I’ve become increasingly disenchanted with my state representative, Curry Todd (R – Collierville). In 2006, Rep. Todd ran unopposed, and I voted for him. But since that time, however, he has charged full speed in the wrong direction; he has raised taxes, limited our freedoms, inflated government spending and failed to advance our Second Amendment rights. Now he wants to peel away the ethics laws passed just two years ago, in the wake of Operation Tenn. Waltz.
More on all these issues below, but first let’s discuss his proposed changes to the ethics law.
Bloggers who have already written about this issue include Ben Cunningham (who also posted this video), Adam Groves and Jim Grinstead.
The first hints that some legislators wanted to weaken the new ethics law came in October, when a confused Rep. Todd was quoted saying, “No one knows what they can do.”
Funny that, how our representatives in Nashville could vote to pass a bill they didn’t understand in the first place.
But comprehension doesn’t appear to be the real issue. Our lawmakers seem all-too aware of just how much they can get, and from whom.
As the Commercial Appeal reports in an editorial today, “the state’s ethics law generally prevents lobbyists from buying meals for lawmakers…, limits groups or individuals who employ lobbyists from spending more than $50 per legislator per meal…, and doesn’t apply to individual constituents or groups that don’t employ lobbyists.”
“If the law really needs to be clarified, that’s fine. But clarity shouldn’t come at the expense of perpetuating the perception that Tennessee state government is for sale.”
It’s not clarity that Rep. Todd is seeking, but rather $75 meals, totaling up to $1,000 per lobbyist, per year.
So if there are at least 600-700 lobbying clients in Tennessee, a busy legislator could receive over half a million dollars in food and beverages each year.
The Tennessean reports that, “many legislators say the ban is too restrictive, cutting them off from constituents and one another,” and some are “annoyed by the notion that [they] could be bought for a biscuit.”
All this prompts a number of questions:
- Are lobbyists now considered “constituents” by our legislators?
- Are our legislators unable to meet with constituents without receiving free food?
- What are our legislators doing with their per diem money?
- Do biscuits cost $75 in Nashville these days?
- If $75 is the proper limit, does that imply their votes can be bought for $76?
Also, if our lawmakers are not paying for their own meals, how exactly would they be collecting all the receipts, in order to turn them into the Ethics Commission?
What happens if the lobbyists’ paperwork doesn’t match the legislators’ paperwork? How many more bureaucrats will need to be hired in order to tabulate the numbers and investigate any discrepancies?
But perhaps the most important question is this: if Curry Todd is simply a representative serving his constituents, in a democracy where the voters in his district hold the power, and drawing his salary from their tax dollars, why should he be the one getting the free lunches? (more…)
