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Thursday, February 23, 2006
Smilin' Norm's gonna catch him some fish!
What's wrong with catching fish? Nothing, unless you're angling for some freebies along the way. Duluth News Tribune:
In June 2003, a Minnesota company paid for Sen. Norm Coleman to fly to Duluth for a charity fishing tournament. The Senate ethics manual says that when it comes to charity fishing tournaments, a member is allowed to accept only free attendance, not travel.
A clear ethics violation? Some experts say yes. Coleman says no one has told him that. And a definitive answer seems unlikely because of the tangled -- some say weak -- means Congress has of enforcing its ethics rules.
At the same time, staffers for Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., turned in privately paid travel disclosure forms late 20 times last year, and they never heard a word about it from the House ethics committee.
...Two and a half years after filing a disclosure form that says very clearly that Coleman accepted the Duluth trip as part of a charity fishing tournament benefiting the ALS Association -- which battles amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gerhig's disease -- Coleman and his office defended the trip, valued at $665, by saying the Senate ethics committee reviews all disclosure forms and would have alerted them if anything were amiss.
To be fair to Coleman (always a priority for me), he accepted travel worth $700 in order to attend a charity fishing tournament. The rule against accepting travel for charity events was instituted to prevent really egregious abuses. Not just bad stuff, the kind of stuff Tom DeLay would dream up and Jack Abramoff would fund. That's what the Senate ethics panel should be focusing on.
...what's that you say? The Senate ethics committee decided to do what?
Another spotlight was thrown on the issue Friday, when the Senate ethics committee said it would not investigate members' connections with lobbyist Jack Abramoff to avoid interfering with a criminal investigation. Watchdog groups immediately charged that the system isn't working.
Oh, Republicans. Always protecting your own, no matter how dirty they get.
