In our previous post, we asked: Is Bob Riley interested in ethics across the board or only in certain situations?
Riley likes to tout the high ethical standards of his administration in Alabama. The "fair and balanced" editorial page of The Wall Street Journal has fallen for Teflon Bob's act.
Not surprisingly, Alabama Republican Party Chairman Mike Hubbard touts the Riley record on ethics.
Heck, even U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, a Democrat, seems to have fallen under TB's spell. (After reading this, I have little confidence that Davis will do much of anything to help Congress get to the bottom of the U.S. Attorneys scandal; hope I'm wrong about that.)
Does Teflon Bob's record on ethics stand up to the slightest hint of scrutiny? Let's take a look.
First, he recently killed an ethics bill that received unanimous, bipartisan support in the Alabama Legislature. The bill would have broadened the definition of a lobbyist under Alabama law and included those who seek to influence action on state contracts that are not competitively bid. Charges flew that Riley killed the bill in order to protect his children, who are rumored to lobby him on behalf of entities seeking no-bid contracts.
Does that call Teflon Bob's ethics into question? If that doesn't, consider this: Where does Riley stand on the issue of judicial corruption, an issue near and dear to my heart? And what kind of action does Riley take when said judicial corruption has connections to a member of his inner circle?
We will answer those questions next.
No comments:
Post a Comment