Hey, Mike, we just wanted to let you know that just because you wield that enormous gavel doesn’t mean people aren’t going to call you out for changing your mind on ethics.
That’s right, Senate President Haridopolos, we’re talking to you.
We’re not buying that you didn’t know your office was pulling an ethics bill that you co-sponsored off the table sans explanation. Promising a separate ethics reform package without specifying what it would entail also doesn’t satisfy us. Do you think we’re stupid? Well, that $75,000 check UF cut you for nine months of lecture, half of which was spent in Tallahassee, does make a strong case.
You look like a walking, talking case for the reform Florida needs, given your recent sketchy omissions on your financial disclosure forms.
Maybe it’s time to admit you’re a little shady — most politicians are — and stand by the decision to lay down some new rules.
To Sen. Paula Dockery, who sponsored the bill, we say thanks. Despite Haridopolos’ strange reasons for the bill’s disappearance, we can see her move was well-intended. It makes sense to bar legislators from voting on bills that would benefit only them, their relatives or their companies. Requiring legislators to detail any conflicts of interest when abstaining a vote also is warranted.
If we’ve got it wrong, and this all was just an accident, Mike, your forthcoming ethics legislation should be a replica of the first.
