July 9, 2006

Skating On Thin Ethical Ice

The Sunday Tennessean has another editorial equating "ethics reform" with limiting how much people can spend to support political candidates they like. The paper frets that the limit on campaign donations from groups of people - for example, organized labor groups, trade associations, law firms or campaign committees - are not low enough.

But the latest wave of ethics reform legislation at the state legislature wasn't sparked by ethical lawmakers getting large campaign contributions from groups of people, it was sparked by a handful of evidently corrupt legislators accepting cash bribes, enriching themselves in exchange for supporting a specific piece of legislation. No campaign donation limit will stop unethical lawmakers from abusing their position to enrich themselves.

Evidence: state Rep. Randy Rinks, D-Savannah. In the 2005 session of the legislature Rinks sponsored and passed a law that will help him make more money. As the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports in a story in the Sunday edition, Rinks sponsored and helped draft a bill passed by the General Assembly in 2005 establishing the "Tennessee River Resort District," which authorizes counties such as Hardin, which encompasses Pickwick Lake, to keep much of their state sales-tax revenue for use in developing and promoting tourism. The measure was modeled after legislation used to help develop Gatlinburg and Pidgeon Forge near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

It may have been a good piece of legislation, but Rinks was the wrong guy to sponsor it. He's a real estate broker. The law was designed to spur high-end development in the Pickwick Lake area. If it works, real estate values will rise. If real estate values rise, so will the real estate commissions Rinks earns on each transaction he brokers.

No, Rinks didn't take cash bribes from a lobbyist in order to vote a certain way on some piece of legislation. What he did was, in some ways, worse - he helped write and pass legislation that will result in fattening his wallet, and he did so without breaking any ethics law or regulation. He abused the position and power entrusted to him by the people of his district.