Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Begin perspiring in 5..4..3..2..1..

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Former State Senator Roscoe Dixon went to the State Capitol today with a process server, subpooenaing several people, incuding Lt. Governor John Wilder (D- Mason) and Senator Jeff Miller (R-Cleveland).

Click on the title for the WMC-TV/AP story.

To me, this leads to one of two possibilities; 1) he is trying to get former colleagues to help clear him when they haven't exactly lined up to do so, or 2) if he's going down, it won't be alone!

With the country in a grumpy mood about the GOP's rampant corruption in DC, the locals in Tennessee may be ready to throw the bums out in Nashville as well.

I only hope the good people aren't tossed out with the bums.

3 comments:

polar donkey said...

Can anyone say "publicly financed elections." If Roscoe gets the state closer to PFE's, than he could burn the statehouse down for all I care. There has to be systematic change.

Freedonian said...

Publicly financed elections are great, but they wouldn't have headed this off. This money didn't go into campaign funds.

The only way to use public money to head off something like this is something I think we should look into.

What did the Black Sox scandal do? It changed the pay structure in major league baseball until the players were no longer susceptible to gamblers.

We don't have full time legislators in this state. State Senators earn $16,500 per year, $1000 per month office allowance, $150 per day in session, and mileage reimbursement.

At the very least, we need to question the wisdom of forcing a legislator to keep one foot in the government and another in the world of private industry just to pay the bills.

We obviously can't pay our legislators on the level that US Congressmen are paid.

But you get what you pay for. And I believe the laws of this state are worth more than the average salary of a Sonic carhop.

Steve Steffens said...

They should be considered professionals; the day of a part-time legislator in the complex environment we have today should be over.

The only reason the Goopers want part-time legislators is because they hate government; it keeps them from screwing people full-time.