend when I read some of the stories about the state employees who are facing charges that they were part of a scheme to give improper bonuses to employees of the Pennsylvania Legislature.

I’ve written before about how public officials should be held to a higher standard when it comes to following the law and not abusing their power.

Hannah’s post had a similar tone in questioning the recent case involving former state Rep. Linda Bebko-Jones of Erie. I invite you to check it out — and to read the comments, as well.

One of Hannah’s readers, Ron, had what I think is a great idea for making public officials more accountable. He proposes jacking up the penalties for public officials who abuse their power:

For instance, if you use your power as a Congressman/woman to commit an offense, you should receive at least 1.5x the jail time/fine that you would have received for the same crime that a normal citizen would have received. Those who make our laws have the utmost responsibility to abide by them, and to abuse your power and break the trust of the people is a crime itself. I think if you want to seek public office, you need to remember that you work for the people, not for your own gains.

Would this work? Should public officials be held to a different standard? As always, I welcome your thoughts.