Years ago, a commercial appeared on New York City television. It showed a guy tumbling out of bed. The scene was grey, and the commercial was in black and white. The guy yawned and stretched, and scratched and staggered over to a window. He flung it open and stuck his head out.

“Tomorrow morning,” a warm voice intoned, “Rise from your bed. Go to your bedroom window. Throw it open. Take a deep breath of the morning air. It will make you sick.”

This was an ad from an outfit that wanted to clean up New York City’s air.

If you gave me the job of creating an ad for cleaning up our politics it would look a lot like that.

A big poll told us recently that two-thirds of registered voters do not believe Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton are honest or trustworthy. In other words, open a window onto our political scene and take a deep breath.

Need I remind you these two candidates are currently their party frontrunners? How exciting. Don’t you envy the teacher who holds mock elections to encourage kids to take pride in our elections? I could envision an exchange like this between a teacher and a student.

Student: “Miss Johnson, why should we vote for somebody we think is dishonest?”

Teacher: “Well, Melanie, it is the American way.”

Student: “You mean like Al Capone and Bugsy Malone? And Boss Tweed?”

Teacher: “Yes, Melanie. You could put it that way.”

Again, just one-third of our nation’s voters believe that the two frontrunners are honest. Isn’t that encouraging? Aren’t you overwhelmed by this tide of reassurance? One-third.

The poll asked voters to use one word to describe how they feel about a Trump or Clinton presidency. You would think they just came out of a showing of the movie “Chainsaw in The Bedroom.”

The words they vomited forth were: “Scared. Disaster. Frightened. Terrified. Horrified. Disappointed.” Yes, Melanie, this is how we feel about our leaders. But, this is much better than how we feel about our Congress.

What little trust we have was kicked in the head recently. After some pressure, John McCain’s charity admitted it took in a million bucks from the Saudi government. That’s right: war hero, Senator Clean.

Student: “Why would a foreign government give so much money to a senator, Miss Johnson?”

Teacher: “Maybe it’s because they want to buy his vote, Melanie.”

Student: “But isn’t it against the law?”

Teacher: “Yes. It is against the law for foreigners and foreign governments to contribute to our elections.”

Student: “But, Miss Johnson …”

Teacher: “Hush, young lady. Let’s stay out of the sewers.”

The Clintons found ways to get around this years ago. They have taken millions of dollars into their foundation from foreign governments and interests. Peddling influence.

Meanwhile, New York City’s current mayor, Bill de Blasio, has established a charity. It is a super-sized tin cup — held under the noses of those who want to deal with the city. Good ole’ pay to play.

My father ran a saloon. After he died, one drinker told me he never liked my father much. “I didn’t mind him being so much smarter than me,” he said. “But did he have to remind me so often?”

In that vein, I think we have to accept that there is some corruption in our politics. But do the politicians have to do it so blatantly? Do they have to shove it in our faces?

A little subtlety is called for — if only for the sake of the kids.

Meanwhile, take a deep breath of our political air. Let me know how it makes you feel. And don’t turn toward anyone you like.

From Tom…as in Morgan.             

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta. Several upstate radio stations carry his daily commentary, Tom Morgan’s Money Talk. Contact him at tomasinmorgan.com

New Yorkers no longer have the patience to be politely dissatisfied with the state’s performance in delivering meaningful ethics reform. They are fed up with the embarrassing headlines about public officials convicted of corruption, taking bribes, embezzling public money, perpetuating sexual harassment, and more. Making matters worse is the fact that even those who break the public trust are still able to collect a taxpayer-funded pension.

The list of disgraced public officials is extensive, yet the actions taken by state leaders to enact ethics reform fall devastatingly short. What is it going to take for us to pass the ethics reforms New Yorkers deserve?

After damning poll results were released by Siena College earlier this year, which indicated that 90 percent of New Yorkers believe corruption is a serious problem in the state, the governor included very modest reforms in his original budget proposal in January. Yet here we are, post-budget, and any sign of reforms was entirely removed from the final enacted budget, which was negotiated in secret between the governor and legislative leaders.

It didn’t take a poll for me to act, and I haven’t walked away from my commitment to ethics reform. My Assembly Republican colleagues and I have legislation that the Assembly could take up immediately if the Democrat majority members aren’t sure where to start. They don’t have the best track record with timely ethics reform. It took Assembly Speaker Heastie’s co-called Reform Caucus more than a year to come up with many of the same reforms that my Assembly Republican colleagues and I proposed earlier this year.

I sponsor two critical bills to ensure New York has the toughest ethics laws in the country. The first is the Public Officers Accountability Act, A.4617, which addresses the roots of corruption — the concentration of power among highly influential political leaders, unchecked campaign financing, overall weak ethics laws and punishments, and a lack of independent oversight on public officials. The act creates eight-year term limits for legislative leaders and committee chairs; creates rules about the use of campaign funds, ensuring real consequences for failure to file; creates a new and tougher commission on ethics to correct the failings of entities like the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE); and requires more transparency in discretionary state spending.

The second is the Public Pension Forfeiture Act, A.4643A. This legislation would create a public referendum to alter the New York State Constitution to allow public officials to be stripped of their publicly funded pensions if they are convicted of a felony related to their duties. This legislation has some bi-partisan support, so it would make sense for the Assembly Democrat majority to stop blocking passage of this bill. It should come to the floor for a vote.

There are many important matters to be addressed during the remainder of the legislative session, but ethics reform must take priority. If the Assembly majority members allow for the session to adjourn for the year without any such reforms, they will be exposed for their rampant self-interest and voters will respond. Ethics reform is the priority of the people, and we are elected to represent their interests.          

Marc W. Butler (R,C,I–Newport) is a New York State Assemblyman for the 118th District, which encompasses parts of Oneida, Herkimer, and St. Lawrence counties, as well as all of Hamilton and Fulton counties. Contact him at butlerm@assembly.state.ny.us