As the Texas Senate was debating an ethics reform package this week, one state senator inadvertently channeled the late Richard Nixon by protesting that “we’re not all a bunch of crooks.”
If you have to proclaim it…
State Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) accused the author — State Sen. Van Taylor (R-Plano) — of pushing reforms that made it seem everyone in office was guilty. (Taylor’s commonsense legislation is well-described in an article by Cary Cheshire.)
I was struck by the vehemence with which Whitmire argued against the reforms… before voting for them.
Mr. Whitmire is absolutely right: our legislature isn’t full of crooks, but if we’re going to keep it that way, we need to stay ahead of the criminal problems plaguing other states.
