It looks like the Moderate Party is finding it a lot easier to preach than to practice its message.

Originally brought to light by www.rifuture.org, the state’s resident left-wing blog, Moderate Party founder Ken Block has tried to get around campaign finance laws by funneling money to his fledgling state party through the party’s Barrington Town Committee.

State campaign finance laws allow individuals to donate up to $10,000 to political parties. Block donated $10,000 to the Moderate Party. But he then donated another $10,000 to the party’s Barrington town committee, which then turned the money over to the state party.

It may be perfectly legal for Block to funnel donations into the state party through town committees, which would make the situation a legitimate loophole in the state’s campaign finance laws. Even if that’s true, it still suggests hypocrisy on the part of Block, who has made “ethics” one his party’s platforms.

The end around is clearly a maneuver to avoid the state law, which seeks to limit the influence of one individual on the political process.

While campaign finance laws are arguably an affront to free speech – it can be argued that a person should be allowed to donate their hard earned money to any legitimate organization they see fit – until they’re changed for all, everyone should be playing under the same rules.

Christine Hunsinger, the Moderate Party’s executive director, said that the complaints are an attempt to “keep down the underdog,” and that no third party would be able to get off its feet without that method of fundraising.

The pesky thing about ethics is that they must to apply to everyone. Just about everyone, from the major criminal to the petty offender, rationalizes his or her actions in some way.

Ethics needs to be observed all the time – not just when it’s convenient. Were that not the case, everyone would be considered ethical.

One would think that the new kid on the “block,” who has had no trouble pointing fingers at those currently in power, would have taken extraordinary pains to ensure that their actions were perfectly legal and ethical, but that’s clearly not the case here.

While the Moderate Party deserves some level of credit for amassing a war chest of close to $30,000, it would have been nice for a party that prides itself on “ethics” to have done it without skirting state law.