Legislative leaders are now working on a package of legislation to clean up government as federal investigators continue their probe into the activities of former Governor Mike Easley that has already resulted in the indictment of Easley's former legal counsel and embarrassing testimony by Easley himself before the State Board of Elections.

The reaction by lawmakers is understandable and appropriate. The scandals surrounding Easley demand a response to address some of the holes in state laws. Proposals include prohibiting people who do business with the state from giving money to people who decide who gets the state's business and closing the revolving door between state government and the lobbying ranks.

Those are both good ideas and there's more to do that unfortunately seems less likely, including term limits for legislative leadership posts and a limit on how much political parties can give to candidates, which would slow the legal money laundering that makes a mockery of limits on campaign contributions.

All those changes would help restore the public's confidence in their government, but they will hardly stop every scandal. Several of the charges against Poole involved allegations that he gained personally from his decision as a high-ranking official and laws alone will never stop people from breaking the law.

But there's a much bigger problem that often seems lost in all the discussions of corruption and how to clean up politics and government. The political system itself is basically built on a form corruption or at least a lot of winks and nods to the wealthy and powerful interests.

Walk into an office at the Legislative Building in Raleigh and tell a state lawmaker you will give him or her $4,000 to vote for a certain piece of legislation and you are committing a crime and could go to jail for bribery.

Walk into the same office and hand a lawmaker a $4,000 check and then come back and tell him or her you need their help with the same piece of legislation and you are merely participating in the political process.

It is not exactly a bright line and it is fuzzy in a lot of places. Raising a hundred thousand dollars in your living room for a legislator to guarantee access after the election is legal, but paying more than $4,000 for airfare and lodging for a legislator to attend a meeting is against the law.

Approving an environmental permit in exchange for a political contribution is bribery but setting up a one-on -one meeting with a wealthy potential campaign fundraiser who wants a permit approved is crafty fundraising.

The current system of financing elections demands that candidates curry favor with potential contributors and fundraisers and then treat them like everybody else after the election, even though the politician will need their money again for the next campaign.

One episode in the Easley saga reported by the News and Observer illustrates the problem. Developer Nick Garrett held small fundraising lunches for Easley attended by fellow developers who wanted changes in the state's environmental permitting process. Nothing illegal about that.

Garrett even told the N&O he gave money to get face time and higher stature with the governor. That's not only legal, that how the system works every day. It's about money opening doors, convincing politicians to change their mind, rewarding them when they do. It is a system defined by legalized corruption.

As much we need tougher laws to prevent the most blatant conflicts of interest and tough prosecutions of people who violate them, nothing will fundamentally change in our political system until we all admit that the problem is not just individual cases of wrongdoing, but a system that by definition demands rewards and special treatment for the privileged and wealthy few.