First off, if Spitzer had just dealt purely in cash he never would have created bank transactions that led to an investigation of his patronage of Ashley Alexandra Dupré . Why couldn't he see this? As someone pointed out in the comments of a previous post, Spitzer got 1590 on his SATs and that probably converts to an IQ of nearly 160. So he has the brains and the experience as a prosecutor to think through less risky ways to satisfy his desires. Even worse, vice detectives think Spitzer overpaid.

Spitzer, 48, was allegedly caught on a federal wiretap arranging for the woman, identified as "Kristen," to meet him in a Washington hotel room on the night of Feb. 13. Court documents say "Client-9," whom a source familiar with the investigation identified as the Democratic first-term New York governor, forked over $4,300. Spitzer testified on the Hill the next day, Valentine's Day, about the state of the bond industry. The documents do not say how much this client paid per hour, since the sum allegedly included a down payment on future services. But, since his time with the prostitute apparently lasted less than three hours, experts on the Washington area sex industry said, Client-9 appears to have paid far more than the local going rate. "Even the high-end escort services are anywhere between $300 and $500 per hour," said Detective Mark Gilkey, a D.C. police investigator who has worked prostitution cases in the city for 26 years. Detective Steven Schwalm of the D.C. police department's prostitution enforcement unit said some call girls charge $10,000 for an evening that lasts three or four hours -- and $250,000 for a weekend getaway where the woman provides "sex on demand." He added, though, that he knows of no arrests in this exclusive tier: "We don't have enough in our confidential funds to order up a high-priced call girl like that."

So the police can't afford to catch high priced call girls and Spitzer was operating in a market where the risks of getting caught are very low. Yet Spitzer got popped. How'd that happen? Political enemies trying to bring him down? Nope. The governor went out of his way to draw his bank's attention to his financial transactions to pay for sex.

MELVILLE, N.Y. - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer ended up as the subject of an investigation into a prostitution ring because his bank branch in Manhattan turned him in to the Internal Revenue Service as someone who might be engaged in suspicious currency transactions, according to sources familiar with the investigation. After the governor transferred $10,000 by breaking it into smaller amounts, he then called the bank asking that his name be removed from the transactions, the sources said.

Spitzer shows a lack of common sense and good judgment in other areas. Spitzer is an opponent of strict enforcement of immigration laws and sought unsuccessfully to legalize the granting of drivers licenses to illegal aliens in New York state. But the criminal investigation of Spitzer draws law enforcement resources away from criminals who pose real threats to public safety. For ages 18-19 1 per 107 whites are imprisoned. But for blacks it is 1 in 19 and for Hispanics 1 in 47. So the Hispanic incarceration rate is over double the white rate. Prosecutor and investigator efforts expended on Spitzer would be better spent on prosecuting Hispanic immigrants and deporting them. Also, prosecutors and investigators should go after the employers of illegal immigrants and we should put an end to chain migration of relatives.