PSC newcomer yet to master subtle art of back-scratching
There’s the right way to do these things. And then there’s Tim Echols’ way.
Echols is a member of the state Public Service Commission, charged with regulating the state’s energy utilities, telecom companies and trucking and limousine services. As Kristi Swartz reports in today’s AJC, Echols wrote a letter back in March to Augusta National Golf Club, using official PSC stationery, requesting two tickets to a practice round of the Masters.
“As a statewide elected official, I would welcome the opportunity to visit with constituents and guests in our state,” Echols wrote.
Getting no response to his first letter, Echols stepped up the heat. He wrote another letter, demanding access to the grounds to allow him to inspect limousines being used to service members, players and guests at the tournament, so that he could ensure that they were properly licensed by the PSC.
He still didn’t get in.
If you’re wondering how Echols came up with such a cockamamie approach, I may be able to help you out. You see, before filing to run for the PSC last year, Echols served as campaign manager for then-Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine in his failed run for governor. And Oxendine was renowned for his less-than-subtle use of public office as leverage to get what he wanted.
As Swartz reported in late July, the newly elected Echols has also run up twice as much in expense reimbursements as any other PSC commissioner, spending more than $12,000 on trips that have often been a dubious mix of personal and public business.
“Since he took office in January, Echols’ billings for mileage, hotels and meals have included $1,231.42 for a trip to Savannah to showcase his personal compressed natural gas-fueled car in a St. Patrick’s Day parade; $337.62 to Albany for nuclear waste meetings, which coincided with his daughter’s track meet there; and $79.05 in mileage from his Winterville home to the Woodruff Arts Center because he wore a gold PSC name badge and represented the agency.
There have been additional trips to Brunswick, St. Simons and Ossabaw islands, some of them including members of his family….
That said, Echols has lined up a 10-day trip to France next year to tour some of the country’s 52 nuclear plants and learn how that industry handles spent fuel. He will pay for the trip out of campaign funds rather than expense it.”
Echols defends his blunt approach to the Masters by explaining that he didn’t want to acquire tickets through lobbyists, which might make him beholden to them. That makes a certain strange kind of sense. Indeed, if you look through disclosure forms, you discover that so far this year, Echols has accepted just two meals, worth a total of $66.75, from lobbyists.
On the other hand, Echols’ colleague at the PSC, Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, did wrangle a ticket to a Masters practice round, courtesy of an AT&T lobbyist. So far this year, McDonald has also accepted $1,999.67 in lodging, meals and other goodies from SCANA, a gas marketing company that he was elected to regulate on behalf of the people of Georgia.
SCANA has been even more hospitable to another commissioner, Doug Everett, for whom it has purchased $2,169.96 in lodging, meals and other benefits so far this year.
A third PSC colleague, Stan Wise, isn’t listed as attending the Masters this year but did accept three rounds of golf, for a total of $435, from David Christopher Weaver, a lobbyist for Atlanta Gas Light Co., which the PSC regulates. So far this year, the AGL lobbyist has showered Wise with $1,237.65 in golf, meals and other benefits.
(The fifth PSC member, Chuck Eaton, hasn’t accepted — or perhaps been offered — largesse on that scale.)
And of course, PSC commissioners are hardly alone. Another lobbyist reports spending $990 on tickets, food and lodging to take state Sen. Renee Unterman and her spouse to the Masters, courtesy of Hall, Booth, Smith and Slover, an Atlanta law firm. Two other state legislators are also listed as accepting Masters tickets from lobbyists.
Other entries in the disclosure data base are a little more opaque. One lobbyist reports spending $668 to take two state representatives to an unnamed “golf tournament” on April 7. That happened to be the starting date of the 2011 Masters, which ran April 7-10. Another reported spending $50 to buy “ticket to golf tournament” for House Speaker David Ralston on April 10. (If anybody else knows how to snag a ticket to the final round at Augusta for $50, please let me in on the deal.)
The point is, there’s clearly a “right” way to get your back scratched. If you stay within approved channels, under Georgia law you can legally accept thousands of dollars worth of benefits, even from companies you’re supposed to be regulating. In the words of the Wicked Witch of the West, “these things must be done delicately.”
It’s an approach Echols has yet to master, so to speak.
– Jay Bookman
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277 comments Add your comment
Jefferson
August 25th, 2011
12:29 pm
These failed banks have left their stockholders holding the bag(and the FDIC), why are they not arrested for STEALING when they took big salaries and bonuses and STOLE the equity right in front of the world with their careless and negligent practices.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
12:30 pm
“I have paid over $2,000. a year for property taxes – which goes primarily to public schools – and I have not had a child in school for 12 years. That means that I have paid over $24,000. in property taxes to support the “new crop” of oncoming Americans for the last dozen years without its benefitting me personally ”
And I’ve been paying in the neighborhood of the same amount for 25+ years and I don’t have HAVE a child.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:30 pm
md,
I HAD a real sick puppy this weekend, but he’s all better now.
Liberal Larry
August 25th, 2011
12:31 pm
“sensible policies like what Obama has done”
Republicans are still trying to lure Obama back to DC in their cynical attempt to get Obama to enact “sensible policies” on the economy that will pave the way to a Repugnican landslide in 2012. So far Obama is not falling for this ruse. He is staying the course on his vacation and is steadfastly refusing to do return to DC to do further damage to the economy.
stands for decibels
August 25th, 2011
12:31 pm
lecturing me that I should quit my job in order to better care for my old person.
wtf? Talk about self-immolation…
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:31 pm
Oh and Paul, sorry, that was for you, not md.
And I meant to add —
“you have NOOOOO idea.”
Bwwwwwwaaaaahahahahahahahahahahaha. Ha.
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
12:32 pm
Bosch – an employee of ours has elderly grandparents in Texas. The family hired health professionals to assist the couple in their home. The health care company called the state who forced the family to put the couple in an assisted living home. Emotions are driving the couple to an earlier death.
md
August 25th, 2011
12:32 pm
“Your school included a section on property taxes?!!? Or federal supplementals?!!?”
No…….and that’s the point. Do yours?
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
12:33 pm
I can hardly wait for Michele Batsh*t to get elected POTUS so I can start enjoying my $2/gallon gas, 5 cent candy bars and my brand new $5,000 car…
Thomas
August 25th, 2011
12:33 pm
Bufffett Invests $5 Billion in Bank of America
hmmm
The clip below is from 2009
A leading bank analyst says the regulators who allowed Bank of America to repay its $45 billion in government bailout funds made a big mistake because the bank may well need that money soon to withstand the next wave of bad loans, the withdrawal of federal subsidies, and the possible reevaluation of assets
Maybe it is facism that doesn’t work-
Mary Elizabeth
August 25th, 2011
12:33 pm
Bosch, thank you.
and
md,
Good point you made that the young should (as they receive public “free” education) be educated to know from where the source of their education comes – without a guilt trip given them, of course, which would do more harm than good.
Value and thrift are well to be part of economics classes in high school, and even in middle school, and knowledge of how one receives one’s “free” public education is well to know. They are young, however, so we must not condemn them if they only know intellectually facts to pass a test, but do not yet know, with mature understanding, so that it makes authentic impact. But, that understanding will come later to them, as they age, and reflect upon that knowledge they were taught when they were young.
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
12:33 pm
It’s to work for me. Regards, even to the misguided!
Liberal Larry
August 25th, 2011
12:34 pm
“I have paid over $2,000. a year for property taxes – which goes primarily to public schools”
You should pay more. You should all pay more. And we need to fund a blue ribbon commission to study why the proposals of previous blue ribbon commissions and panels have not resulted in new educational gains. The APS needs more funding too. They never would have cheated had they been adequately funded. Cheapskates!
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
12:34 pm
“No…….and that’s the point. Do yours?”
Why should they? Children don’t need to know, nor should they care, where the money comes from that pays for their educations. Plus, when they go to work and start paying property taxes…they’ll learn REAL quick.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:35 pm
AmVet,
And a time machine for EVERYBODY!!
Seriously, does Bachmann advocate for DEFLATION? I mean, I’m no financial expert, and don’t even play on the TV, but even my dumb ass knows that ain’t good.
Midori
August 25th, 2011
12:36 pm
RB -
Your 12:08 came off as really nonsensical, petty and desperate.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
12:36 pm
Doggone… I am with you on the property taxes. I also pay HOA fees that in part pay for a lifeguard at the neighborhood pool to watch so the kids don’t drown. I have never used the pool myself nor do I have any kids that might drown. Damn these GA socialists! [Or is my entire neighborhood Democrat....that will be a shock to the 2 politicians that live in my neighborhood unless they were Ds changed to Rs]
ty webb
August 25th, 2011
12:36 pm
Amvet,
yeah she really painted herself into a corner, if elected…should’ve stuck with broad generalities like, oh… I don’t know…”Hope and Change”.
PSC newcomer yet to master subtle art of back-scratching – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Best World Golf
August 25th, 2011
12:36 pm
[...] webmaster@technorati.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:36 pm
JohnnyReb,
I am your one-stop shopping counselor for all of your “old folk” caring needs. I’ve seen and done it all.
Liberal Larry
August 25th, 2011
12:37 pm
Liberal Larry Your comment is awaiting moderation.
August 25th, 2011
12:36 pm
Michelle Bachman down to 10% in the most recent Repugnican poll. Democrats visibly upset over Bachman’s poor polling results.
Jefferson
August 25th, 2011
12:37 pm
SS and Medicare are not “free” programs someone should tell the anchor babe. People pay into these programs their whole working lives, they deserve the benifits they paid for and the system’s problems mostly occur from those enriching themselves on the system by overcharging and commiting fraud. Watch the same folks bitchin’ about wellfare hide assets to put their folks in a nursing home – and now they are going to take care of them themselves? This is the poliitcal BS that incites the insecure.
Jm
August 25th, 2011
12:37 pm
If only the consumer federation of America owned a strip club in Atlanta and a really fancy golf club. Then we could get commissioners and politicians to lol out for consumer interests.
Mary Elizabeth
August 25th, 2011
12:37 pm
Doggone @ 12:30
Doggone, and I hope to keep paying for my share for “free” public education, for the “new crop” of oncoming Americans, until I pass from this earth. Hope you are with me on that!
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:37 pm
“Your 12:08 came off as really nonsensical, petty and desperate.”
Just the 12:08?
Midori
August 25th, 2011
12:37 pm
Seriously, does Bachmann advocate for DEFLATION?
a tummy tuck?
Jm
August 25th, 2011
12:38 pm
Thomas 12:33
They didn’t need the money. But they’re fine taking it.
Liberal Larry
August 25th, 2011
12:39 pm
“Seriously, does Bachmann advocate for DEFLATION?”
No. That was Jimmy Carter. Correction. It was stagflation Carter advocated for.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
12:40 pm
Keep Up – when you are young and self-centered, such things do bother you. They did me. But a little more age brought a little more wisdom, and I’ve come to not mind paying it. It’s just part of supporting the society that helped pay to educate ME.
I think those “it’s MY money and I know better how to spend it” types have just never grown out of the “me, me, me – it’s all about me” mind set. If they’re young, there’s hope they will. If they aren’t, well…maybe there’s no hope for them, and we can only pray we outnumber them in the voting booth.
md
August 25th, 2011
12:41 pm
“Good point you made that the young should (as they receive public “free” education) be educated to know from where the source of their education comes – without a guilt trip given them, of course, which would do more harm than good.”
I see the understanding of “skin in the game” as a benefit……….knowing that their parents work hard to pay those property taxes so they can get a good education may make a world of difference. To know their parents and they themselves have to make sacrifices for their benefit.
And this applies to Doggone’s response as well………….they need to know how the world works………….
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:41 pm
“Watch the same folks bitchin’ about wellfare hide assets to put their folks in a nursing home – and now they are going to take care of them themselves?”
Oh, DON’T get me started on that. We had a poster the other day (on of the wingnut variety) who was all appauled that their inheritance was sucked out by — paying for grandma’s health care — who just wouldn’t die soon enough!
THE NERVE OF HER!!
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
12:41 pm
“Hope you are with me on that!”
I am indeed!
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
12:42 pm
ty, there will, no doubt, be even grander lunacy that escapes her lips.
The campaign is gonna give her endless opportunities to say more jawdroppingly stupid things. And her handlers are gonna make George’s look like they had nary a worry.
People like her make for bad government but for good spectacle…
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:43 pm
In other words Jefferson, if you gripe about the single payer system or lambast Obamacare, it is quite obvious you have never cared for an elderly relative.
They have no idea what they are asking for.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
12:43 pm
Bosch
I was hopin’ you’d get the puppy allusion -
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
12:46 pm
Bosch, don’t you think that when grandma stops earning enough and has to dip into those assets that there ought to be a “market solution” as part of the 2d amendment?
Doggone — I agree there is a lot that we contribute to collectively that we may not use now, but we may use later or which still benefits us indirectly like education. My home has greater value because I live in an area with good public schools (or at least they used to be good
)
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:46 pm
Paul,
Of course, and speaking of, mine are in dire need of attention which require my assistance.
Jay
August 25th, 2011
12:48 pm
fresh sheets
Thulsa Doom
August 25th, 2011
12:48 pm
I see the topic has morphed into public education. I don’t have kids and have to pay taxes to educate other people’s kids. No problem. Everyone else paid taxes to educate me when I was a kid and my parents were early 20 somethings. Despite the problems we have in our education system the costs of not educating kids at public expense vastly outweigh the costs of educating them. I think 95% of us on here understand that.
Mary Elizabeth
August 25th, 2011
12:51 pm
Let me reiterate that there is a movement in this nation to make people perceive that it is all about “me” in the name of “self-sufficiency” and that movement will primarily benefit the very top of wealth in this nation.
We were formed as an egalitarian nation and we should remain that – in spite of the money interests that are trying to move this nation Libertarian, for their own purposes. As I wrote last evening, Thomas Jefferson was a strong advocate for “free” public education and he was a strong advocate that wealth not be centralized to a very top, small group of people within our nation; thus, he penned these words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. . .”
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:51 pm
“and has to dip into those assets that there ought to be a “market solution” as part of the 2d amendment?”
There is Keep. It’s called the system we have now. If you want to care for grandma yourself and keep her money, or your inheritance, then you take care of her yourself, in your home.
But, in my case, the only inheritance was a collection of strange colored glass bottles.
If you don’t, then you send her to a nursing home and you lose your inheritance. And, people should know — you don’t just SEND grandma to a nursing home. It’s harder to get an old person in a nursing home than it is for a Republican to admit to a tax raise.
The decision isn’t rocket science.
saywhat?
August 25th, 2011
12:53 pm
Jay wrote: kayaker, you can’t outlaw lobbyists. The First Amendment guarantees the right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
But you can sure as hell tell them they can’t shower legislators, regulators and state employees with gifts.”
But Jay, I thought the current Dupremes said money is speech, and corporations are people. Not allowing company/industry lobbyists to shower gifts upon politicos denies those people (corporations) their free speech(bribery) rights. That would be un-American.
Talking Head
August 25th, 2011
12:58 pm
“We were formed as an egalitarian nation and we should remain that – in spite of the money interests that are trying to move this nation Libertarian, for their own purposes.”
The first part of your post I can agree with. We were formed as an egalitarian nation, but only in the sense that as Jefferson said, “all men are created equal.” Where you and I differ is that our outcomes from our own decisions seperate us, and based on those decisions we are all unequal, and that’s the way it should be.
Stevie Ray
August 25th, 2011
12:58 pm
Jay, do current GA legislators have to work within travel budgets and ethics rules that cap or otherwise clarify (without uncertainty) acceptable perks, expenditures and limits on acceptance of lobbyist funds? I’m in the dark here….most corporations have “integrity by-laws” that control the amount that employees can accept from outside vendors et al…Is this area that grey with respect to these guys?
Jay
August 25th, 2011
1:01 pm
Stevie Ray, there are no limits under Georgia law. I’ve been writing for 20 years in favor of at least a $100 limit, but the legislators and lobbyists have no interest whatsoever in adopting one.
The only restriction is that at least it has to be reported, although there are loopholes even in that.
Stevie Ray
August 25th, 2011
1:01 pm
Also, it’s easy to heap ill-will on Supreme Court for Citizens ruling. However, it seems to me that their primary function is to interpret the laws where grey areas may exist. If this ruling causes the amount of anxiety (politicians do benefit so their uproad likely a ruse), Congress should change the subject law up to and including constitution…Am I wrong?
Stevie Ray
August 25th, 2011
1:03 pm
Thanks Jay….could this be subject to referendum?
Jay
August 25th, 2011
1:06 pm
No, Stevie. Georgia law also has no referendum mechanism.
Jm
August 25th, 2011
1:10 pm
Afl CIO head: labor to ditch dems (politico)
How ironic
Fire him
August 25th, 2011
1:11 pm
Certainly there are dozens/hundreds/thousands/tens of thousands of qualified (and more ethical) people to fill this position.
Talking Head
August 25th, 2011
1:17 pm
As long as we have this convoluted and overly complex tax code system in place, you can bet your bottom dollar that every politician will be involved in unethical practices.
Disgusted
August 25th, 2011
1:18 pm
lecturing me that I should quit my job in order to better care for my old person.
And I had one who scolded me for continuing to work so that I could have a roof over my head and for not getting my wife a stairlift (”you can get a used one for $200 or $300.”) When I checked on the Internet, I discovered that the things cost over $3,000 in used condition, and that’s uninstalled.
It didn’t keep her from billing Medicare $107 for each 20 minute visit. She’s no longer with us, but that didn’t keep me from pondering the execution of about 90% of these parasites in the medical industry. And people remain ignorant enough to believe that the current medical industry is just fine and dandy and that we don’t need none of that there Obamacare because it’s Socialized Medicine. I guess if I could earn $321 per hour in the current set-up, without a college degree and even without a nursing license, I’d be fighting Obamacare tooth and nail too.
Stevie Ray
August 25th, 2011
1:19 pm
One more question Jay. Do you really see a difference to how the parties carry on relative to lobbyists, ethics, fundraising, contradictions (amazing how much time is expended identifying same) and the general debate techniques (namely name calling and using suspect data to support points)? I listen and read an equal amount of opinons supporting both parties and after awhile, I can’t tell the difference…
Jay
August 25th, 2011
1:26 pm
No, Stevie, I don’t. Politicians of both parties are equally susceptible. For the first 10 years I was pushing limits on lobbyist gifts, it was Dems refusing to take action. Now it’s the Reps. Same game, different players.
If there is a difference, I think Georgia Republican voters may be quicker to defend their own politicians against criticism, on the theory that at least they’re not Democrats. That’s my perception, anyway.
mike
August 25th, 2011
1:28 pm
I also can’t understand the references to the President within the context of this article. Must be sad to live everyday obsessing about that man in the White House. BTW the people of Georgia elected Echols. This is just going back to the time in Georgia when there was the real old boy system. They did not believe in ethics during that time. Now you have the same mentality in office these days. Do you expect these folks to behave any different.
James
August 25th, 2011
1:30 pm
Good article Jay. For once I agree with you.
Mary Elizabeth
August 25th, 2011
1:41 pm
Talking Head @ 12:58
“Where you and I differ is that our outcomes from our own decisions seperate us, and based on those decisions we are all unequal, and that’s the way it should be.”
————————————————
We probably do not disagree as much as you may think. It is your use of the word “unequal” in your statement, above, that I have difficulty with. I will explain. I agree that we must, each, take responsibility for the individual decisions that we make and the results that those decisions will afford us. However, in a larger sense, each of us will forever remain human beings, a gift from the Creator, regardless of how our individual fates unfold, as determined sometimes by ourselves, and at other times determined by forces outside of ourselves, over which we have little control.
————————————————————————————————
Jefferson continued in the Declaration of Independence to write “. . .endowed with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Lliberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
—————————————————————————————————–
The explanation of that part of the Declaration is given, below, from “The World Book Encyclopedia,” 1988.
“The signers of the Declaration believed it was obvious that “all men” are created equal and have rights that cannot be taken away from them. By “all men,” the signers meant people of every race and both sexes. The rights to “Life” included the right to defend oneself against physical attack and against unjust government. The right to “Liberty” included the right to criticize the government, to worship freely, and to form a government that protects liberty. The “pursuit of Happiness” meant the right to own property and to have it safeguarded. It also meant the right to strive for the good of all people, not only for one’s personal happiiness.”
jj
August 25th, 2011
1:42 pm
Unregulated natural gas in GA, around 70 cents per therm.
Market price for natural gas at the Henry Hub 39.4 cents per therm
Regulated natural gas in IL, around 45 cents per therm.
If natural gas is about 35% cheaper in the most corrupt state in the country, how much money do you think all the “gas marketers” have really spent on these crooks?
Adam
August 25th, 2011
1:48 pm
md: I don’t know too many schools that teach practical matters…….we all get algebra……but not taxes and how they make society work……
You know…………………………………………. I do remember this being taught in history…………………….. and…………………. civics…………………….. classes ………………………..throughout school. If you never…………………… heard this in school………………………… perhaps that is a local……………………. teaching problem…………..
md
August 25th, 2011
2:51 pm
Nice smartasss response Adam………….yeh, I got generalities too……but not practical first hand info.
You?
PMC
August 25th, 2011
2:54 pm
pretty standard politician fare really.
No one would get into politics if they couldn’t boss people around and try to get perks.
Politics has ZERO to do with public service.
PMC
August 25th, 2011
2:54 pm
Not really that shocking that Echols would work with a creep like Oxendine.
PMC
August 25th, 2011
2:57 pm
Just warms my heart a bit to know that Augusta National doesn’t discriminate between bossy pompous politicians and bossy pompous other public figures.
I’ll always love going out and walking that course without people like Echols.
Missy
August 25th, 2011
3:01 pm
I wouldn’t pi$$ off Billy Payne too much.
Politcal whores
August 25th, 2011
3:10 pm
Both sides of the aisle are guilty. Throw the bums out. They work for themselves not for the good of the Republic.
Where's My Party?
August 25th, 2011
3:53 pm
At least ask for real badges and not practice round tickets, good grief.
Adam
August 25th, 2011
4:01 pm
You don’t need to know exactly WHO’S taxes pay for your schooling, the best point to make is that TAXES pay for it, indicating it’s NOT free. It is paid for by someone. If you want to know more than that, you can ask.
But that’s the point, students DO know their education isn’t “free.” Unless throughout school no one talked about what taxes pay for, which wouldn’t surprise me in a private school bent on educating children towards destruction of the government. But not in public school unless the teachers, all of them, forget to teach it for TWELVE YEARS.
GT
August 25th, 2011
4:25 pm
Jay
August 25th, 2011
10:33 am
kayaker, you can’t outlaw lobbyists. The First Amendment guarantees the right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
How do free tickets to influence the politician have any protection in our constitution? Was Garland Pinholster protected in his sexual advances in one of those amendments too? They get some strange birds in the PSC.
TRUTH
August 25th, 2011
4:43 pm
Jay HE WORKED FOR OXENDINE!!! Why are we surprised?
Politi Cal
August 25th, 2011
4:45 pm
He’s proved, alas, that he is a typical Georgia Republicrat. They’re all the same, whatevey party, color, sex, or religion they may be. Same sad story. God, it’s disgusting.
Hmmmmmmmmm
August 25th, 2011
4:51 pm
What a man will do for the game of Golf…..
Erin Andrew's Landing Strip
August 25th, 2011
5:13 pm
The reason Echols asked for practice round badges rather than badges to the actual tournament is simple. Fans are allowed to bring cameras during practice rounds. For Echols, it’s all about making himself look good and setting himself up for a run for higher office. If he had made it to the practice round, rest assured we would have seen pictures of himself posted on his Facebook page.
GT
August 25th, 2011
5:42 pm
Augusta that week is a hang out for national Republicans. Echols could get a little face time with the power makers of that party, maybe a few checks for this war crest. Probably a few of those powerbrokers were riding around in those illegal limos. “Obama’s fault, loose on the limos loose on the Mexicans, the man just can’t be trusted, now give me those tickets I got a job to do.”
Bama Bill
August 25th, 2011
5:56 pm
Just a bunch of “sleeze bags” who don’t understand servant leadership – they are all going for power, control and wealth !
GT
August 25th, 2011
6:03 pm
“Mr. Smith goes to Washington” I would have loved to see a story 20 years later and the Jimmy Stewart character had bought in to the Washington corruption like most of these egomaniacs do. He probably would be seen riding around in an illegal limo, the secretary and a few other ladies, heading for a hot party. They just got though signing a bill for illegal immigrates being shot a dawn and they are all going to celebrate the night away in Georgetown. Then go watch the executions, a prefect end to a perfect night for a Republican want a be.
Paddy O
August 25th, 2011
6:59 pm
Echols is obviously fairly corrupt and ethically bankrupt. I really miss Angela Speir.
Paddy O
August 25th, 2011
7:04 pm
GT- I tend to hope he would avoid the temptation of corruption.