State Sen. Dewayne Bunch, R-Cleveland, has the right idea, proposing a bill that would punish Tennessee legislators and other public servants for trading votes among themselves.
It’s never seemed right that elected officials caught for taking monetary bribes in exchange for votes are punished while those who swap and broker votes through political trade-offs remain unscathed.
When several state and local elected officials were arrested five years ago and convicted in the FBI’s Operation Tennessee Waltz sting targeting those who accepted money in return for supporting legislation, the public rightly felt that justice had been done.
But nothing happened to U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska, when he traded his vote to support the Senate’s health care reform bill late last year for a provision that protected his state from paying for future Medicaid program expansion. He was acting within the parameters of the law.
Arguably, Sen. Nelson sold his vote at a much higher price than those convicted in the Tennessee Waltz scheme. Yet Sen. Nelson earned many pats on the back at home.