Two of the major components of Sarah Steelman's campaign for governor have been her repeated blasting of Rod Jetton for his questionable ethics [1] as Speaker of the House and her persistent hectoring of Kenny Hulshof for his history of profligate spending [2].  Yet Steelman has demonstrated little willingness to stand up on these counts in the context of a position which she already holds, as an ex oficio member of the Board of Trustees of the Missouri State Employees' Retirement System (MOSERS).

Back in March of this year, Speaker Jetton demonstrated his lax ethical standards propensity for self-dealing by shoehorning himself into a House-appointed slot on the Board [3] of the state employee retirement system, MOSERS.  Steelman, who is also a member of the MOSERS board by virtue of her elected position as State Treasurer, had nothing to say about Jetton's self-appointment at the time, despite her now-regular campaign harping over the Speaker's ethical struggles.

What's more, Steelman --though she's constantly ready to read from a list of wasteful government spending supported in Congress by her opponent Kenny Hulshof-- has shown no desire to speak out against wasteful spending over which she presumptively has some measure of control. 

A prime example: though Jetton didn't see fit to make it to an annual meeting of the MOSERS board to which he appointed himself just months earlier, he did manage to travel to London in the last week on the dime of MOSERS, which is of course funded with taxpayer dollars. 

Couldn't a member of the MOSERS Board of Trustees who cared about wasteful spending have done something about Jetton's travel?  Or is Sarah Steelman's focus on ethics and wasteful spending just a convenient rhetorical tool that is quickly forgotten once she holds a position and is actually able to wield influence?