Editorials

“If that's what the law supposes, sir, then the law is an ass. ...”

Sometime in our anger and indignation over the action of public officials who should know better than to do what they did, we miss the real point.

Last week, when we lambasted Attorney General Troy King for cozying up with the Alabama Power Company in its Atlanta Braves skybox, we noted, almost offhandedly, that what King did was not illegal but probably should be.

The attorney general and the power company were careful to follow the letter of the law. Whether they should have followed something else, like common sense, you will have to decide for yourself. But while you are thinking it over, you might also want to decide whether or not the law whose letter they followed is really the sort of law we want on the books.

As it now stands, a person or group must file a report with the ethics committee if they spend more than $250 a day on a public official. Or to put it another way, lobbyists can spend more than $90,000 annually on someone who is supposed to be serving us and still be within the law.

And for the record, the person getting the money does not have to report it. That is the responsibility of the giver.

Of course, no lobbyist spends $90,000 on a single public official. Not even the deepest pockets of our deep-pocketed special interests lay out that kind of money. But during a legislative session a lot of money is spread around and all (or at least most) of it is legal.

Now, do we want this to continue?

Gov. Bob Riley has called the current system “outrageous” and promises to introduce a bill that will require elected officials to report anything they receive. Or as he neatly put it, “if it's a cup of coffee, just list it.”

And we agree — although we would want the rule to apply to appointed public officials as well.

Up in Washington, the U.S. Senate just passed an ethics bill that banned gifts, meals and travel funded by lobbyists.

If the U.S. Senate can do it, why can't the Alabama Legislature?