May 28, 2006

Your Tax Dollars at Dinner

In today's Tennessean, Trent Seibert reveals the extent to which lobbyists still wine, dine state legislature.

Surprised? You shouldn't be. Because the Tennessee legislature, in crafting its "ethics reform" legislation, made sure that it continued to be okay for lobbyists representing special interests to wine and dine legislators. Because the legislature likes to be wined and dined for free by lobbyists representing special interests.

The ethics law requires the lobbyist to invite all 132 members of the legislature, not just one or a handful. That particular requirement actually gives special-interest groups an advantage over Joe Citizen because the special interest groups are more likely able to afford steak and drinks for 132 legislators than is Joe Citizen.

That's "ethics reform" as brought to you by the Tennessee General Assembly: more steak and wine for them, less influence for you.

And worst of all, as The Tennessean reveals, some of the special interest groups wining and dining legislators are "groups that are funded by taxpayer dollars, including one state agency, and the state School Boards Association, which receives funds and dues from county school systems."

Think about that for a second. Your tax dollars are funding government agencies to lobby the legislature for more of your tax dollars, while the 132-or-none rule prevents you from buying a cheeseburger for your state legislator while you ask him or her to please return some of the state's huge tax revenue surplus to you in the form of a reduced sales tax on your own groceries.

It's enough to make you lose your lunch.