I’m disappointed that The Daily Sentinel chose to echo the old arguments of the lobbyists that the sky would fall if lobbyists were relegated to competing on level ground with ordinary citizens and non-profits for access to political power.

The Supreme Court, in its characteristic wisdom, allowed Amendment 41 (which incidentally was passed by a 62 percent majority of Colorado voters) to go into effect. The amendment sets up a procedure for an ethics committee to screen out frivolous complaints (if they are ever made) such as giving scholarships to students, gifts to families of stricken policemen, etc. The spirit of the amendment is clear; it is unlawful to attempt to buy influence from elected politicians or public employees.

Why would the Sentinel not want that? Highly paid lobbyists have managed to use fear to convince some people and the Sentinel that terrible things will be mandated when the amendment is put into action. The Supreme Court says, “Let’s wait and see.” I wonder who will be the first to file a complaint with the ethics commission that a lobbyist gave a birthday present to a longtime friend who happens to work for the state.

MARV BALLANTYNE
Montrose

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 10:45 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.