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Yea, sure, whatever you want to call them they are bribes. In this case legal bribes.
Posted on April 22, 2013 5:30 pm by Laurie Roberts Legislators slurp up thousands in free food and drink The numbers are in and I must say, some of our state legislators have quite the appetite… for free food and drink, that is. According to the Arizona Capitol Times, former Rep. Amanda Reeve, of Phoenix, allowed lobbyists to treat her 58 times during her 2011-12 term, gobbling down $2,851 in refreshments. The Cap Times puts her first on its list of freeloaders. No wonder she lost her re-election bid. Coming in second was Sen. John McComish of Ahwatukee, who was wined and dined 37 times for a total of $3,357. Rep. David Gowan of Sierra Vista grabbed the No. 3 spot with 48 dates with lobbyists in which he scored $2,073 worth of free food and drink. Gowan, a Sierra Vista Republican, defended his intake of freebies, saying he gets lonely when in Phoenix and doesn’t have the cash to pick up the tab. “I’m looking for free food,” he told the Cap Times. “I get (paid) $24,000 per year … “ Nice. Rounding out the Cap Times’ Top 10 were Sen. Don Shooter of Yuma, House Speaker Andy Tobin of Prescott Valley, Rep. Jeff Dial of Chandler, Sen. Steve Pierce of Prescott, Rep. Brenda Barton of Payson, Sen. Kimberly Yee of Phoenix and Sen. Al Melvin of Tucson. All 10 are Republicans, the party that runs the joint. I’m guessing that means they won’t be supporting any bills to ban legislative freebies. Oh wait a minute, there are no bills banning legislative freebies. None that got heard anyway. |