# Former Governor John Engler- Ethical or Not?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-governor-john-engler-ethical-or-not/161332>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 14, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-governor-john-engler-ethical-or-not/161332 "2003-03-14T14:38:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MSU\_1978](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@MSU\_1978](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MSU_1978)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-governor-john-engler-ethical-or-not/161332/1 "2003-03-14T14:38:09Z")

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In the [Detroit News](http://www.detnews.com/2003/politics/0303/09/a01-103537.htm) , it seems that governing a state can be both fun and profitable. To summarize, the John Engler administration in Michigan lasted 12 years, in which the EDS Corporation prospered mightily:

- The EDS contract with the state grew from a $55 million per year contract to a $555 million bonanza

- The initial two year contract was extended from 1995 through 2004 without once being rebid

> [@](#):
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> Peter Karmanos Jr., chairman of Compuware Corp. , says he twice complained directly to Engler that the deal with EDS was “costing taxpayers millions” because Compuware’s software products and people were being billed through EDS at a mark-up.

How do you thank a governor that did your business such great favors? Well, EDS knows how. Three weeks after leaving office, John Engler found a job with EDS making $250,000 per year with a bonus potential of twice that.

What do you think- is this ethical behavior or not? Personally, I think Engler is smart enough not to do anything illegal, but clearly he used his position to benefit one company and then later benefitted himself from that cozy relationship.

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**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-governor-john-engler-ethical-or-not/161332/2 "2003-03-14T14:54:35Z")

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based on the above - unethical.

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**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-governor-john-engler-ethical-or-not/161332/3 "2003-03-14T15:59:31Z")

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I can’t answer; I am too biased against him as I reflect on our current budget situation and the recent news about how he changed the unemployment benefits process during his final months so that it was virtually impossible for anyone to make claims.

He closed a number of offices and set up toll-free numbers. Then staffed those call centers with too few staff to handle the volume. This was in a month when unemployment was the highest it had been in years.

One of the first acts the new governor had to do was hire dozens more staffers for the line and reopened unemployement offices in Detroit, with more on the books for elsewhere in the state.

So don’t get me started. The man has me a little peeved.