The "ethics bill" passed today in Nashville. (story here) The twist, though, is that two Democrat State Senators that were arrested during the Tennessee Waltz sting (Kathryn Bowers and Ward Crutchfield) voted in favor of the bill. Now isn't that encouraging for "ethics reform"? Should this display to us Tennesseans that this bill is filled with a tremendous amount of loopholes since these two indicted lawmakers voted for it? Does this approved bill give them the chance to be even more corrupt? Maybe they are just doing a little song-and-dance for the public to show that they support reform and maybe this puts a little doubt in the public's minds about their involvement. I thought from the get-go, however, that they should have never been allowed to take part in this special session. They were indicted for crying out loud; didn't they violate our trust and prove that they are in no way ethical. I guess I should be following the creed "innocent until proven guilty." (info here)
In other news, a former officer from the State Patrol testified to the Senate's Transportation Committee that he was fired because his family supported the GOP. He is currently in the midst of a lawsuit against the Department of Safety because of these allegations. Do I think that he is speaking the truth? I don't know, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised. (story here)
filed under: tennessee, politics
I guess the bill contains everything we could want, except maybe real ethics. They just couldn’t get rid of the cash. Remarkable thing is, Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol, was the guy who put the money back. His district had one donor who donated more than a million bucks to support Republican candidates during the last elections. Of course now, per say, the same donor will be limited to $101,400 “per two-year election cycle”. Doesn’t sound like it’s time for a parade to me.
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