June 26, 2005

Politics, Power and Privilege

The Tennessean today starts its three-part series, Culture on the Hill: Politcs, Power, Privilege, a look at how lobbyists run Tennessee's legislators to a large degree, and how legislators "close themselves off from the people they serve and use their own power to further insulate themselves and protect their culture."

The contemptuous reception some gave the ethics bill illustrates how a mix of politics, power and privilege ferments a culture of isolationism on Capitol Hill. Undercover federal agents easily ingratiated themselves in that culture, passing out thousands of dollars in return for favors.

The allegations suggest that Tennessee's legislature is susceptible to exploitation. Although ethics legislation passed with fanfare, several efforts to require more — or more regular — disclosure of the details of power and politics were killed.

The legislature insulates itself from the public with secret meetings, a lack of oversight of members' own conduct and open-government laws they have imposed on other governments but not themselves.

Rarely has the intersection of money and influence in Tennessee government been under more scrutiny than this year. The federal bribery sting capped a legislative session dominated by discussions of ethics.

While the federal indictments allege major corruption, critics say the confluence of money and power is at the heart of the culture on Capitol Hill, playing out in small, corrosive and legal ways every day.

The people didn't beat down the doors of the capitol that day. But they should have.