June 10, 2005

Grandstanding Waltz

Grandstanding, v, To perform ostentatiously so as to impress an audience. - The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

The AP reports that Gov. Phil Bredesen said yesterday he is leaning toward calling lawmakers back to Nashville in the fall to pass special ethics legislation. This of course represents a complete switch from Bredesen's pre-Operation Tennessee Waltz position on legislative ethics reform which was an active policy of disengagement from the issue.

As Memphis TV news channel ABC24, Eyewitness News, reported on April 6:

Governor Bredesen says he's going to stay out of the debate over ethics reform. He said Wednesday he'll let lawmakers work through the issue themselves. The General Assembly has been engaged in a debate over how to clean up its image after allegations that Senator John Ford of Memphis used his position to land high-dollar consulting contracts. The Senate Ethics Committee has brought in an independent counsel to investigate the matter. And lawmakers are debating dozens of ethics proposals that would make it illegal for lawmakers to consult or lobby, force more disclosure on income and restrict general lobbying efforts. Bredesen said he wouldn't presume to tell the Legislature what to do.

Oh, but now Gov. Bredesen has had a change of heart. From the AP story today:

Bredesen said the high-profile arrests of four sitting lawmakers at the end of this year's regular legislative session could be the catalyst for meaningful ethics reform.

The governor said he would at least like to see disclosure by lobbyists on whom they wine and dine.

But he plans on consulting people outside of state government on whether the state should set up an independent ethics commission. In other states, those commissions often oversee stringent rules and even have the power to investigate suspected ethics breaches.

"I think the events of the arrests, and so on, just underline again that maybe this is the time to just take a more comprehensive look at this," Bredesen said. "We are looking at that over the summer, and certainly I am prepared to call a special session in the fall if we have something useful to do."

Lawmakers debated new ethics laws for much of this year's regular session. They did pass a law aimed at former Sen. John Ford's consulting deals, which makes such arrangements illegal.

That was before Ford resigned in the wake of his arrest in an elaborate FBI sting called "Operation Tennessee Waltz." Also charged in the scandal were Sens. Ward Crutchfield and Kathryn Bowers and former Sen. Roscoe Dixon. Rep. Chris Newton, the sole Republican, also was charged, along with two so-called "bagmen."

"This may be a once in a not-very-often opportunity to really step back on this whole ethics issue and not just put a Band-Aid on it, but really see if there are some things we can do that will make a fundamental difference on the way business is done," Bredesen said.

The governor said he is prepared to call the special session above objections from lawmakers. "I don't think there's broad sentiment to want to come back, but sometimes as governor you got to just grab people and say, 'Look we have to face up to this thing,' " he said. "There's a natural human tendency to say, 'Well, maybe the worst is over and it's all gone.' I don't think it's over."

Bredesen said that people around the state want tighter ethics laws over their government. "They want to see something happen," he said. "They don't like this stuff. They don't like the image it gives the state. They don't like the way business appears to be done. And I'm committed to saying to people, 'Look, you've got to confront this stuff.' "

Bredesen said there would be a lot of pressure during a special legislative session focused on ethics to adopt big reforms.

"That's the path I'm headed down," he said. "I've not made a final decision to call it."

I thought he was "committed" to fixing the problem. Wait, no, that's not what he said.

He said that while legislators may not want to come back for a special session on ethics reform, sometimes "you got to grab people" and make them do the right thing. "And I'm committed to saying to people, 'Look, you've got to confront this stuff.'"

Which, come to think of it, is what Bredesen was saying before four sitting lawmakers got arrested for allegedly accepting big cash bribes: let the legislature handle it.

Bredesen probably will call a special session. Public sentiment will force him there. But he doesn't want to. He really doesn't. And doing so will be more an exercise in political grandstanding than anything.
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For more scrutiny of the Bredesen record, see Bredesen Watch.