Gov Riley's Hypocrisy On Ethics

Remember Governor Riley's push to "clean up" the Legislature by passing more rigorous ethics laws? One of the things he wanted to do was restrict elected officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists or the companies/organizations that might hire them. Sad to say, he doesn't practice what he preaches.

You see, even as the Legislature was preparing to meet in special session to pass this law, among others, Riley accepted TWENTY free tickets to the Iron Bowl. I did some checking, and the cheapest seats (which I'm sure these tickets were NOT) cost somewhere around $300. That means that Governor Riley accepted a gift in the amount of SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS... or more!
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201012280335

Gov. Bob Riley's office ac­cepted 20 free tickets to this year's Alabama-Auburn foot­ball game while state legisla­tors were preparing for a spe­cial session on ethics that resulted in a new law making it more difficult for officials to accept such perks.

So much for Riley wanting to clean up ethics in the State, eh? As long as it doesn't affect him, I suppose.


Riley has accepted the free tickets for all eight years of his term as Governor. He saw nothing wrong with doing that, but he thinks a $250 gift from a lobbyist is too much? Please, TELL me that you see the hypocrisy, here.

And though many legislators did not accept the tickets, or accepted them and donated them to charities, far more DID accept the tickets. They see it as an entitlement, a perk that their elected office entitles them to.

And these same legislators just approved a law that would make it illegal for them to accept the same tickets next year. Do as they say, not as they do.

I'm going to be VERY interested to see how these same legislators get around this new law come next November. That will tell you EXACTLY how dedicated they are to ethics reform, and exactly how good the new laws are.