SHOULD LAWMAKERS HAVE TO DISCLOSE WHEN THEY HAVE SEX WITH LOBBYISTS?
There are three types of lobbyists: Those who get ahead on the strength of their issues and arguments … those who sleep their way to the top … and those who do a little of both.
We know lobbyists at the state and federal level who fall into all three categories …
It’s been said that everything is about sex … expect sex, which is about power.
But what about “power sex” – i.e. lobbyists who sleep with lawmakers (or other government officials) in an effort to get them to vote (or rule) a certain way? Should such arrangements be disclosed?
That’s the subject of a proposed Missouri law …
On the face, this proposal seems sensible. Sex, in many cases, is a thing of value. And old, mostly unattractive men who want to acquire it from young attractive women are indubitably receiving a “thing of value.”
Since laws prohibit (theoretically) lobbyists providing lawmakers with “things of value,” shouldn’t sexual relations be disclosed?
Not always …
“I don’t see why sex is automatically a ‘gift’ to the legislator,” one national consultant told us. “If a State Representative is hot and she decides to sleep with a craggy old lobbyist, seems to me the lobbyist is getting the better end of the deal. The assumption is no one in their right mind would sleep with a politician unless they wanted something in return.”
So true …
Of course having lived inside the Nero-esque bubble of the S.C. State House for an extended period of time (and having had quite a lot of sex during that time), we can say that this is the exception to the rule. Assuming it’s even happened.
Invariably, politician-lobbyist sex involves a thing of value being obtained by the politician from the lobbyist in return for their vote or rule … which would seem to make it the sort of thing that ought to be disclosed.
Here’s the thing, though: We’re libertarians. We believe that people’s sex lives are their own business. We also have consistently gone on the record in support of legalizing prostitution.
In other words, we shouldn’t have a problem with any of this behavior … and to some extent we don’t.
Over the years, we’ve developed a pretty simple set of rules to govern our coverage of politicians’ extramarital escapades.
Basically it works like this: If a politician wastes tax money in furtherance of an affair (or promises tax money in connection with an affair), we’re going to write about it. Oh, and the same standard applies for other official actions. Similarly, if a politician has passed judgement on other people for their various sexual dalliances – and then engaged in precisely the same behavior – we’re going to write about it.
Waste of tax money, abuse of power or rank hypocrisy are guaranteed to result in stories about affairs … as they should.
Beyond those criteria, though, it’s a judgment call …
These relationships happen all the time. In fact we know of at least a dozen members of the S.C. General Assembly who are currently involved in less-than-discreet sexual relationships with lobbyists (some with more than one lobbyist). But up to this point, we’ve been unable to document how any of these relationships have resulted in improper appropriations or other official actions. And barring the production of such documentation, we don’t see it as our place to expose these affairs …
So: Should government (local, state or federal) impose laws requiring the disclosure of sexual relationships between individuals in power and individuals seeking to influence those in power? We don’t think so.
But any official who engages in these relationships is playing a very dangerous game … one in which they are either already behaving corruptly or opening the door to allegations of corruption (even if the affair is otherwise an “innocent” liaison).
What do you think? Vote in our poll and post your thoughts in our comments section below …
32 comments
Spill some details.
Want to see a Cockroach sweat. Walk into their State Capitol Complex Office with a NM-9 Bodily Fluid Detection Light and begin to scan their office
http://www.proofpronto.com/portableuvlamp.html
Do you mean like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kQTqSPqpE4
1,000 +++
“I do have a social life you know.”
LOL
Two Norvegians are drinking at da Arrow Bar in Weston, WI.
Ole says, ‘Did you know dat lions have sex 10 to 15 times a night?’
‘Darn!’ says Sven. “I jus joined da Elks.”
Old Flip aka Jethro Bodine is lucky if it’s twice a year. Anniversary and Valentines Day. That’s 20 minutes total for a whole year.
At my age, all I need is a smile and a promise…..
An elderly married couple were
having their medical examination on the same day. After the exam the doctor said to the elderly man: “You appear to be in good health. Do you have any particular concerns?”
“In fact, I do” he said. “After I
have sex with my wife the first time, I am usually hot and sweaty but after the second time I’m cold and chilly.”
After examining the elderly lady, the
doctor said “Everything appears to be fine. Do you have any medical
concerns to discuss?” and the lady said no.
The doctor then asked “Your husband had an unusual concern. He claims that he is usually hot and sweaty after having sex the first time with you and then cold and chilly after the second time. Do you know why?
” “Oh that crazy old son of a bitch!” she replied.”That’s because the first time is usually in July and the second time is usually in December!”
An elderly couple met for a romp in
the broom closet at the nursing home. They undressed and were about to screw when the woman decided to warn him of her heart condition. “I should tell
you, I have acute angina” she said.
The man replied “That’s good because you have the ugliest breasts I ever seen.”
After hearing a couple’s complaints that their intimate life wasn’t what it used to
be, the sex counselor suggested they vary their positions. “For example,” he suggested, “you might try the wheelbarrow. Lift her by the legs,
penetrate and off you go.”
The eager husband was all for trying this new idea as soon as they got home. “Well, OK,” the hesitant wife agreed, “but on two conditions. First, if it hurts, you have to stop right away. And second, “she insisted, “you have to promise we won’t go past my mother’s house.”
A classic “Ollie & Yollie” joke (from the great “Wisconsin/Minnesota” region”) when I worked “up there” on an engineering project:
Ollie: “Fuck you”
Yollie: “Fuck you”
Ollie: “Fuck you”
Yollie: “Fuck You”
(repeated 4 times or more…)
Ollie: “You know, this oral sex shit ain’t near as much fun as I thought it would be……………”
very good — and a new one for me to save!
Sex in marriage is like medicine. Three times a
day for the first week. Then once a day for the next week. Then once every three or four days until the condition clears up. [Peter DeVries]
That might be interesting in Hugh Leatherman’s office, I assume the light would show large puddles.
A little bit of poontang has passed more bills than wads of cash.
Bills like in Bills Clinton?
Will…this really gets old. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say that a politician’s right to a private sex life is ok “because we libertarians believe in this privacy” and in the very same breath claim that this sex can’t be used for manipulation.
Your whole point completely rests in a fictitious world. Indeed, the more realistic approach is to quit “fully supporting” and “embracing” this high-risk behavior while in the very same breath you are vehemently damning the same behavior once it produces the more-than-likely result of improper influence.
Please: cognitive dissonance is incurable.
Libertarians who don’t fully embrace the natural conclusion of WHY government should be limited in the minarchist mindset will always suffer from dissonance like this article.
It is the existence of government itself that creates these never ending dilemma’s and moral hazard.
IN SC they are infamous for having sex with other men’s wives and throwing their families under the bus, in order to try and justify their illicit activities.
So why how do so many ugly old men keep their jobs as lobbyists?
Money!!!!!!!!!
As if people didn’t already know that lobbyists were nothing but whores. They’re the female pharmaceutical sales reps of the state house. A friend of mine who is a doctor has nailed about a dozen of the drug sluts who hang out in his waiting room.
she’s fakin it
yes-siree ..!!
Doesn’t matter.
Me thanks that Will likes to brag. Plus, it takes a low down rat who has sex with a woman and then brags about it.
Depends on the woman.
Perhaps there should be a law since such quaint anachronisms as professional ethics are now things of the past?
“Sex a lot of times”….
What you wanna bet every one of those times lasted a maximum of 2 minutes before the first “squirt”????
Only a douche-bagged braggart like FITS would even post his “scorings”
But what do you expect from a “son” of the Columbia, SC????=====All “flash in the pan “……pull your pants up and kick the poor bitch out of your car…that’s what!!!
That wife you brag about must be REALLY impressed FITS!!!
Don’t forget to remind her that you would’ve joined the military if you didn’t have “bigger fish to fry” being Sanfraud’s “Hey-Boy” back in the day!!!!
Oh, yeah, you’re ALL MAN!!!!!!
We already know they fuck everyone, they are politicians, no disclosure necessary.