Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) is mad at all the attention he’s getting for trying to gut the ethics commission in the Tennessee Legislature and used up space in today’s Daily News Journal to defend himself.
Sen. Ketron continues to work hard on a plan to gut the very body that investigates corruption on Capitol Hill. It’s a curious move that would ultimately weaken the state legislature’s effort to hold elected officials accountable to the rule of law and the people they represent.
Sen. Ketron says it is important to gut the ethics commission because 98% of his colleagues are good, honest people. Rutherford County knows better than that, and so does Sam Stockard.
It seems more than anything that Ketron and Ramsey want to eliminate employees, including the director, and cut spending by about $330,000. There’s nothing wrong with cutting personnel costs if people are sitting around doing nothing. Otherwise, what is the rationale?
Ketron was quoted in the initial story on this issue as saying the Ethics Commission should focus less on enforcement. He also said 98 percent of legislators are honest folks and he simply wants to “streamline” government.
It’s comforting to know that Ketron can look into the minds and souls of our state’s lawmakers and determine they are honest people. Maybe that’s why he serves on the Senate Ethics Committee. However, cutting people probably means less enforcement, and most Tennesseans agree our lawmakers and lobbyists can’t always be trusted.
Under his proposal, Ketron said the Commission of Ethics and Election Finance would have one director and two deputy directors. Overall, though, three of the Ethics Commission’s nine people would be cut.
blah blah liberal media blah booze blah guns don’t forget guns blah blah liberal media blah blah blah.