Ethics where?

Yesterday, the US Senate made its first lobbying overhaul in 10 years. Sounds good, right? Think again. Whatever is passed in this bill has no enforcement. Don't believe me? Chew on this! Some senators wanted to create an Office of Public Integrity, and it seems as though Bill Frist didn't care for this idea much...

"Trust is the foundation of our democratic government...With the public opinion of Congress at an all-time low, we have to do a better job of retaining that trust and that confidence."

This is the same Bill Frist who challenged Terri Shiavo's diagnosis from a video recording, and helped usher in the rubber-stamp senate we now know and hate today. There can only be one good reason Sen. Frist is against an enforcement of new lobbying laws, and that can only be that he has some incentive. I know this doesn't pertain to Maryland, but I hope this guy wins in TN this November.

Make up your mind

Robert Cassily, the Harford County Councilman from District C, has yet to decide if he's going to resign his post. He's recently been notified that his Army Reserve unit is being mobilized to go to Iraq. Since he's been gone, the council has had a number of 3-3 ties. In Harford County, it takes 4 votes for a measure/bill/resolution to pass. The county has a big rejoining movement going on, and Mr. Cassily is over in North Carolina allowing many votes to be automatically defeated. According to Deborah Cassily, the councilman wife, "It's his intention to hold on until the end of April. Beyond that, it's his decision, and he'll do what's best for the county." If that were entirely true, Mr. Cassily should have resigned his post before he left for North Carolina. A rezoning amendment for Route 22 was met in a 3-3 tie and was defeated because Mr. Cassily can not seem to realize that he is performing a major disservice to District C.

Coucilman Cassily is about to do a great duty for his county by fighting in Iraq. Likewise, he should also do his duty to Harford County by deciding NOW, not at the end of next month, if he's going to resign. If he continues to wait, which is bad, or decides not to resign, he had better not decide to run again when he returns after his 18-month tour.