Comments on: The Tennessee Waltz sting http://politics.moonagewebdream.com/2005/05/26/the-tennessee-waltz-sting/ Think Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:02:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Moonage http://politics.moonagewebdream.com/2005/05/26/the-tennessee-waltz-sting/comment-page-1/#comment-254 Moonage Fri, 27 May 2005 01:37:56 +0000 http://politics.moonagewebdream.com/2005/05/26/the-tennessee-waltz-sting/#comment-254 <p>That has been <a href="http://moonagewebdream.blogs.com/moonage_political_webream/2005/04/the_debate_over.html" rel="nofollow"> a point I have argued for a long time</a>.  I did a survey on what federal representatives make, particularly Congressmen, in comparison to what people make in the private sector.  On a state level it's profoundly worse.  It's one thing to expect people to serve for the benefit of their state, or government, it's another entirely to expect them to sacrifice the financial well-being of their family. Sure, there's plenty that have financial resources to dedicate themselves to public service, but, there's a lot more out there that would do it if they could afford to.  We're not seeing those people.  The BOPTROT sting nailed a lot of people, Tennessee Waltz will probably take down more.  In the case of BOPTROT, it was something like a mere $400 or so that took down the minority party leader.  $400 shouldn't mean anything to these people.  I won't do much of anything for $400, much less risk my reputation.  I don't know all the details of Tennessee Waltz yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if the payoff was similar.  We've got to figure some way to remove the enticement of petty payoffs affecting government policy.  My solution is not politically correct tho.</p> That has been

a point I have argued for a long time.  I did a survey on what federal
representatives make, particularly Congressmen, in comparison to what people
make in the private sector.  On a state level it’s profoundly worse. 
It’s one thing to expect people to serve for the benefit of their state, or
government, it’s another entirely to expect them to sacrifice the financial
well-being of their family. Sure, there’s plenty that have financial resources
to dedicate themselves to public service, but, there’s a lot more out there that
would do it if they could afford to.  We’re not seeing those people. 
The BOPTROT sting nailed a lot of people, Tennessee Waltz will probably take
down more.  In the case of BOPTROT, it was something like a mere $400 or so
that took down the minority party leader.  $400 shouldn’t mean anything to
these people.  I won’t do much of anything for $400, much less risk my
reputation.  I don’t know all the details of Tennessee Waltz yet, but it
wouldn’t surprise me if the payoff was similar.  We’ve got to figure some
way to remove the enticement of petty payoffs affecting government policy. 
My solution is not politically correct tho.

]]> By: Bryan Kerwick http://politics.moonagewebdream.com/2005/05/26/the-tennessee-waltz-sting/comment-page-1/#comment-253 Bryan Kerwick Thu, 26 May 2005 20:41:31 +0000 http://politics.moonagewebdream.com/2005/05/26/the-tennessee-waltz-sting/#comment-253 Very much like Boptrot. Nice to see we have bi-partisan criminals running the business of Tennessee. This will most likely not make the mainstream press unless it says something like Chris Newton R-Cleveland and three other fellow legislaters were arrested for taking bribes... And the reason we have these jackasses is because we have yet to figure a way to attract the best and brightest for these positions. Salary alone is not going to work. We need a better plan. Very much like Boptrot.

Nice to see we have bi-partisan criminals running the business of Tennessee. This will most likely not make the mainstream press unless it says something like Chris Newton R-Cleveland and three other fellow legislaters were arrested for taking bribes…

And the reason we have these jackasses is because we have yet to figure a way to attract the best and brightest for these positions. Salary alone is not going to work. We need a better plan.

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