ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT
The year was 1989. Rocky Top was the scandal. I was starting my second term in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Even then, one had to be concerned about customs and practices that seemed to have been around for a long time:
*Legislators having hotel rooms paid for during an entire session or several sessions by lobbyists and interest groups.
*Legislators "borrowing" (extorting?) credit cards from lobbyists.
*Lobbying disclosure laws that were more loopholes than laws, allowing lobbyists to spend virtually unlimited amounts on legislators and other public officials without any disclosure in any form being required.
At the very end of that session, we eventually passed the Lobbying Ethics Act of 1989. Quite frankly, without the Rocky Top scandals and investigations, that bill never would have been enacted. (I think I know--I was the prime sponsor and I had to fight for it all session.) Its enactment was not popular with some working on The Hill, though many thought it was overdue and helped pass it.
Now, 16 years later, other scandals. Officials and others "doing business" with the last (Sundquist) administration investigated and indicted. Legislators and others who knew them investigated and indicted. The allegations involve members of both the executive and legislative branch, members of both the Republican and Democratic parties.
But there is something right within our American system that tends to create corrective action out of wrongful acts. Essentially, there is nothing wrong with our state's government that our state's people cannot correct. What is wrong with our system can be corrected by what is right with our system.
None of us yet knows exactly the details of future legislative action, but I believe the changes will be substantial and significant.
The Governor has appointed a special commission on ethics. It is headed by former Senator Ben Atchley and former Attorney General Mike Cody. Both men have earned reputations for honesty and integrity and both are recognized as both intelligent and wise. Others on this commission also are most impressive and well-respected. The other day I attended their first meeting, and I hope to attend more. I am looking forward to receiving their recommendations and considering their counsel.
The separate, special legislative committee on ethics will meet next week. It is bipartisan, bicameral and, I believe, willing to make major changes and progress.
Out of bad times can come good changes. I think these are such times. And I look forward to those good changes.
posted by admin @ 6:28 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Again my solution:
If you or your family profit from your elected position you will spend the rest of your stinking life in jail!
SIMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HI Roy,
Well I don't have much confidence in the ethics of Bredesen either. He did get rich off of the HMO scam and now is dismantling Tenncare. Seems just a little suspicious doesn't it? Oh sure, I suppose we're not supposed to notice that. AS you said Roy, there were questionable practices when you came and I'm sure there will be questionable practices when you leave. Tenneseans need to wise up on who they elect but money talks and the rest of us are forced to our knees.
I think we need to reform this syetem but that can't happen until the people fix it. One thng that might help is opening up the process so smaller political parties and independents can participate and then use IRV voting so as to elect those with the most support. I thought it was outragious when Bredesen refused to allow Ed Sanders into the debate during the campaign for Governor, hardly a demonstration of ethical democracy.
I also don't hink much of the rigged elections that are held in Tennessee. My wife and I voted for our favorite candidate for President, a legal write in candidate, and the Perry County election people didn't even bother to count them and send them to the SOS. There are a lot more problems with ethics in this state than you realize. Most Americans, I would guess don't know the meaning of the word, and care less. It is disgusting.
Thanks for allowing reader comments Roy.
Check out Utah Majority Whip Steve Urquhart blog and audioblog...
http://steveu.com/blog/
then go here...
http://www.audioblogger.com
sign up for free and give us an audioblog report.
Thank you very much.
Steve U is running against Orrin Hatch for United States Senate.
http://www.steveu.com
blogging all the way....
http://www.steveu.com/blog/
Step up to the plate and give us an audioblog Roy! Let's hear what you have to say.
you and phillip pinion got a bill passed to exempt house trailers from sales tax.
pinion owns homestead 2000.
homestead 2000 sells house trailers.
you two are like the pot calling the kettle black.
A typical dictionary definition of hypnosis states that it is: a state that resembles sleep but that is induced by suggestion. However, anyone who has tried hypnosis (and any self respecting hypnotist) will tell you that this is a very simplistic view of the subject!
A much better description comes from the Free Online Dictionary which states that hypnosis is: an artificially induced state of consciousness, characterised by heightened suggestibility and receptivity to direction. So what does this mean and how can it be used to your advantage?
Well, the subject of hypnosis has been discussed and pondered since the late 1700s. Many explanations and theories have come and gone though science, however, has yet to supply a valid and well-established definition of how it actually happens. It's fairly unlikely that the scientific community will arrive at a definitive explanation for hypnosis in the near future either, as the untapped resources of our 'mostly' uncharted mind still remain something of a mystery.
However, the general characteristics of hypnosis are well documented. It is a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, deep relaxation and heightened imaginative functioning. It's not really like sleep at all, because the subject is alert the whole time. It is most often compared to daydreaming, or the feeling you get when you watch a movie or read a captivating book. You are fully conscious, but you tune out most of the outside world. Your focus is concentrated intensely on the mental processes you are experiencing - if movies didn't provide such disassociation with everyday life and put a person in a very receptive state then they would not be as popular (nor would TV advertising be as effective!). Have you ever stated that a film wasn't great because you just couldn't 'get into it'???
This works very simply; while daydream or watching a movie, an imaginary world becomes almost real to you because it fully engages your emotional responses. Such mental pursuits will on most occasions cause real emotional responses such as fear, sadness or happiness (have you ever cried at a sad movie, felt excited by a future event not yet taken place or shivered at the thought of your worst fear?).
It is widely accepted that these states are all forms of self-hypnosis. If you take this view you can easily see that you go into and out of mild hypnotic states on a daily basis - when driving home from work, washing the dishes, or even listening to a boring conversation. Although these situations produce a mental state that is very receptive to suggestion the most powerful time for self-change occurs in the trance state brought on by intentional relaxation and focusing exercises. This deep hypnosis is often compared to the relaxed mental state between wakefulness and sleep.
In this mental state, people feel uninhibited and relaxed and they release all worries and doubts that normally occupy their mind. A similar experience occurs while you are daydreaming or watching the TV. You become so involved in the onscreen antics
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