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    Posted: 05:55 PM ET


    FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

    In case you’re not convinced our government is broken, consider this: A new study shows that almost 60% of government
    employees at all levels — federal, state and local — say they’ve seen violations of ethical standards, policies or laws at their
    workplaces in the last year. This includes everything from conflicts of interest, abusive behavior, altering documents and financial
    records to lying to employees, vendors or the public.

    And apparently it’s worse at the state and local levels. The nonprofit research group “Ethics Resource Center” found 63% of those at
    the local level witnessed at least one kind of misconduct. At the state level, it was 57%, and 52% at the federal level.

    And it’s going to get worse. The head of this group says it looks like we’re headed toward more ethical misconduct in government in
    the future, not less.

    They found that 30% of the incidents go unreported. One reason for that is some employees who reported misconduct said they
    experienced retaliation. Researchers also say there aren’t enough systems in place to stop these problems once they’re exposed.

    The center says the answer to this problem is what it calls a “strong ethical culture.” A lovely idea to be sure. But when you watch
    example after example of government dishonesty and abuse go uninvestigated and unpunished, what’s the message? That it doesn’t
    matter because no one will do anything about it anyway.

    Here’s my question to you: Does it surprise you that almost 60% of government employees at all levels say they’ve seen ethics
    violations at work?

    Interested to know which ones made it on air?